Some things are difficult to reconcile. For example, the desire for a garden pond and the safety of small children in the household. Solutions for securing are primarily pond fences and electronic security systems.
How do I make a pond childproof?
To make a garden pond child-proof, you can install a pond fence, a pond net or gate, or use an electronic alarm system. Each option has advantages and disadvantages in terms of security, accessibility and appearance.
Possible solutions for securing ponds
To secure a pond, the following solutions are available:
- Pond fence
- Pond net or grid
- Electronic alarm system
Secure with a pond fence
The most immediate option for preventing a pond from becoming a danger to children is certainly a fence. It effectively prevents curious small children and pets from reaching the edge of the water - unfortunately, this also blocks your own free, all-round access to your relaxing oasis. Pond fences are therefore most suitable for purely ornamental ponds, which are intended from the outset for viewing from a certain distance.
With a (lockable) gate, access to the pond can be restored quite easily. If the fence is installed at a generous distance from the water, it can even enclose the sunbathing and relaxation area of a jetty landscape around a swimming pond.
In order to lessen the impact on the appearance of the pond, you can conceal the fence, which does not have to be particularly high for child safety, with a surrounding reed grass planting.
Pond net or grid
A variant of child safety that is hardly disturbing in terms of appearance is a pond grate (€29.00 on Amazon) or net from a specialist retailer, which is attached a little below the surface of the water. The depths of the pond that pose a risk of drowning are therefore shielded, but pond plants can easily grow through the mesh structure. However, things get complicated when it comes to plant and water care. According to the DLRG, networks have generally not proven to be secure enough.
Electronic parental controls
If you don't want to surround your pond with an ugly fence or bar the water for reasons of style or accessibility, you can also use modern electronics. There are alarm systems specifically tailored to ponds with plastic floating islands that trigger the warning signal in the event of intensive water surface movement. In order to avoid false alarms, for example due to wind, a certain tolerance limit can be set.
The problem with such systems is that they can never be 100% reliable. Electronic connections – whether physical or wireless – are always susceptible to disruption. In addition, an alarm can definitely be ignored.