Build A Half Barrel Pond or Water Garden

A half barrel pond or Water Garden should obviously be build from a wooden barrel, However the barrel could be a rigid plastic barrel or even a clay or concrete container, a wooden container is much more pleasing to the eye. A wooden half barrel can be purchased from any good gardening or aquatic store and should cost about $40 ( £20 ). Once you have chosen a half barrel the big decision is whether or not to line in with a pond liner. If you are in a hurry to build your half barrel pond then you really do need to line it. This is because a typical barrel would have contained whisky or wine and this has soaked into the wood,


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this is potentially harmful to both fish and plants. A lined half barrel pond will also require a lot less topping up as a barrels slats will expand and contract in the heat and thus some of the water will escape. My personal opinion is that a liner spoils the rustic look of a half barrel pond or water garden. If you decide not to use a liner then you will need to fill the half barrel and leave it for at least a couple of months. During this time you will notice an oil film appear on the top of the water. You need to remove this regularly or simply perform a complete weekly water change. Repeat this until the water remains clear, Be warned this process can take up to a year. One method to speed this process up is to continue with partial water changes but put in some water hyacinths whose roots will provide a rudimentary filtration system. You will know that the barrel is ready for stocking when you can no longer smell the barrels previous contents.

As a half pond or water garden is quite small then you can really only stock it with a few gold fish. The general rule is that a pond will support one inch of fish for every 5 gallons of water without requiring oxygenation or filtration. If you plan to stock a lot of fish in a small space, then your pond will require mechanical filtration and aeration in the form of a small pump. Please don's attempt to stock Koi as they will destroy and plants and soon out grow the half barrel. You can include most types of pond plant that can survive in the shallow depth of the water, these include.

pygmy water lilies

oxygenating plants (anacharis, milfoil)

floating plants (water hyacinth, water lettuce, duckweed)

With a half barrel pond or water garden you will need to monitor the fish on a weekly basis, being small in water volume makes it less likely that the water quality can be sustained naturally. A weekly 5% water changed with rain water will be required.


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