water in italian gardens

an ecological must!

Italian gardens, indeed, any gardens benefit from the addition of a water garden area in some quiet corner and, with ever-dwindling water supplies, a pond is a sensible, eco-logical investment, particularly in Italy! A water garden literally injects a garden with life and the addition of a pond or water garden really completes the eco-friendly, natural Italian garden at 360, inviting a wide variety of beautiful insects and animals into the garden. These do not necessarily have to all be considered harmful, biting insects or just slimy and smelly animals, as the majority of slimy fogs and newts will hardly ever be seen and the numbers of midges and mosquitoes will be maintained in a healthy, balanced, pond.

A water garden is relatively easy to install and Ponds now come in many shapes and sizes; from small resin-based moulds, natural clay-lined to complex, butyl-lined lakes and they all contribute and do detract from the garden ecosystem. They can support a wide variety of stunning plant life and even the smallest water garden area can house a multitude of plants and animals, from water-lilies to dragonflies or from Irises to koi carp.

After a surprisingly short space of time from the introduction of a water garden a myriad of new species will be entering your garden on wing, by foot and even carried in by birds and the garden itself will become increasingly more balanced as time goes by. Frogs and toads are among the very best of slug controllers within any garden space, as they survive predominantly by eating them. Therefore the numbers of slugs and snails will automatically decrease soon after the addition of a water garden. Dragonflies and their larvae consume vast amounts of flying insects, both in the water during the insects larval stages and on the wing as adults. The encouragement of these animals into your garden will reduce the numbers of biting insects dramatically. Fish, especially indigenous fish like loach, roach and certain catfish will take care of many of the mosquito larvae before they emerge as adults.

Which kind of water garden suits the typical Italian garden?

The standard perception of an Italian garden is that of formal symmetry, underlined with strong evergreen planting. In this kind of Italian garden it is clear that the best suited Italian pond style is one of strong geometric lines and symmetry. This is, however, a somewhat contrived view of Italian gardens, as there are now many horticultural styles and influences that dictate a softer, more dynamic approach to Italian garden design, especially ecological design.

I encourage an emphasis on formality nearer the house with a far more natural approach to the rest of the garden. Therefore a water garden can be designed in a formal manner, if it is to be positioned in the vicinity of the house and it can become a Nymphaeae for stunning water lily flowers in a very short time . Alternatively, it can be designed in a natural form when positioned in the more informal areas of the garden.

Both the formal and the informal, Italian water garden design provide an oasis for wildlife, provided there is an entrance and an exit to the water. Clearly it is the informal water garden design that provides the better environment for wildlife with its soft edges and marshy water margins, allowing easy access for frogs and allowing hedgehogs and other creatures that often fall in the pond to scramble out.

Formal Italian Water gardens in the Renaissance

Italian gardeners during the Renaissance period placed an emphasis on the inclusion of formal water features as an extension of the elaborate nature of the gardens, so popular in that period. Large and complex water features housing rare varieties of water lilies, like that of Villa Lante, Viterbo or Villa Gamberaia, Florence were included as examples of mans control over nature as well as the obvious aesthetic value that water provides in the garden. Contemporary Italian gardens still use formal water features in modern Italian garden design for its linear, architectural qualities. However, some of the geometric pools of the modern Italian garden design movement leave a lot to be desired, in my personal opinion- stay natural!

CONTACT ECOLOGICA HERE FOR THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF AN ITALIAN WATER GARDEN