Once you have decided to install a koi pond in your yard, it is time to plan the landscape. You can hire a professional designer, or you can easily do it yourself. The design of your pond and the area around it is only limited by your own imagination and your budget. The possibilities are nearly endless!
Before You Begin…
Before you start planning the design and actually landscape your pond, you’ll need to have a certain look in mind. Consider the answers to questions like these:
1. How large or small is your koi pond going to be?
It can be any size or shape you choose. Keep in mind, though, the larger your koi pond is, the more expensive it will be, and the more maintenance it will require.
2. How much total space will you have to landscape around your pond?
Again, this choice is completely up to you. It depends on the location you have chosen. You can choose a small pond and landscape directly around it. Or, you can expand the landscape as far away as you wish.
3. Do you want to use live plants or artificial beauties?
Artificial plants can be as attractive as live plants. And, they don’t require the care and maintenance that live varieties do.
4. What kinds of plants and flowers are you going to use to landscape?
There are a variety of plants and flowers available for your exotic koi pond, including water hyacinths, which are beneficial because they help filter the water, lotus and lilies. As for greenery and flowers you’ll want to plant around the outside of your koi pond, choose kinds that complement your overall design.
5. Are you planning on using stones or large rock?
You can use rocks and stones in many ways to landscape your exotic koi pond. Rocks can be used as steps inside the pond, for example, or they can be used on the ground to make a rock garden. Stones are more suitable for smaller ponds where rocks would be too much.
6. Is your exotic koi pond going to flow water across the landscape? Or, will it stay within its confines?
A truly exotic koi pond could meander its water outside of the pond and around a course until it returns. Using this idea will help circulate the water and keep it aerated and cleaner. Planning an intricate design like this would take a lot of planning and the use of fountains, waterfalls, geysers, pumps, streams, basins, et cetera, but it is done in lavish ponds.
7. What about using waterfalls, fountains and streams? Or garden sculptures, bridges and basins?
Even the simplest landscape plans for a koi pond can benefit from using items like waterfalls, et cetera. Garden sculptures, statues and bridges are especially helpful in creating an aesthetic setting right in your own back yard.
8. How many pumps, filters or skimmers will you need?
These numbers will be based on the size and design of your koi pond. It will also depend on how much plant and other aquatic life you are planning on supporting.
9. What about lighting? Do you want to add conventional electrical or solar lighting?
Landscape your exotic koi pond with lighting, and you’ll turn it into a real show when the sun goes down. Solar lighting has many advantages over conventional electric, such as it has no wires to run, it’s inexpensive to use and it’s eco-friendly.
10. What’s your total budget for this project?
As you think of ideas on how you want to landscape your koi pond and items you want to use, it’s a good idea to write them down. You can then check on prices and costs so you can stay within your budget.
Get Inspired
If you don’t already have a basic idea of how you want to landscape your exotic koi pond, it would be helpful for you to visit other ponds to get ideas. Talk to the owners and find out details you need to know. Your next option is to search the Internet for pictures that will inspire your creativity and imagination.
Ideas on How to Landscape Your Exotic Koi Pond
Use Feng Shui to Design an Eastern Koi Pond
Feng shui is basically the Chinese philosophy of placing items in specific locations or in a certain direction in a room or area according to the yin and yang and the flow of chi. It’s believed that feng shui produces positive effects on people and their environment. Your pond doesn’t need to have an Eastern theme for you to use this philosophy.
To create an Eastern theme, you would use bamboo, lava rock, Buddha statues and other similar items to landscape your pond. If you choose this idea, it would be natural to use feng shui to help you design it, but it’s not necessary.
All Stones are Not Dull and Boring
When you think of the word “stones,” you probably think of the plain-colored pieces you can typically find in the dirt. However, if you want to add an exotic and lavish touch to the landscape of your koi pond, look for colored stones. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some even come printed with sayings on them. Check garden centers and search the Internet for the stones you want.
Sources:
http://www.buildyourownpond.biz/gardenpond-design/
http://www.exoticwaterscapes.com/pond-design-gone-wrong.php
http://www.landscapingideasonline.com/koi-ponds-bring-relaxation.php
