A Swimming Pond
While at the Malvern Spring Show I saw a ’swimming pond’ show garden. My friend Tissy reminded me how we used to go swimming in Hampstead Lido which was an enormous swimming pond.
I really love ponds and would love one day to have a big pond to attract lots of frogs and other watery creatures but what a fantastic idea to build one to be pleasant to swim or dip in too!
It seems to me that if you have enough marginal planting and gravel, steps to get in and out of the water easily, and a deep enough bit to paddle around in anyone can call their pond a swimming pond. The main idea is that the water is regenerated by the marginal planting so that it is clean enough for people to want to take a dip. No more chlorine, pumps or sterile blue rectangles - swimming ponds are definitely the way to cool down. I particularly liked the area next to the pond where one could dry off and lounge around.
I’ve just found the handout given to me by Hartpury College’s team that built the inspirational show garden at Malvern & it says:
Natural swimming ponds are stiull relatively unknown in the UK but are a natural alternative to chemically managed swimming ponds. A natural swimming pond combines a swimming area with aquatic planting that not only looks aesthetically pleasing but also serves the purpose of cleaning the water.
Natural swimming pools use the idea of the natural landscape to create a safe swimming environment and employ the same biological processes to clean and purify the water as those found in the wild. They consist of two zones - a deeper central area for swimming and a shallow planted area for cleansing the water.
The biological processes are a combination of the actions of plants and beneficial bacteria. They break down the waste matter into usable substance for the plants.
A swimming pond has a number of benefits such as the fact that it is easy and less costly to maintain than regular swimming pools, it is free of artificial chemicals, it is aesthetically pleasing and is also wildlife friendly.
