Content
- Build a stream yourself - instructions and ideas for home improvement
- What you should pay attention to when planning
- Raise creek and fix the underground
- How to build a stream
- Why the pump is so important
- Note gradient
- Tips
A stream needs a sufficient gradient
Build a stream yourself - instructions and ideas for home improvement
Many garden owners have a small or large pond in their garden. This can be wonderfully extended by a babbling brook, for which it does not even need a steep slope. Only between three and five centimeters per meter height difference are perfectly sufficient to let the stream gently flow through the garden. Read what you should pay particular attention to when planning and building the stream.
What you should pay attention to when planning
Before you reach for spades and pond foil, it is first of all necessary to plan the future creek carefully. Perhaps you already have an idea of what the streamlet should look like: The length, width, course and planting of the stream bed are decisive factors in determining the natural or rather non-natural overall impression. For example, when planning the stream, you should consider these aspects:
In order to save water, you should position the creek in the half or full shade if possible, because in the full sun much water evaporates. A completely shady location, in turn, is also disadvantageous, as the selection of suitable plants for the planting of the shore is very limited here.
Raise creek and fix the underground
It's best to first draw a plan of your creek on a piece of paper and measure the specific dimensions. Finally transfer the sketch to the garden with the aid of a string - this indicates the desired position and course of the stream. Now you can start digging the stream:
The subsoil of the creek bed must be sealed watertight so that the precious water does not simply seep into the ground. There are three ways to do this:
If you decide to use pond liner, plan on both sides for each 25 centimeters more foil than actually needed for the stream: The material is used as leakage protection, moreover, the foil must not slip into the creek.
How to build a stream
Once the planning has been completed, you can now do the desired stream yourself:
Why the pump is so important
Another elemental factor in the construction of the stream is the pump, without which the water will not flow. Position the pump in the garden pond according to the gradient with a capacity of at least 40 liters per minute. However, do not put them directly on its bottom, otherwise mud will be sucked in and clog the pump. However, about 80 centimeters or more water depth is useful, so that the device does not freeze in winter. Alternatively, you can of course also expand in the cold season. For a swimming or fish pond, you can install an integrated pump with a pond filter that keeps the water clean. The necessary water hoses run either above or below the river bank. Although underground hoses are easy to hide, they must always be dug up in the event of repair work.
Note gradient
The slope of the creek is ideally at two and five percent. If it is lower, the water in the stream can not flow, if it is more, the water is too fast and especially after a heavy rain, can carry rocks as well as plants. By a naturally strong slope - for example, because the garden is directly adjacent On a slope, built-in barrages help to slow down the water speed. You also have the advantage that the pump can be temporarily switched off due to the accumulated water and thus save energy.
Tips
For a close-to-nature planting of the shore area, choose native plants that tolerate moisture well. These include, for example, ferns and flowering plants such as grasshopper, irises, juggler flowers and three-master flowers.