While to the majority of us, backyard waterfalls are a source of visual beauty and luxury, you will be surprised to find that their presence offers benefits to human health and well being. The natural ions that cascading water emits into the atmosphere provides us with many avenues to being better fit mentally, emotionally and physically. Adding waterscapes to your outdoor living area that include babbling streams and waterfalls, whether they are connected to a garden pond or not, can increase your enjoyment of life in a myriad of ways.

Waterfalls and water splashing over rapids introduce a renewable source of the beneficial element of serotonin. The peace and restorative powers of a vacation in the wilds next to roaring water is all due to the high levels of serotonin in the air in close proximity. The larger the body of water and the speed that it tumbles over the cascades or other impediments in its path, the more raw energy of pure serotonin is released into the air. While none of us can recreate Niagra in our backyard, we can still reap tremendous and amazing benefits for well being with backyard waterfalls at home.

Serotonin is most commonly known a natural mechanism for mood elevation. There are forms of chemical reproduction of serotonin available through medical and herbal supplements products. None of these sources of serotonin are absorbed as readily as the charge ions around waterfalls. In fact, the serotonin elements promoted by the pharmaceutical companies as the cure for depression have side effects. Backyard water features maintained by biosystem waterfalls have no side physical effects whatsoever.

Improving human health with the introduction of daily doses of serotonin surpasses the mere application of introducing a better outlook on life due to clinical depression. Those who suffer from migraine headaches and chronic headaches due to stress find massive relief in the absorption of waterfalls produced serotonin. With a backyard water feature that includes waterfalls, not only does your curb appeal escalate, but so does your positive outlook on your life and the world.

Just 20-30 minutes a day spent relaxing in close proximity to backyard waterfalls offers you free relief from many of modern society’s stresses and mental or emotional drains. These benefits can easily be compounded with the introduction of water gardening and the cultivation of other plants grown around the garden pond and waterfall for the express purpose of flowering beauty. Flowers also are known to alleviate depression and reduce the need for medicine, if not to cure the symptoms of illness all together.

By combining the natural health and mental benefits of gardening for the sake of beautiful flowers on a continual and changing basis, along with the restorative powers of waterfalls or streams, you can achieve a much more balanced and positive lifestyle. Waterfalls and garden ponds have proven to be hugely influential in restoring beauty to love life, the power to gain control over your weight and give people a daily source of mood elevation. This is all on top of the power that waterfalls and growing beautiful flowering plants have on curing headaches and illness, both physically and mentally induced.

If you're considering putting any kind of a pond on your property, and you must be if you're here, then you're on the edge of a making a fantastic decision. It's easy to debate the benefits of doing the project yourself. However, the realities make talking yourself out of it is even easier. All ponds take a lot of work to create. No matter what size pond, there will be digging… a lot of digging. Then there is the planning and cost to decorate the landscaping of the garden pond, to stock it, the equipment. It's starting to look… less appealing.

Consider the benefits first:

If your pond is large enough, for example, you can stock it with all manner of fresh water fish such as Catfish, Bluegill, Bass, etc. Once your fish are grown, you can catch them any way you please and serve up a fine fillet. Likewise, quite a few people raise Koi in their garden ponds to sell them to others looking to stock smaller garden ponds.

If your backyard pond is located a fair distance from your actual home, you may consider having that area zoned for business. With large, stocked ponds, people can pay to fish or just to come and see the fish you have on display. Provided you have taken on raising a lot of exotic breeds. Stock your garden pond with some large eating type fish and you will have people asking to fish there for sure. That'd require a larger project and more space, and certainly some deeper water. Just imagine being able to dangle your pole and land a completely organic fresh-water fish anytime you like.

Your garden pond can even offer you monetary benefits. If you happen to live in a rural area where water needs to be brought in by a pump truck in the event of a fire, the fire department can use any larger water supply – like your pond. Having a large garden pond accessible to fire personnel can actually reduce your homeowner's insurance with many companies.

Should you keep livestock such as chickens, ducks or even cattle, a large backyard pond provides your animals a place to drink and take refuge during those hot summer days. Of course, any birds around your property will absolutely love bathing in it.

