What You Must Have In Your Pond or Water
Garden Starter Kits
Many newcomers to the wonderful hobby of water gardening
are attracted to the idea because they've seen a gardening
program on TV. The experts made it look so easy and
inviting. What seemed so easy to do by a seasoned expert
may not be so easy for the newcomer however and that's why
we're here to help.
Before you consider buying a pond kit (by kit we really
mean your selection of components matched correctly and
obtained from a single source rather than a pre-packaged
mix) take a look at our introductions
to pond keeping and water gardens. This will help you
to decide whether a pond kit is the best option for you.
Maybe you should also look around for good
easy to understand books about water
gardens.
Good pond kits ... Absolutely essential
supplies
A pond kit should contain the following
products which should be of the highest
quality. In water gardening buying the
lowest cost unknown equipment has been
proven time and again to be a mistake.
Correcting serious pond defects is always
considerably more expensive than buying
quality products in the first place.
-
A flexible
pond liner supplied as a rectangular
sheet is the preferred way of creating a
custom built pond design to fit your
vision ... we recommend Polyex flexible
pond and waterfall liners because these
have been the best selling liners in the
UK for many years. Because a pond is
forever they come with a 35yr guaranteed
and at times we normally offer free
underlay with the liner bought from us
(just check by clicking the link to the
store).
-
Pond liner
underlay ... when a hole has been dug to
accept the liner it is always best to
place a layer of sand on the base before
placing the underlay (the final Polyex
liner goes on top of the underlay).
The sand and underlay are to prevent stones
coming up through the soil and
puncturing the pond liner. Polyex is
extremely flexible and durable and safe
for use in any fish pond. Visit the page
about liner sizing to see how to
calculate the amount of liner and
underlay you'll need to suit your pond
design. Remember the final liner size
should be sufficient to allow for a pond
final depth of 2-3 feet (say 60 to 90
cm) minimum and about a 1 ft (30 cm)
surround on which the final pond edging
can be laid. You should allow for more
pond liner and underlay if you
intend to create planting shelves using
the pond liner itself.
-
A
submersible pond pump. Make sure you
pick the right model with the right
specification. There are so many pumps
and models that do different duties that
pump specification can be a bit of a
minefield. On this site we've made
choosing the right pump for any pond and
waterfall situation easy for you.
Nevertheless you might just want to give
us a ring to check out your final
decision. Waterfalls and pump choice ...
the right pond and waterfall pump is
decided upon by considering the height
of the waterfall above the pond surface
and the width of the waterfall's
overflow lip or edge. A good rule of
thumb for most waterfalls is to allow
250 to 300 litres per minute of flow for
every inch (2.5cm) width of overflow
lip. Most top brand pumps come
with free complete fountain kits and
fittings. These are always a good choice
... if you ever need to buy fountains
separately they are expensive and often
the right fit is difficult to achieve.
-
Do buy
kink free flexible pipe or tubing and
make the connections as short as
possible and use a hose size of diameter
25mm or more in most cases. This kind of
flexible kink-free pipe will not easily
restrict water flow when you need to
bend it round corners or place it close
to rocks. This pipe is also easy to
attach to the pump and other pond
equipment using clamps. Small diameter
pipe or tubing and extra long lengths
should be avoided because they reduce
the flow of water from the pump. Use the
right kind and size of clamps for your
plumbing to make future maintenance easy
on yourself ... eg stainless steel
clamps or plastic ones that don't rust.
-
Possibly
the most important part of your kit will
be your choice of pond filter and UVC
(ultra violet light clarifier). This
system of a biofilter and UVC will
achieve 2 vitally important things ...
(1) the pond biofilter will clean and
purify the pond water and (2) the UVC
(ultra violet light clarifier) will make
the pond water clear by killing any
suspended algae. This algae in
suspension is so small it cannot be
filtered out and the algae is the major
reason for cloudy green or murky brown
pond water. Never think of installing a
fish pond without using a combination of
biofilter and UVC. These days the best
units come as a single combined product
item and they can be pressurized or
gravity fed systems.
-
Pond and
water garden projects need electricity
to run the pump and UVC. You might
decide now or later to add lighting to
your pond surrounds or even install
submersed low voltage pond lights. These
all need electricity and as everybody
knows water and electricity do not mix
well so safety is of paramount
importance. Make your choice of the
right safety equipment from products
like junction boxes for steel armoured
cable, safety RCD (residual current
devices) adaptors and master plugs as
well as Armadillo extension cables.
Pond kits and
accessories ... There are many other
accessories you may want to consider for a
complete top class pond project but the
listed supplies above MUST be included.
Omit any of these products and your water
gardening project will become a
disappointment rather than a joy. You'll
certainly want a few aquatic plants and
planting baskets. Skimmers are
great accessories but they do make pond
installation a bit more complex.
Example of a pre-packaged pond kit
supplied by Bradshaws for a 1000 Litre Pond
Kit
These pond and filtration kits have been put
together by Bradshaws to give you everything
you need to create your water garden. The
1000 litre pond kit provides all the
equipment for a small perfect pond - typical
dimensions 2m x 1m x 0.5m deep
-
1 x Green Genie 2000
-
1 x Maximus 800
-
1 x 20mm Hose (5m)
-
1 x Double Waterfall Slate
Grey or Sandstone
-
1 x Polyex 4m x 3m liner
(25yr Guarantee)
-
1 x Standard Underlay 4m
x 3m
-
3 x Wire Hose Clips
Click
here to buy a pond kit from Bradshaws.
A note about
supplies from Bradshaws because we bank our
25 years reputation and our future success
on our customer service and free advice we
present you with.
Slick Professional Order Line and Customer Sales Advice
Bradshaws understand that the creation of your first pond or water feature can seem quite
daunting. Bradshaws provide all the free help, information and advice you'll ever need and we're just a phone call away.
We'll gladly help you choose pond kits to suit all pond size situations.
Check us out ...
Call our CUSTOMER CARE ORDER HOTLINE on 0870 444 8271 to reach our
friendly, knowledgeable staff, fully trained and
always on hand to answer any queries or problems you have quickly and
efficiently. Don't let your lack of experience deter you here .. there are no
silly questions as far as Bradshaws is concerned. Customer care and service is
uppermost in our minds at all times. Your privacy is always guaranteed. Shipping is direct to your door from our warehouse in York and takes
approximately 5-7 working days. However the shipping service can be speeded up
by paying the extra courier costs on items you
order. See our
customer service page for full order, shipping
details online or offline.
Find what you want at any time ... order the
Bradshaws free quality catalogue online ... see the
link at the top of every page.
Your rights are reserved when you order from
Bradshaws either at their online store or shop in
York, Yorkshire in
the North of England.
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