How to make a stream in the country house with your own hands, types of reservoirs and examples of ready-made solutions
An artificial reservoir is an exceptionally effective technique for creating a landscape on the site of a country house. A stream on the territory of the cottage will give the landscape originality, improve the microclimate. The length and width of the channel depends on the size of the area and the water source for filling. It can be a closed system if the water resource is limited. If there is a natural reservoir nearby (spring, river, stream), a diversion is made to the artificial structure.
Advantages of using artificial flow
The creation of a stream makes it possible to brighten up an unfortunate place in the landscape of the site. Especially if there is a drop. Instead of leveling the site, it is turned into a wildlife corner, where water flows, ornamental plants grow on the banks. Moving water intensely evaporates, saturating the air with oxygen and moisture. The murmur of water is the best anti-stress.
Additional decorative elements that enhance the charm of the stream can be bridges, gazebos, swings. A miniature seating area will appear in the garden. Birds will fly to the stream to drink.Its banks will be inhabited by insects living near water, for example, dragonflies. For city dwellers, cut off from nature, this is an opportunity to observe wildlife inhabitants up close.
Development of a project for a future stream with your own hands
A hydraulic structure requires careful planning so that in the future the water does not seep into the ground or wash away the banks of the canal. The stream should harmoniously fit into the landscape of the site, have a sufficient volume of water. In landscaping, two forms of water state are used: dynamic and static. Dynamic is a stream, a waterfall, a waterfall. In this case, visual and sound sensations are used, which are associated with the fluidity of water (lapping and murmuring). In a static form, the visual principle is fundamental, which is why artificial ponds and basins are created.
The location of the stream and the degree of its emotional impact depends on its volume and power, the speed of the current and the height of the fall, the configuration of the stream. The composition of a water structure should be based on the features of the relief, water resources. Chaotic, unrelated to the terrain, the location of the bends will disrupt the perception of the stream as a natural flow.
The contours of the channel are chosen depending on the type of soil. On a flat area with eroded soils, the stream should be as meandering as possible. To change, you have to create slopes so that there is a change of current: from a fast pond to a calm pond. The channel needs to be widened and narrowed, which also affects throughput. The current is influenced by the depth of the channel, speeding it up as it moves through shallow rocky waters.
The emotional impact of water runoff is amplified if rocks are in its path. Splashes and waves focus attention on themselves. If the stones form a small dam through which the water overflows, a shallow lake forms below its fall (as occurs under natural conditions).
The principle of constructing an artificial water flow is as follows: the highest point (source) and the lowest point are selected/created. The lowest point is at the bottom of the reservoir, where the stream will flow. A submersible pump is located here to pump water from the reservoir to the highest point. After that, water from the spring flows by gravity down the slope.
Choose a shape and style
In landscaping, a distinction is made between regular and landscape styles. The regular style originated in France in the 17th century. The essence of the design lies in the axial composition, in the center of which there is a tank. In this case, the turns of the channels must be synchronized. Symmetrical compositions of ornamental plants and lawns form on both sides of the stream.
Lawns and flower beds should have the right shape, trees should have a trimmed crown. A mandatory part of the regular style is the grove. A grove is made up of trees and shrubs, pruned in such a way that they form a plant wall, an arch, a turret, a column.
Groves are divided into two types:
- Firm. Plants are planted along the perimeter of the axis.
- Grove. Trees and bushes form picturesque groups.
The regular style is a symmetrical planting of ornamental plants, geometrically regular lawns, straight paths diverging from the stream. The design is completed by vases on pedestals, sculptures “imitating antiquity”.
The landscape style was created by the British. The essence of the design is as close to nature as possible. It lacks straight lines, symmetry, mowed lawns, bright colors, anything reminiscent of human intervention. Paths from the stream / to the stream, buildings, flower beds are not laid in a straight line, but with smooth turns. They must be an opportunity to walk on the site where the natural landscape has been recreated.
Calculation of water volume
An error in calculating the volume of water will reduce the effort and cost of creating an artificial stream to zero. The problem is that the pump pumps the water at a higher rate than it returns it to the reservoir due to the topography and path of the channel. Also, the higher the flow, the more water evaporates. According to average calculations, the water in an artificial stream does not flow more than 2 meters per minute. During the operation of a stream with a 10-meter-long bed, 200-300 liters of water must be constantly moving.
When independently calculating the volume of water in a stream, it is necessary to take into account:
- source area;
- the height of the water column from the highest point to the lowest point;
- the volume of water in the pipe from the pump to the source.
For uninterrupted functioning of the stream, water must be periodically added to it due to evaporation losses.
