Planning Waterscapes And Effective Irrigation

Home & Garden Blog

Bringing water into landscape design comes with a lot of challenges. Waterscapes are transformative works of art when brought to land, and require intensive landscape changes to go along with water delivery. Before jumping onto a water design idea for your area, consider what needs to be done to prepare for the additional materials and time invested.

The Unseen Planning Behind Waterscapes

Building a natural-looking waterway on land is difficult, but even a surreal waterspace takes careful planning. A path of waterslide-like streams or a pool can be put in place, but you need to consider how the water will move, replenish, stay at a stable level during hot/dry climates and mitigate disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes.

Natural water movement as achieved with pumps in most installations. If you want to build a waterfall, create a raised river with a specific overflow point or tap into an already existing water source if you want truly naturally-moving water unaided by machines. That takes a major investment, but it's not impossible.

For the more achievable water movement, water sources are usually in the form of a water pool. This pool can be obfuscated with natural-looking decoration, such as river rocks or a set of boulders to give the images of an underground water source, or you could go with a more imaginative/unrealistic design such as an infinity pool that spills into a flowing stream. 

To combat mosquitoes, the easiest defense it to make sure that water is moving. Pumps need to be maintained on a regular basis to avoid algae and other types of buildup from blocking water flow. For pools without any directional movement, aerators can be installed using either a hidden mechanical-looking device or using porous materials such as pumice, which is often used in aquariums. There are chemical insect control products, but avoid using the products if you plan on keeping fish or other animals in the area. 

Necessary Land Transformation For Water Projects

For any form of moving water, you'll need a hill or incline of some sort to allow movement. Although you could use a series of pumps to propel water in a specific direction, the movement will relatively unremarkable unless you plan a connecting circle or an arc of movement. An incline will simply need a single pump and a recycling intake at the end of the path to keep water moving.

Water projects built into the land are more than just holes or trenches. To prevent water lost, there needs to be a bedding that is more dense than natural rivers, since the water supply is finite. A protective, eco-friendly tarp can be installed, then covered with a natural-looking floor of rocks, dirt or even unnatural panels can be installed for water movement, and the edges need to be prepared to avoid side soaking or erosion.

Contact a landscaping services professional to discuss the waterscape idea in your head, and give them time to bring a practical solution to the drawing board. Look here for additional reading.

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14 September 2016