| There's nothing that sets off a landscaped garden | | | | and the inclusion of a 'water feature with life', as a |
| more than a water feature, and perhaps no more | | | | celebrated landscape gardener once remarked, will |
| attractive water feature of all than one that includes | | | | take your garden from the mundane to the truly |
| movement, colour and life itself. We're talking, of | | | | charming. |
| course, about the fish pond. If you are preparing to | | | | How to dig a fish pond The alternative to the shovel |
| create a pond in your garden, or if you are a | | | | If you're planning a larger garden pond, there is |
| professional landscape gardener who's habit is to dig | | | | probably only one solution that fits the bill - a mini |
| your water features by hand, mini excavators can be | | | | excavator. These pieces of machinery are not only |
| hired for as little as £50 a day and can make a | | | | manoevrable enough to get down a narrow gap |
| potentially backbreaking job a walk (or a drive) in the | | | | between house and fence and into the garden, they |
| park. | | | | are also straightforward enough for a complete |
| Why a fish pond? | | | | novice to operate and can shift massive volumes of |
| Fish ponds have a history dating back to the 3rd | | | | earth in next to no time. With a skip parked out |
| century, when the earliest known examples began | | | | front to deposit the unwanted soil excavated from |
| appearing in Japan. The ponds were regarded in the | | | | your pond site, the mini digger will make short work |
| first instance as a source of food. Later they | | | | of even very large pond holes. And the best thing is, |
| became decorative items in their own right and | | | | there is no back-breaking shovel work involved. |
| formed the centrepieces of some of the most | | | | If you are planning to dig a fish pond this spring or |
| beautiful ornamental gardens in the Japanese empire. | | | | any other large landscaping project, consider renting a |
| ever since, the addition of a fish pond to a garden | | | | min digger. |
| has added an allure that would otherwise be missing, | | | | |