Design
Before the start of construction of the artificial stream, planning is carried out, where its bed will be laid: a place is selected and the slope is determined. Its trajectory, its width, its depth, the creation of faults, waterfalls are thought out in detail. The longer the stream, the more effort and materials will be required for its arrangement.The depth and width of the channel depends on the desire. Standard widths are 50 to 150 centimeters, depths 30 to 50 centimeters.
Source creation
An artificial influx of water is masked as a spring emanating from a crack in a rock, a pile of stones flowing from a ceramic vessel or a wooden mask. One kind of source is a waterfall. It can be designed on any terrain, if necessary, creating an alpine slide.
Water enters the spring through a pipe from a submersible pump. To do this, at a depth of 30-40 centimeters, a trench is dug, at the bottom of which a sand cushion is laid. A polypropylene pipe is laid to the point of overflow, covered with soil and tamped.
Channel layout
After the design work, they start laying the channel. Its marking is done according to the trajectory, width and depth to give the desired shape. During the excavation process, roots, stones are removed, the soil is tamped and a sand base is laid.
The next step is to do the waterproofing. The method is chosen according to the project: membrane or coating. A layer of sand is poured over the soft waterproofing materials for a perfect fit. In the tank where the pump will be located, a layer of PVC film glued at the joints is additionally laid. The coastline is reinforced with mortar and lined with stones or pebbles.
Decoration
An artificial spring is a miniature water feature. Its landscape environment should, on close inspection, create the illusion of a natural origin. For this, small and medium-sized hydrophilic plants are planted nearby:
- viburnum;
- astilbe;
- fern.
If a regular design style of an artificial stream is chosen, then the source is made in the form of a mascaron (a decorative element depicting a human face or an animal head in a grotesque or fantastic form) of a form geometrically regular made of stones.
The decoration of the stream consists in decorating the banks and the bottom of the channel. The shores are decorated with flat stones, large multi-colored pebbles, blocks of granite and slate. The stones are laid on tile adhesive, the space between them is filled with crushed stone or gravel.
Large stones are placed at the bottom of the canal in accordance with the project: to create mini-waterfalls, backwaters, dams. The rest of the lower space is covered with coarse river sand, small multi-colored pebbles. The bridge/bridges across the creek (wooden or stone) will add completeness to the landscape. The variety of options provides a choice for every taste.
Landscaping
The combination of water features and vegetation emphasizes the stylistic features of the design. For regular compositions, they create geometrically shaped ridges, borders, lawns, flower beds. Aquatic plants are used in small quantities. In the landscape sense, plants form in groups whose composition is close to that of nature. The beauty of flowing water will be emphasized by hydrophilic plants planted along the banks of the stream:
- do not forget me;
- iris;
- swimsuit;
- watershed;
- meadowsweet;
- litorno;
- sedge;
- host.
The water-loving willow is planted alone next to the river bed. A tapeworm can be a plant with an unusual crown, leaves, flowering.For group plantings, only trees or only shrubs are provided. The number should always be odd, it depends on the landscaping area.
In the backwaters, oxygenation plants are planted to maintain the purity of the water. For small reservoirs, 1-2 plants are enough, which are planted in lower containers: marshes, water moss, rogulnik.
Examples of ready-made solutions
Options for creating and designing an artificial stream in the country are diverse. The length and width of the garden stream bed depends on the size of the summer cottage. In conditions of limited space and flat terrain, the channel most often has a winding shape. With its configuration and calm flow, the stream resembles the rivers of central Russia. The spring mimics a spring that weaves its way under a picturesque pile of small boulders. Water flows through the green grass environment along the fanciful curves of a narrow channel. The landscape is completed with decorative wooden bridges in 2 places. The mouth of the creek flows into a small lake whose banks are covered with sedge and mountain ash.
A variant of an artificial mountain stream. Water flows from a crevice in the rock and tumbles down a cascade of mini waterfalls. The coastline is sandwiched between rocks. There is no vegetation on the rocky banks and in the channel. The stream ends its course in a small backwater with a rocky bed and a coast.
An example of a regular landscape. Streams of water gush from the mascaron in the shape of a woman's head with flowing hair. On a flat surface, the creek bed has a symmetrical "S" bend and ends in a shallow but wide pond. Viburnum and fern grow at the source. At the places of the bend there are triangular flower beds with the same type of flowering plants.In the central part of the stream there is a wooden bridge without a railing. The path that crosses the bridge goes straight, then turns towards the pond. Aquatic plants grow on the banks and in the pond.
A stream with a stream - a stream passing under a pile of rolled pebbles. The flow is fluid, discreet. The rock-lined riverbed makes a slight bend near the swing lawn. The stream ends in a stream overgrown with aquatic plants: water lilies, reeds. Large herbaceous plants grow on the banks.