July 19, 2008
By Stacie Nichols
STAFF WRITER
The famous author Henry David Thoreau went into the woods to learn all that nature had to teach him.
Today, those who want to appreciate nature sometimes bring nature into their world.
Richard Panten, owner of Platinum Ponds in Greenville, helps make an at-home oasis a reality for clients who live in the city.
Why have backyard ponds become so popular?
“If you want an instant vacation every time you step out to your back yard — and I hear this time and time again from my clients — rather than just a bunch of Polaroids that you come home with from your vacation, this thing is something that’s in your yard. It saves you gas. It is enjoyed by more than just the two people who went on vacation, and it creates a little bit of paradise in your back yard,” Panten said.
Jen with her husband, Gene, loves the learning opportunities her two backyard ponds provide for her three children.
“They get out, and they love to watch the fish. We’ve had a turtle move in, and we have five bullfrogs,” Morrow said. “It really teaches them about nature. We’ve had dragonflies and butterflies that come to flowering plants, and lizards.”
Panten’s company specializes in designing what he calls “wetlands.” These can be as small as 4 by 6 feet and as large as half-acre lakes, he said.
“The same technology works in a back yard that would work in a lake,” Panten said.
“We just make it to scale.”
The technology he is referring to is a filtration system.
The ponds that Panten and his team of CACs (Certified Aquascape Contractors) install are equipped with a biological filter and a mechanical filter.
The mechanical filter houses a pump (inside of a “skimmer box” to keep it from clogging), which sends water up through a hose and through the biological filter, which is used to create a decorative waterfall.
“Inside that biological filter, you will have pads and media that grow beneficial bacteria, which ensures that every homeowner has crystal-clear, bottle-able water,” Panten said.
One of Platinum Ponds’ most popular water gardens is the 8-by-11-foot “Dragonfly.”
“We call it a water garden because it opens a whole new hobby in actually gardening with aquatic plants,” Panten said. “That’s one of my passions.”
Ponds have to be at least 8 by 11 feet to suit aquatic life such as fish and plants. And another benefit of ponds large enough to support aquatic life is mosquito control. Dragonflies, fish and birds all love to dine on the blood-sucking pests.
“In some of our ponds, our clients don’t even feed their fish because they can feed directly off nature,” Panten said.
Morrow stresses the importance of a having a balanced ecosystem in your pond.
First, you need to have an adequate amount of fish for the volume of water you have, she said.
“Our rule of thumb is one fish per 200 gallons. It may not seem like a lot in the beginning, but as the fish grow, your pond will seem full.”
With the fish you also need to have enough aquatic plants.
“The plants take in the extra nutrients, thus starving algae from being able to get those nutrients,” Morrow said. “Algae is a bad thing for those who want to enjoy the water features; they’re not really bad for the pond.”
Plants that work well in a water garden include taro, creeping Jenny, star grass, lilies, lotus, blue bells, hibiscus and liriope.
A successful ecosystem also requires homeowners to make sure the full volume of a pond is circulated once per hour.
Know how many gallons of water are in your pond and purchase a pump that pumps at least that much water per hour, Morrow said.
The fourth ecosystem component is introducing beneficial bacteria to your pond.
Even if you have a biological filter, you should introduce extra bacteria to the pond water about once or twice a month, Morrow said.
Bacteria breaks down fish waste and food waste, turning those waste products into nutrients.
The fifth and final eco-element is rocks and gravel. These protect your liner and give the bacteria something to latch onto, she said.
Many people choose to have streams connected to their ponds.
“We love our streams,” Panten said. “I call them self-cleansing birdbaths.”
Pondless waterfalls are the newest trick on the market. They contain the same bacteria as ponds, but the water disappears into a bed of gravel before it is recycled back to the top of the waterfall.
“It’s the sound of nature minus the fish,” Panten said. “It’s done by the foot, kind of like carpet.”
All of the ponds have steps installed for safety’s sake, just in case a child should meander into the water and need a way to get out. With a typical depth of 2 feet,
however, most ponds aren’t designed for swimming.
Whichever type of pond you decide is right for your back yard, plan on forking out some cash for your little piece of heaven — an 8-by-11 pond will run you about $4,999 installed, but it’s a onetime expense.
Because ponds are basically self-cleaning, upkeep is very simple.
“Just make sure the skimmer box is clean of debris. Then there’s a little bit of pruning once a year and a whole bunch of enjoyment. It’s less maintenance than the grass it replaces,” Panten said.
Still, if you think you have the skills needed and don’t need instant gratification, there is something to be said for do-it-yourself ponds.
Timmy McGill of Berea is building a two-tiered pond in his yard. When the project is completed, it will have a self-propelled waterfall and a fountain in the center of the larger pond.
The smaller pond, a Home Depot special, is already in place, but McGill is in the middle of the larger pond project. He dug out the base for the 5-foot by 15 to 20-foot pond and cut steps in the dirt leading up to the smaller pond with an excavator from the construction company he works for. The steps will serve as the channel for the waterfall, and a simple pump will circulate water from the lower pond to the upper pond so that it can flow back down.
He’s been gathering large rocks from construction sites to line the pond and steps.
Although he’s not sure what kind of fountain he’s going to put in the lower pond, he knows he wants it to be pretty elaborate, he said. And he believes that when it’s complete, the water garden will significantly raise the value of his property.
But that’s not the only attraction for McGill. He loves the look and feel that a water feature brings to a yard, he said.
“My problem is, I took on a little more than I thought it was going to be,” McGill said.
The project is on hold while he puts a few more coins in the piggy jar. But McGill doesn’t doubt he will have saved a heap of money in the end by doing it himself.
Altogether the project will cost him about $2,250.
If he had hired a contractor to do the job, it probably would have cost him around $20,000, he said.
Platinum Ponds will debut the Upstate's Longest Free Pond Tour at the Women's Show.
