Tips to create a lotus pond in your apartment
Having a lotus pond in your garden will beautify your garden with the elegant flowers
One of the most exotic and colourful outdoor water plant is the lotus. The fragrance of the flower adds to the serenity of the garden and due to this, the flower is considered as one of the favourite decorative plants and is also the national flower of India. Having a garden pool in your apartment in India is one of the best ways to enhance the garden. One can create an attractive landscape by having the tall flowers with fresh green broad leaves. You can choose the flowers among various colours ranging from pink, white, blue, yellow and purple. You can add drama to your apartment garden by creating a lotus pond as they also enhance visual interest. Here are a few steps on how you can create your own lotus pond;
Choose a proper location:
Before creating a lotus pond in your garden, you should choose an apt location and dig it. Make sure that the pond is created right under the sunlight as the flowers need almost 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight.
Dig the meticulous way:
Once you have chosen the appropriate place, you should install a preformed pond unit and dig a hole to conform the size and shape of the pond unit. To cushion the preformed pond, you should layer the pond with the bottom of the hole with ample amount of sand. Once this is done, station the pond unit in the hole and seal half the pond with water to compress the sand under the preformed unit. Ensure that you adjust the pond unit to check its level and also fill the side gaps with sand and press it harder to remove the air in it. Fill the pond with your desired amount of water.
Use of round containers:
Once you have filled the pond with water, choose a set of round containers and place a few rocks and pebbles in them. This will help them stay on the bottom underwater. Add clay soil or pond soil on top of the rocks and add a layer of sand to prevent the soil from eroding away. Make sure that you add suitable soil for the plant to grow.
Planting:
You would have decided on the type of lotus to be grown in your pond and have got the lotus rhizome well before creating the pond. Take a lotus rhizome and place it on the sand layer and position it with small stones. You should place the lotus rhizome on the sand layer rather than the soil layer, as this will prevent the plant from rotting. Also, placing small stones around the plant will protect the plant from being pulled away by any fish in your pond.
Placing the plant:
Once you have neatly arranged everything, lower the container slowly in the pond and make sure that the top of the container should be no more than 12 inches and no less than 6 inches below the surface of the water. If the plant is not in a proper height or is not supported well, prop the plant with bricks and clay pots.
Fertilization:
You can keep your lotus pond healthy by cleaning it regularly and using an apt aquatic fertilizer pellets every year.
Points to remember while creating a lotus pond in your apartment:
- Apart from just opting for the preformed pond unit, you can also dig the pond in your desired shape.
- Apart from just a lotus plant, you can also opt for lilies in your pond.
- Avoid the breeding of mosquitoes in your pond. You can keep a school of fishes in your pond to kill the mosquito larvae.
- You can also add ornamental embellishments in your pond to beautify it.
For information on how to plant lotus tubers, you can follow the below link;
http://www.bonniesplants.com/lotus/dividing_tubers/planting_lotus_tubers.htm
