If you’re interested in having a water feature in your garden, you need to make sure that you plan for it well. It’s not just about its design and layout or the water plants you’re going to use; it’s also about the impact of such an addition to your property. For instance, it’s not advisable at all to have one if you have little children — living with you or visiting often — to worry about.

If you’re pretty much decided, you need to visualise how you’ll go about creating your water feature. An example of a good water feature structure involves an above ground pool created with rolled chequer plate steel, about 90 cm in height and a metre across. The bottom is filled with compacted sand, serving as a base for a solid pond liner. The interior is lined with flexible poly-liner, which works to create a boggy or marshy area connecting the pond itself and the outer frame. The rigid liner goes into the centre of the frame and soil is added to fill the outer area of the bog zone.

Colocasia Esculenta

Some good choices to plant along the bog are Queensland Arrowroot (Canna edulis) and Green Taro (Colocasia esculenta). Both plants have edible roots. They’re also tall enough to provide shade for the other plants. You could also add a Samphire, the shoots of which you can also eat. Other possibilities include different kinds of mint, such as Chocolate Mint, Vietnamese Mint, and Basil Mint.

Inside the pond, you could place a wide but shallow terracotta bowl set on bricks, low enough so it’s submerged in the water, but almost skimming the surface. This provides the correct depth for Water Chestnuts, the foliage of which will push above the water. Besides having edible corms that can be harvested in the wintertime, it will also provide a frog habitat.

Lebanese Cress

You could put in some upside down terracotta pipes which will serve as planting pockets for even more edible water plants. Lebanese Cress, for one, is delicious and thrives well in little soil as it floats cheerfully on the water surface. Other salad greens you should consider adding are some Water Parsley and juicy English Watercress.

English Watercress

Now, another very valid concern when considering putting in a water feature is the mosquito population, definitely not something you want to encourage. It’s a good idea to add fish like Pygmy Perch to help eliminate mosquito larvae. Frogs and aquatic insects will also help, and pretty soon, you’ll have a thriving (not to mention edible) aquatic habitat to soothe the spirit, delight the eyes, and contribute to your dinner.

A good tip to keep in mind is to use rain water in filling your water feature. This is suitable for supporting fish right away. When you use tap water, you have to wait and let it stand for 24 hours in full sunlight to get rid of the chlorine.

Jim’s Mowing are the garden specialists and are happy to help with any gardening queries that you might have. Just call on 0800 454 654 or book online for your free, no-obligation quote.

Purple Lagerstroemia Indica

Pink Lagerstroemia Indica

Flowering trees offer a different kind of beauty to the exterior space of various properties; what’s even nicer about them is they often change hues over time. In Australia, there’s a diverse mix of flowering trees that homeowners can select from to improve the aesthetic appeal of their outdoor space, and among the best flowering trees in the country (and the rest of the world, actually) are crepe myrtles which reach different heights and spreads, and come in different variants.

Crepe myrtles or Lagerstroemia indica are native to eastern Asia and Australia and they are distinguished by their vase-shape and trusses of white, different depths of pink, and purple flowers that have a crepe-like texture, which typically appear late in the summer. These flowering trees are easily pruned to maintain their beautiful, natural shape, and when summer turns to autumn, the leaves turn into a visual delight of yellow green, yellow, orange (rust) and red before they actually fall. And in addition to their pretty flowers and the changing colours of their leaves, crepe myrtles also look particularly nice because of their coloured, smooth, mottled trunks.

The crepe myrtle is a favourite among gardeners, particularly the native and Indian Summer range, because they grow easily and are resistant to powdery

White Lagerstroemia Indica

mildew, a fungal disease that often attacks older crepe varieties. Likewise, they have good cold tolerance — they don’t require special care when warm weather turns cool.

To keep these flowering trees healthy, Jim’s Mowing advises keeping them properly hydrated, especially in the summer. Make sure that you water them long and deeply to encourage roots to go deeper as well and have the ability to “forage” for additional moisture; this is so that even when the top soil is parched, these trees will continue to grow and yield the beauty they are known for.

Autumn Foliage of the Lagerstroemia Indica

And to further reduce the risk of powdery mildew, make sure that there’s good air circulation in the garden. As for weeds that like to grow at the base of the tree, aside from strategic mowing, the introduction of fresh mulch can take care of them. Meanwhile, to encourage fresh growth and maintain the nice vase shape they have, especially during the turnover of seasons, prune wilted leaves and branches — when you do so, you can expect new flowers to sprout soon.

Crepe myrtles can be found in all nurseries in the country; they are very affordable — just about $20 a pot for really young seedlings.

For all of your gardening needs, call Jim’s Mowing on 0800 454 654 or book online for a free, no-obligation quote!