If you live in an area that suffers frequent drought, or excessive water costs, your pond can be used as a source of water to tend to your gardens and plants. If your pond recycles its own water for aeration, and uses a minimum intake from other water supplies, you'll almost always have a source of water that is easily filtered should the need arise.

Hands down, a garden pond is a great source of recreation and relaxation with family and friends. It's a great focal point for any outdoor event, and if you keep your backyard pond clean and well tended, nothing says you can't take a dip or a swim in it either. After all the hard work you put in with the installation, you deserve to break it in anyway.

It may be impractical to actually house and feed a giant Koi in your garden pond, and it's not the best way to keep predators from attacking your fish. Amusing, but impossible. Though the opportunity to be swallowed by your own fish while feeding it so you can perform your own rendition of "Jonah and the Whale" might keep you busy for a few weeks. At least until you're digested.

Giant Japanese creatures aside, predators in your garden pond can be a very real experience, especially if you live in a more rural environment. Even living in an urban center can pose problems with various predators that want to take a dip in Koi ponds or "buffet" you have created for them.

Your problems are not limited to just feral cats. While stray, or feral cats, are going to be one of many problem animals you can expect the most trouble from Herons and Raccoons. You may even suffer theft, where a person actually tries to scoop out and steal your fish. It is sad, but it happens not everyone can afford pricey Koi for ponds. There are measures you can take however to keep grubby little claws of all sizes off your fish and out of your water.

Pond Netting – This hangs over your pond, with variable height depending on plant life and such around your garden pond. Pond netting comes in a variety of designs and is the most affordable option to protecting your Koi fish. The most commonly seen design is 14x14' black mesh netting.

Blue Heron Decoy – Herons are territorial by nature. They typically will not try to land in, or around, a small garden pond occupied by another bird. Lifelike decoys are available in various sizes and mount on a stake in the water. Moving the bird on a regular basis around the pond will offer the best protection.

Floating Gator – These floating Gator heads or "Gator Guards" are hand painted to be extremely lifelike. The large life-size head floats and bobs in the water naturally, with pearlescent eyes that sparkle and give the appearance of "following" animals from 360 degrees. Just hope that its presence does not give your Koi a coronary when you drop it in the ponds water.

"Scarecrow" – Affectionately named after its straw-stuffed predecessor, this model is mounted in any area you wish to protect. It has a motion sensor, and when it detects intrusion, the scarecrow will spray out a heavy blast of water. It's capable of covering up to a 35' by 35' area, with adjustable settings, on off switches, the works. It protects against all manner of wildlife trying to enter your garden pond. It does require either a garden hose hookup or some form of permanent plumbing.

Fi-shock – This electrical fence system is ideal for keeping animals away from your garden pond and off your property. While it will not stop airborne predators, it will certainly take care of raccoons, cats, and other small ground predators.

A garden pond is a long-term investment, and like any investment, it is best to protect the money that you have sunk into breeding and stocking your Koi. With the assortment of protection, you're certain to find something in your budget. If you have enough money though, a few crackpot Swedish scientists can probably breed you a 50' Koi and you can name it Moby Dick.

Exactly how much rejuvenation are you getting from that wall to wall grass out back? Chances are none at all, the stuff just lies around looking green and demanding that you mow it… AGAIN. Tear it all out and create the perfect escape location, your own private backyard resort. Not Disneyland, roller coasters aren’t rejuvenating they are quick thrills. What the ultimate rejuvenating resort looks like to you is a personal dream world. Picture waterfalls cascading into a beautiful garden pond, designed to fit the theme your imagination has created.

Unlike some people instantly decree, ponds are not a wasteful use of precious fresh water. If anything, today’s biosystem ponds are assisting the environment much more than they are a threat to them. The dry climate of southern California can benefit greatly from your garden pond and waterfalls resort. Your real estate value will increase as will the humidity level in your yard. If anything is a blatant slap in the face of Mother Nature, it’s that rectangle of unnatural blue out there filled with a chemical soup said to make it sanitary for swimming.

