There’s something about water that draws people in, it could be the sound, could be the look of moving water, or it could be the fact that it’s a substance that our lives depend on. History proves that we as humans typically lived near a water source; we did this in the past to ensure we had enough water to survive day to day tasks like hunting, building, cooking and working. There’s more to water features than just being water, they’re amazing, living things and will bring you more joy than you’d imagine. Whether it’s a pond, pondless waterfall, fountain or recreation pond, you’ll love it from day one. Here are the 10 reasons why a pond or water feature is the perfect yard feature for you!
1 – The Feeling
The sound and look of running water is amazing, the feeling of walking into your yard and seeing and hearing a moving water feature is a feeling like no other. You’ll be relaxed and want to enjoy the feature. Bringing back childhood memories of when you were young and down by the water or feeding the fish. Growing up, most of us wanted ponds, if we couldn’t have one we tried to make due with a local stream, pool of water or lake but couldn’t get there often. Now that you’re older, you can finally have the feature of your dreams and if you want to, keep fish, turtles or other aquatic family pets in them.
2 – Brings You Outdoors
You’ll never spend more time outdoors, than if you have a water feature. Believe me, you’ll be finding excuses to go outside. Bringing a living, moving feature into your yard will draw you in and make you want to spend your free time outside. Whether it’s to work while at home, read, relax or do some yard chores, you enjoy your time outdoors way more when there’s a water feature.
3 – Bring an Ecosystem Into Your Yard
Ponds don’t just bring water into your yard, they’ll bring life. If you’re in an area where wildlife can access your yard, it can bring in birds, deer and other amazing creatures to your yard, great for pictures, or to just enjoy seeing them so close. Along with all the plants and life, your system is a living ecosystem working with nature to keep it healthy.
We’ve come to understand water and the way it works. With the right equipment, your pond will require next to no maintenance and have relatively low operating costs. Bring in the ecosystem ponds!
4 – Low Maintenance & Costs
We’ve all heard it before, ponds are a lot of work.. In the past, this has been true; people built retention ponds, holding tanks, cement or plastic pond inserts that cracked, leaked and would break. Finally with science and technology, we’ve come to understand water and the way it works. With the right equipment, your pond will require next to no maintenance and have relatively low operating costs. Bring in the ecosystem ponds! Ecosystem ponds are water features using mother nature to help the system rather than work against her. With next to no maintenance, and low costs, there’s no reason to not get a pond. Their initial cost is worth what you pay. With these ponds, the main expenses you can expect are:
Electricity: With high efficiency pumps these days, you won’t even notice the difference on your hydro bill for most features. Adding other features like auto dosing systems and LED’s you’d think it would be a high cost, monthly investment, far from true. You can expect a few dollars but unless you’ve got a large system you’ll hardly notice the bill increase. Typically $1 - $30 a month depending on your system and area.
Water: Water features are pretty straight forward when it comes to water. You fill in once and unless you drain it to clean it out, you’ll simply add a bit of water to account for evaporation. Add an auto top-off system to make the system less maintenance. Typically $1 – 30 a month depending on system size and temperatures.
Maintenance: Ponds need one major thing to maintain balance, a proper beneficial bacteria system. Adding a few doses of bacteria can significantly improve water quality, fish health and overall system health. Typically $0 - $10 a month depending on your system.
Yearly maintenance: A proper system shouldn’t need to be drained, at least not regularly, if you chose to drain and clean the system, prices can run about $150+ depending on your system. Or you can spend a few hours and do it yourself; you’ll find an easy DIY guide to cleaning and closing a pond by clicking here!
Other: Fish food, about $5+ a month depending on how many fish you have.
There you have it; water features can be as low as a few dollars a month for everything! The main key to keeping costs low and your feature less maintenance is to have a good system and use natures help. Think about how much time you spend mowing and maintaining your lawn.. and how much cost there is to keep it looking nice, you have the mower, gas, mower maintenance, fertilizer, over seeding, I could go on and on, or you pay someone to do it for you, in which case you pay for labor as well. I think it’s time we all rip out our lawns and install water features!
5 – Brings People Together
Getting people to come over can be a daunting task these days. Having a pond draws people in, I’ve seen time and time again, where people who own ponds, invite people over more often for gatherings or dinner, not to stay indoors but to go outdoors and barbecue or eat dinner. What’s crazier is people will actually want to come over more. People who see your pond for the first time will be in awe at the fact something so amazing is in your yard. They’ll also want to come back. It’s also a great conversation piece.
6 – It’s an Amazing Hobby
We all have hobbies we enjoy, ponds are no exception, you can spend as much time as you want with them, whether its feeding fish, adding plants, or adding features adding landscaping or simply sitting there enjoying it, there’s always something you can do.
7 – Improve The Look Of Your Property - Completes Your Yard
Yards with grass alone should be a thing of the past, a water feature can be that something you’ve been missing. It will drastically improve the look and feel of your property while adding life and nature. When it comes time to sell, it can be a great selling feature bringing you more return on your investment. P.S. Ponds get better with age!
8 – They Get The Family Involved
If you have kids you know how hard it is to get them outdoors to play rather than on sit there on a video game or phone, your kids will want to go outside to feed the fish, play around the feature or take a small dip in the pond. You’ll be able to relax outside and read a book while they play. If you’re worried about pools of water when you have small children, consider a pondless waterfall or a fountain. If you’re retired or don’t have kids, it’ll bring you and your spouse closer when you sit outside for a nightly coffee, to feed the fish or to just relax and eat dinner. You can’t be stressed around a water feature.
9 – Improve Health, Relax and Sleep Better
With the day to day rat race we live in these days, it’s hard to relax. We’re all stressed or have anxiety and most of us have troubles sleeping and it’s no wonder. Water features are therapeutic, their sound alone is enough to send someone into a relaxed trance. You’ll want to just sit and read a book or have a nap outside after a long day of work, stress will be lower when your thoughts drift away at the peaceful tranquility of a water feature, resulting in less stress, better health and better sleep. Open your window at night for peaceful sounds while you lay down and try to sleep, the sound will be sure to put you to sleep.
10 – They Look Amazing
Water features, if done properly will look amazing, they can look like something removed straight out of nature and placed in your yard. Whether it’s a feature in the front yard to capture a certain look or for decoration or in the back to complete the yard and have a place to gather. Adding lights, plants and landscaping can drastically change the look, resulting in amazing features that capture nature.
They say the average person that owns a water feature will own 3 of them in their lifetime, always making them bigger each time. If you don’t have one and are thinking about it, stop thinking and take the plunge, if you have one already, you’re probably thinking of expanding or adding other features! It’s addictive. Ponds can last for decades and they never get old!
If you’re looking for someone to build you a pond, leave a comment below and I’ll try direct you to an amazing artist in your area. If you have any questions or even a nice memory of how water features have affected you, simply leave a comment below.
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