A small pond overgrown with lush aquatic greenery, a beautiful modern pool, a winding murmuring brook - any pond in the country is not only an excellent example of country design, but also a wonderful place to relax, especially in the summer. What are the most popular and affordable options for arranging the environment? Consider some interesting ideas, most of which are suitable for ponds in a small suburban area, as well as for lakes and pools of vast country estates.
Idea # 1 - a cozy gazebo by the pond or pool
A gazebo can be considered a full-fledged place for family meetings and tea parties - a small semi-open room with a roof, in which a table and seating are usually installed.
A wooden or stone structure near the pond enlivens the overall picture and even turns an abandoned corner of the garden into a favorite resting place. To drink tea or beer after a hard day on the outdoor terrace overlooking the pond - is this not a dream of a tired summer resident?
A great example of a gazebo with bridges, located directly above a shallow pond. Such a wooden structure on the shoulder to anyone who is friends with a saw and a plane
The choice of material for construction
What your gazebo will be, largely depends on the surrounding buildings and the design of the reservoir. If all the buildings on the summer cottage are made of wood, it is logical to assume that the next creation will be wooden. Suppose that the shores of the old pond are lined with natural stone, as well as the supports of the country fence, therefore, the foundation of the structure can also be decorated with stone decor. Brick, like stone, goes well with any materials, including artificial ones.
Almost all natural building materials - stone, brick, wood - are harmoniously combined with the surrounding greenery, so you can use the material that remains after the construction of the house
Examples of summer houses near the water
The most difficult thing is to build a gazebo right in the middle of the pond, when the foundation on stilts is hidden under the water surface. Such an idea is easily feasible if the reservoir, for example, an artificial pond, is not yet filled with water. It is enough to make a solid foundation on metal pipes, and to install a building on the site at the top.
All wooden parts that are under water must be treated with a special compound that protects the wood structure from rapid decay and destruction.
It is much easier to start construction right on the shore of an already prepared reservoir. The only thing required is a flat area in close proximity to the water.
The design of the gazebo on the shore can be different: from a compact house with windows and a door, to a fully open openwork structure protected from the rain by a reliable roof
Another interesting option is a composition of a shallow pond, plants and stones located around the structure. It is better to realize it if the arbor is already built, and the creation of a pond is still in the plans.
When arranging the water space around the gazebo, you can use moisture-loving plants, especially with bright inflorescences, stone and sand mounds, statues, fountains, bridges, small waterfalls
Originality is always appreciated, so it's best to come up with your own project. For example, break the water surface with a stone embankment, and on the island, right in the middle of the lake, place a gazebo or something similar to it.
It is difficult to call a wicker canopy in the form of a hemisphere a gazebo, nevertheless, it is convenient for relaxing if you install a bench and a table under it, and possibly a rocking chair
Self-construction of such a gazebo
Consider how you can quickly and easily build a small recreation room that looks more like a summer house. If you don’t finish the project, and leave empty openings instead of windows and doors, you will get an excellent gazebo. In any case, the structure will look great on the shore of the reservoir, and from its windows - a good view of the body of water will open.
It is worth paying attention to the foundation device - the wooden frame rests on tires covered with concrete. This option allows you to raise the structure above the ground.
For strength and economy of concrete, tires can be half filled with old broken brick or gravel, so 8 bags of gravel and sand and 2 bags of cement will go for 8 tires
We erect the frame from three-meter bars, cover the floor with boards, then cover the roof. On top of the crate, you can lay slate, flexible bituminous tiles or impregnated boards. For wall cladding we use lining.
To fix the door and window openings, it is necessary to install supports fixed with the help of bars: for windows - horizontal, for doors - vertical
Finishing stage - coating the wood with an antiseptic and painting in contrasting colors. Wood processing is required, since there is always high humidity near the reservoir.
A beautiful gazebo by the pond is also convenient from a functional point of view: it can be used as a games room, a place for a family dinner, and even as a guest house
Idea # 2 - summer kitchen right on the beach
When the summer kitchen and the pond are close by, you can compositionally combine these two objects. The cooking place often becomes a dining room: along one wall, a stove or grill is equipped, a table and several chairs are installed on an empty place. The pond next to the dining room is a great opportunity during lunch to get aesthetic pleasure from the water surface stretching right at the door with water lilies, tall grass and sparkling jets of a mini-fountain.
The coastline can be designed at your discretion: planted with aquatic plants, decorated with stones, designed as a gentle slope, or simply equipped with wooden walkways
A summer kitchen with a terrace and a view of the pond will easily become a favorite vacation spot for children and adults: you can equip a children's corner on the terrace or set up a large table with soft sofas. You can’t come up with a better place to shelter from sunlight in the heat, and you can always swim in a pond or pool.
The summer kitchen or dining room can be in the form of an open veranda with a large table, at which not only households, but also guests can easily fit
Idea # 3 - Patio Surrounded by Water
A small courtyard adjacent to the main building is called a patio. As a rule, this is a flat platform of stone or wood flooring, on which a table is set for receiving guests. If you slightly separate the site from the house and supplement it with a picturesque pond, you will get a great place to relax in the middle of nature.
The central place on the site is usually occupied by a composition of a table and chairs, however, a table, no matter how convenient it may be, can be replaced with a place for a fire or a flower bed
Even a small pond can be ennobled by arranging around it a composition of wooden flooring with lounge chairs and the same bridge
You can truly relax only in a relatively isolated place, which is easy to create with a hedge of tall shrubs
When the pond is located in a remote corner of the garden or on the side opposite from the house, it is not necessary to equip a special area with a table. It is enough to put a comfortable bench or chair, sitting on which you can read, draw or just enjoy the surrounding view.
A soft comfortable chair with an ottoman for legs, babbling jets of a small waterfall, warm tongues of flame - in such conditions you can completely escape from everyday problems and fully relax your body and soul
To prevent the wooden bench from looking lonely and lost, you can place an object of the same material nearby - a fence or a small bridge
Idea # 4 - a flower garden near a reservoir
For summer residents who do not accept a passive rest in a soft chair, there is a great opportunity to occupy yourself with an interesting thing in your free time, namely, caring for flowers around the reservoir. To do this, it is enough to plant aquatic plants along the coast, and on land - hygrophilous flowers. The pond, surrounded by a lush flower garden, is an excellent resting place for lovers of natural beauty.
Moisture-loving lilies are famous for their unpretentiousness, with the help of which you can turn a pond into a real paradise garden. The rich color scheme of plants contributes to this.
When decorating the coast, you can use any flowers for flower beds - irises, dahlias, peonies, carnations, asters. But it is better to choose unpretentious plants that bloom throughout the summer and are distinguished by juicy colors, for example:
- bright blue sage oak;
- pale pink armeria seaside;
- yellow cinquefoil shrubby;
- lilac loosestrife loosestrife;
- large flax red flax;
- snow-white and violet clematis;
- peach, yellow, red English roses.
A swamp, an elodea and a hornwort will create a green borderline of the coastline from the side of the pond, but the flowers floating on the surface - eichhornia, vodokras, water hyacinth, teloresis, egg capsule, water lily, nymphaea will make the pond truly beautiful.
When arranging a flower garden, it is important to remember one rule: plants, no matter how lush they are, should not obscure the surface of the reservoir with their inflorescences
In order to better see the plants floating on the surface of the water, you can throw a bridge over the pond, which is also a kind of place for rest and walks.
Videos with more options
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Having arranged a comfortable resting place by the pond, you will create a cozy space isolated from the rest of the world in which you can abandon the daily hustle and blender with nature.
