Nothing beats spring time in Calgary. Having a pond or water feature in your home only makes spring even that much better. Pond and Waterfall construction is on the rise in the city, considering the last latest boom.
Well fellow Calgary people, that is a good thing, a pond or a waterfall addition to your backyard can add immensely to your property value.
This is a big decision and there are a few things you must take into consideration when going ahead with a pond or waterfall for your home.
The first and foremost you need to understand is you needs and your lifestyle. Calgary is full of little kids running around and playing in the summer time. A pond can be dangerous depending on the age of your kids. In this case, most people go for Calgary pondless waterfalls to prevent the risk of a little one falling in.
Next issue is maintenance. There are not a lot of maintenance companies in Calgary, so you will most likely be maintaining your Calgary ponds and waterfalls yourself. I am a pond builder in the Calgary area, we build low maintenance ponds and waterfalls, not no maintenance.
In regards to ponds, they require cleaning once a year. Larger ponds have a bigger ecosystem, so there is a point in which a pond becomes self sustainable. A good pond clean out typically takes a couple of hours.
The idea here is to pump out the old water, clean out the pond bottom with perhaps a pressure washer and then rinse and repeat until you have a clean pond.
Once your pond is clean, there are many natural microbes you can add that will help with the cleaning of your pond.
In the winter, most people in Calgary leave their fish in their pond and get a small heater to keep a hole in the ice. It isn't the cold Calgary winters (even though we are blessed with chinooks) that kill fish, it is the trapped gases underneath the ice. (especially in a small pond)
In regards to pond less waterfall maintenance, it is really easy. Many in Calgary leave their waterfall turned on for the winter, as a waterfall in Calgary in the winter looks amazing iced over. Beware that it doesn't get too cold or your pump could freeze.
If things get too cold for your pond less waterfall make sure that you take your pump in for the winter. All that has to be done is to put your pump is a bucket of water in a frost free location.
The only other thing to really be concerned about is the monthly cost. A typical pump will run in the neighbourhood of $30.00 - $50.00 per month. This isn't too bad, but it can add up. Not all Calgary folk are rich.
Lastly, no pond or waterfall in Calgary is complete without plants. You must ask, what colors will work best for my waterfall? When do you want blooms? Are you going to try and overwinter your plants? Or are you going to bring them in for the winter?
Well, these are just a few important things to look at when deciding on purchasing a pond or waterfall, but they are all important.
