A garden pond's appeal does not just come from its water content. The bank is at least as effective for the overall aesthetic impression. It's amazing how a pond's character can change based on the design of its surroundings.
What options are there for pond edge design?
When designing the edge of the pond, you can use different elements depending on the type of pond: Stones and decorative objects are suitable for prefabricated ponds, natural ponds benefit from nutrient-drawn plants and formal ponds have an elegant look thanks to straight-lined slabs and pond figures.
Design the pond border depending on the type of pond
Of course, the question of how to design a pond border always comes down to the type of pond. Purely functional prerequisites ultimately arise from whether you create the pond yourself as a liner or clay pool or use a prefabricated pool.
Prefabricated pond
With a prefabricated pool pond, you only have limited options because the pond is hermetically sealed at the edge and there is no transition zone with moist bank substrate. Here, a clear distinction must be made between the shallow water zone planting and the outer edge design. The advantage: When planting outside, you are relatively free in your choice of plants. Theoretically, flowering plants can also be cultivated here without actually using water. However, it is unfavorable to completely surround it with a bed of soil because it can cause too much nutrient-rich substrate to get into the pond water.
The usually small, cute character of a prefabricated pond can be charmingly underlined with large, shapely stones (€7.00 on Amazon), standing figures and decorative objects such as wind turbines.
Natural pond
With a natural pond, it is advisable to design the pond edge not only according to aesthetic but also biofunctional aspects. In the swampy bank zone, numerous nutrient-drawn plants can make a good contribution to keeping the pond water clean. Very effective in this regard are:
- Bulbs
- Calmus
- Fern
These tall grasses or ferns create a very natural and mysterious pond appearance and also provide shelter for numerous animal species.
If you want something a little more transparent, you can also use a border with a low natural stone wall. However, this appears less natural and also puts strain on the pond liner material in the long term. A compromise would be to surround only part of the pond border with such a wall and to plant the rest openly.
The pond has a very cheerful and colorful character thanks to the colorful flowers on the bank. For example, the following color beauties are ideal for the swamp zone:
- Water Iris
- Swamp Forget-me-not
- Swamp Marigold
- Swamp Iris
- Loosestrife
Formal Ponds
If you place less value on a natural appearance and water system and have a weakness for architecturally defined shapes, you may prefer a straight slab border when designing your pond edge. This means that a pond exudes a cool elegance and is also directly accessible, for example to observe colorful, shimmering fish or to cool off your feet. The prerequisite for such a closed pond border is of course an effective technical filter pump system.
Large, formally present spitting figures also fit very well with such a linear slab pond edge. With their figure bodies and the arched jet movement, they create an attractive structural contrast to the strict shape of the straight edge of the plate and the geometrically defined water surface.
Neatly maintained pots with topiary plants such as boxwood or dwarf privet at the corners of the panel border also emphasize the elegant, stately style of such a shaped pond.