Front Entryway Metal Pond

Landscape architect Joseph Huettl describes the design and placement of a front entryway metal pond in this LandscapingNetwork.com video:

The architect had the idea of a linear water element near the front door with a bridging walkway of ipe wood. This element was kept but modified slightly. Steel was chosen as the material for this water feature in order to facilitate a narrow edge aesthetic and to permit placement of the water feature as close to the concrete wall as possible.

The pond is made out of 8-inch thick stainless steel with a bed of decomposed granite and has water lilies and a small filtration system. The adjacent concrete planters contain horsetail and Egyptian papyrus.

By California code, a water feature can be no more than 18 inches deep or else it technically becomes a swimming pool. This pond is 12 inches deep which minimizes but does not entirely eliminate hazards to small children. The downside of shallow water is that it makes a water feature more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and water quality issues with sunlight and algae. This pond has s surface growth of duckweed which has to harvested periodically to prevent it from getting out of hand.