Water gardens · Richmond, VA
Water garden installation in Richmond, VA
Jordan's Water Garden Solutions builds water gardens in Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County and Charlottesville. Jordan Blanton, an Aquascape Certified Contractor, designs and builds each one himself. A water garden is an ecosystem pond built around plants, with or without goldfish, and it starts at $275 per square foot, the same rate as a koi pond.
$275per square foot, to start
What a water garden is
A pond built for the plants, and for everything the plants bring
A water garden is a shallow ecosystem pond, about two feet deep, where the lilies and the rushes are the point. It has the same skimmer and biological filter as a koi pond, the same rock and gravel over the liner, and usually a small stream or waterfall feeding it. It is shallower than a koi pond because it does not have to carry big fish through a winter.
What it does for the yard is the part Jordan likes to talk about. Dragonflies find it the first week. Frogs show up on their own. Birds come down to the shallow edge to drink and bathe. The stream makes just enough sound to cover the neighbors, and the lilies open in the morning and close by evening, so there is always something to walk out and look at.
If you want fish you can name and a deep zone for them, you want a koi pond. If you want a garden that happens to be made of water, with a few goldfish or none at all, this is the page.
What goes in it
The parts of a water garden, above and below the waterline
Each plant has a job. The hardware underneath does the rest, so the water stays clear without a shelf of bottles.
- Marginal plants on the shelves. Pickerel rush, iris and the like, rooted in gravel along the edge. They soften the stone and pull nutrients out of the water before algae can use them.
- Water lilies. Planted in the deeper middle. The pads shade the water in July, which keeps it cooler and keeps the summer algae down. The flowers are the reason most people wanted a pond in the first place.
- Submerged plants. Oxygenators that live under the surface and compete with algae for the same food. You rarely see them. The water shows their work.
- A skimmer and a biological filter. The skimmer pulls leaves and pollen off the surface. The filter at the head of the stream holds the bacteria that do the cleaning. Both are hidden under rock.
- A small waterfall or stream. It moves the water, adds oxygen and gives you the sound. Jordan sizes it to the yard, from a gentle spill to a run of small falls.
- Lighting, if you want it. A few low-voltage lights in the water and on the falls, so the garden is still there after dinner. Optional, and priced on the call.
Fish, now or later
Can fish be added to a water garden later?
It depends on which fish. Decide before the dig if you can, because depth is the one thing that is hard to add afterwards.
Goldfish, yes
A water garden built by Jordan handles a school of goldfish or shubunkin from day one or years later. They are small, they graze the algae, and the grandkids can count them from the edge. The filter already in the pond is enough.
Koi, with changes
Koi grow large and need a deeper zone to winter in and a lot more filtration. If koi are a maybe, Jordan builds the depth in now. If the pond is already in, he can add depth, a wetland filter or a bigger skimmer as an upgrade.
Sizes and prices
Water gardens start at $275 per square foot, the same rate as a koi pond
The number is the pond's footprint times the rate. A water garden is shallower than a koi pond, but the liner, the rock, the skimmer and the filter are the same, so Jordan prices them the same way. A stream or waterfall feeding the pond is added at $950 per linear foot.
The estimate calculator runs this math for you and shows a range fifteen percent either side, rounded to the nearest $500. The site visit settles the real figure before any contract.
Footprint times $275 per square foot, before any stream or waterfall. Every pond is measured on the site visit.
Recent work
Water gardens Jordan has built
After the build
Keeping a water garden clear takes a few visits a year
A water garden wants a spring clean-out before the plants wake up, a net or a visit in fall before the leaves come down, and the lilies divided every few years when they crowd the pot. Jordan does all of it, as single visits or on a maintenance plan, so the pond stays the easy part of the yard.
Questions
What Richmond homeowners ask about water gardens
Anything else, ask Jordan on the call.
What is included in a water garden installation?
A water garden from Jordan's Water Garden Solutions in Richmond, VA is a shallow ecosystem pond with a skimmer, a biological filter, rubber liner covered in rock and gravel, a small stream or waterfall, and the first planting of marginals, lilies and submerged plants. Lighting is optional. Jordan builds it himself and sizes every part on the site visit.
Can I add koi or other fish to a water garden later?
Goldfish, yes, at any time. Koi need a deeper zone and much more filtration than a water garden carries, so Jordan's Water Garden Solutions either builds that depth in from the start or adds depth and filtration later as an upgrade to a Richmond pond. Say "maybe koi" on the call and Jordan plans for it. See koi ponds and pond upgrades.
What kinds of plants go in a water garden?
Jordan's Water Garden Solutions plants hardy water lilies in the deeper middle, marginal plants such as pickerel rush, iris and water lettuce on the shelves, and submerged oxygenating plants under the surface. The mix changes with the sun your Richmond yard gets and whether you want flowers, wildlife or both.
Will a water garden attract mosquitoes?
Not one that is built right. Mosquitoes breed in still water, and a water garden from Jordan's Water Garden Solutions has a skimmer, a filter and a stream keeping the whole pond moving. The goldfish, frogs and dragonflies that move into a Richmond pond eat the larvae that do show up.
How often does a water garden need cleaning?
Once or twice a year. A spring clean-out before the plants wake up, from $925, and a fall visit or net before the leaves drop, from $725, keep a well-built water garden clear. Jordan's Water Garden Solutions offers both as single visits or on a maintenance plan across Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and Charlottesville. See pond cleaning and maintenance.
Keep exploring
More from Jordan's
Read: Jordan's at the Lewis Ginter Spring Plant Sale
Based in Richmond, working across Richmond, Charlottesville, Chesterfield County and Henrico County.
Estimate calculator
See what your water garden would cost
A few quick questions, one at a time, and a price range on the spot. A water garden is priced like a koi pond, so choose that option for the size. Then pick a time for a free phone consultation with Jordan.