Natural garden pond and waterfalls systems maintain crystal clear water of superior quality biologically; where as your swimming pool does not. Wildlife assistance and mental restoration are both readily found in backyard ponds as water features. The theme of the waterscape design can transform your backyard into any destination your heart desires. You’ll have plenty of time to relax and absorb the wonders of your garden pond world, thanks to the perfection of nature’s own system; today’s ponds are very low maintenance.

Your waterscape beyond the back door can be designed to look like a mountain stream with rapids feeding a crystal clear pool softened just as nature would with grasses and wildflowers. You could just as easily have the waterfalls design look like a place found in Hawaii or the jungle. A garden pond with a bridge and a Japanese garden theme is easily attained, as is the look of a formal English garden.

The thing is… It doesn’t matter what you want your backyard resort to contain, the skill and talent of an experienced waterscapes designer can transform your backyard and transport you there. A place so peaceful and enjoyable, it will quickly become the space that erases the stress of the day and restores your good humor easily. Waterfalls and ponds are magical elements that benefit all living things. Birds, insects and other local wildlife are instantly drawn to liven up your private world. They find nothing of assistance in your dry boring grass or that over sanitized swimming pool.

The water in biosystem waterscapes is as pure as a spring fed stream from a century ago. Creating a theme backyard resort with a babbling brook or waterfalls and garden pond will provide you with benefits you have yet to discover. Your life will be more peaceful and your family will be drawn closer together. It is amazing just how magical, how ultimately healing adding ponds to the backyard is. Now where was it you wanted to escape to?

It isn’t much of a secret that backyard ponds will bring unrivaled beauty to your home. Everyone is excited about transforming a bland outdoor living area into a waterscape wonder. After you have lived with your garden pond and waterfalls or stream for a while, it is pretty normal that a lot of people start looking for ways to add more fun to their ponds.

Exotic Plants for the Garden Pond

Just as with growing ornamental plants in your soil or containers on the patio, expanding the plant horizon and enjoying different leafy or bloom effects is fun with water gardening too. Garden pond owners are keen on adding the latest in exciting or exotic plants to the garden pond. Just altering some of the things you have growing in the shallows or floating in the deeper part of ponds can really generate a fresh new look to your backyard focal point. This is a simple and quick way of adding a little more fun to ponds.

Garden Pond Lochness Monster
That would be kind of cool, but to date no one has created a likeness of the Lochness Monster as we humans might delight in. If you were a fish eating type of animal or bird however, a sly and savage alligator could be pretty scary. Predator decoys can provide you with some garden pond fun, even if you don’t have fish in the water. How about a realistic looking mama alligator with baby floating about in the water? This particular alligator decoy has glow in the dark eyes for a little mysterious touch to ponds at night. No batteries needed, it is solar powered and can float freely or be anchored to one area.

Perhaps you prefer a little more menacing looking monster for your garden pond. For bigger ponds, this larger floating alligator is really a nifty touch with the whole body present. It is really made of three separate pieces for realistic floating ability; they are hinged for natural looking motion. Who needs fish to protect to enjoy the look of a water world monster? The more rippling your water surface is the more movement the alligator will provide. Anchor him in your rushes or where the waterfalls currents are strong.

Mystical Effects for Ponds and Waterfalls

Not everyone is into snapping alligators and looking for something more inspired to add special effects to ponds. Fog will add mystery to your waterfalls and pond, especially when you work some lighting into the mix. Some foggers are better than others though. For one thing, steer clear of foggers for ponds that have colored lights, it’s your garden we’re talking about here, not a Las Vegas lounge show. So stick with foggers with white lights for the most natural special effects.

Positioned at the top of your waterfalls, the fog will spill down the cascades and look really cool when your falls are lit. Waterfalls foggers don’t need to have lights if you already have them in the falls. These aren’t the type that floats around in ponds. You can hide them in a decorative Japanese stone lantern or stone bowl.
Foggers for ponds that float are not all as effective as the next. Make sure you get a 5-disc or 9-disc floating fogger so you won’t be disappointed in your mystical special effects. Don’t be concerned about the fogger being hazardous to your garden pond fish or flowers, they are perfectly harmless elements that create negative ions and increase the moisture in the air around waterfalls and ponds.