Landscaping Your Koi Fish Pond

As much an area for your fish to thrive, your koi fish pond is just as much so a place to recharge, so how you landscape your koi fish pond is an integral part of that relaxation. The exterior aesthetics and associated design of what goes around the pond can help to create (or detract) from your experience.

We covered the elements of designing your koi pond in a previous post. This is a broad overview of how to complete your oasis with the necessary ergonomics and aesthetics.

Designs

Beyond the importance of correct pond construction, one of the biggest considerations is how and if the design fits within its surroundings. Integrating with existing elements and the natural surroundings (both indoor and out) to achieve the desired effect should be one of the primary objectives of whomever designs the pond.

If the proposed site doesn’t have any topographical or natural constraints there are numerous variations on themes to choose from to suit particular tastes—woodland, formal, modern, tropical are but a few available options.

Additionally, landscapes can also be manufactured to recreate different garden styles that resemble established styles (think Japanese or English).

Around the Pond

Edging

Materials to edge around the pond are variegated and can sometimes have the additional benefit of reinforcing the koi fish pond. Depending on where your pond is and the theme or style you adopt there are many different options to consider. From wood to stone and metal to brick, they should be chosen according to how they complement your vision, the design and the surroundings.

Plant life

Wherever possible, consider integrating any trees or plants that are already there into the ponds’ design. It’s a good way to blend your pond in with the existing environment and save money in the landscaping phase.

If you’re able to add plants, consider that what’s around the pond will also be seen in the pond (via reflection). Choosing colorful plants and hardy shrubs can both create a swash of pleasing hues and provide cover for other wildlife for an additional element to your pond area.

Also, choose plants (or positions for them) that won’t impede your view from where you are most likely to want to see your pond.

In the Pond

Aquatic plants

Koi can also supplement their diets with some types of natural plant life. Additionally, some plants act as oxygenators, helping to raise the oxygen content, which in turn will sustain the koi fish.

However, as koi can be somewhat destructive to aquatic plants, some enthusiasts will fence portions of their plant life off so as to restrict access to them while still providing the other benefits.

Along with the aesthetic value and nutritional impact of aquatic plants, they have other important roles, too. Floating plants, like lilies, add color, shade and a place to hide from the eyes of predators. They can be helpful in blocking the direct sunlight, which can limit algae blooms.

Blooms can also be combated naturally while adding to the ponds allure by introducing other wildlife like snails, frogs, toads, and sometimes turtles. As well as helping to add more nature to the koi pond and controlling algae, these creatures can also manage the insect populations.

Here are some questions to consider about the overall aesthetics of your pond design:

• Are the filters and pumps visible and/or audible?
• Is the lining visible and how/with what am I going to hide it?
• Does the interplay between landscaping materials (rocks, plants, waterfall, etc) and pond itself make it too bland or too ostentatious?
• Are the sounds coming from the pond soothing?
• Are the materials I have chosen suitable for the surroundings? For rock and stone selections, are they the correct dimensions?
• Will I still be able to interact with my koi?
• Will I be able to see from numerous areas around the koi pond?
• Do the plants appear to be naturally positioned and will they make cleaning the pond more difficult?

There are some standard designs, but variations and ingenuity of design as well as the implementation of them can have some impressive and unexpected results.

When you are ready to complement your pond with “living jewels,” Next Day Koi offers a wide selection of koi fish for sale that are sourced from some of the best farms around the world.

Coupled with a great selection of both sizes and types, we leverage our high volume of shipping through UPS to bring you some of the most competitive Next Day Air shipping rates in the industry.