How to create an indoor aquatic garden in Dubai
- Steps to create an aquatic garden
- Things to consider while choosing plants
- Building and upkeep: useful tips
Hit by the DIY bug? Why not try your hand at creating your own indoor aquatic garden in Dubai at home! Here’s a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to help you enhance the look of your residence with a beautifully designed aquatic garden. Aquatic gardens make great centrepieces or corner placements, bringing a touch of the outdoors right to your home.
Step-by-Step guide to build an indoor aquatic garden in Dubai
If you are unsure of where to start, our guide includes all the key elements that go into creating an indoor aquatic garden in Dubai, right from choosing the appropriate plants to detailed steps on how to maintain such a garden indoors. Follow these steps and build your very own aquatic garden, whether you live in a villa or apartment in Dubai.
Step #1 Planning and Picking
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The first step in creating an indoor aquatic garden in your Dubai home is selecting your plants and other essentials accordingly.
Choose plants wisely
There are four types of plants that you can pick from a plant nursery in Dubai to create an aquatic garden in your home. The options include rooted floating, marginal, submerged, and simply floating plants.
As the name suggests, rooted floating plants are anchored on the bottom of a container. These include peace lilies, lotuses, Victoria lilies, water poppies and nardoos. On the other hand, submerged plants are oxygenators, with roots embedded deep in the soil. Hornwort and anacharis are some of the best-known examples of these types of plants.
While floating plants grow by absorbing nutrients from the water instead of soil, marginal plants stay along the margins of the space they are in. Water lettuces and duckweeds are some of the most popular floating plants.
To create an aquatic ecosystem in your home, you can go for a mix of different varieties or opt for one single type of plant.
Residents considering their own DIY aqua garden in Dubai should note that Rotala Macrandra, Cryptocoryne Parva, Marimo Moss Ball and Amazon Sword are the most popular choices for aquarium plants in the emirate.
Add a few creative twists
Now that you have shortlisted the plants, increase the aesthetic appeal of your DIY garden by adding other embellishments. You can pick stones, pebbles and miniature figurines. Don’t hesitate to get creative here, by adding your own personal design sensibilities to the mix.
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Step #2 Construction and Plotting
Now that you have purchased the required plants and materials, you can get down to constructing a water garden.
Place plants according to the surface area of the space
For creating a water garden, the surface area of the container is a parameter against which you can plot your plants and embellishments. If its surface area is one sq.m, you need one rooted floating plant, three oxygenating plants and one to two marginal plants to build the right self-sustaining ecosystem.
Create a water garden
There are quite a few methods to construct a water garden. You can choose containers (plastic/wooden), a big plastic barrel liners, or an aquarium — it’s entirely up to you. The goal is to get a garden with sufficient depth to hold plants and a minimum of 100 litres of water.
To create an aquatic garden in containers:
- Line the containers with newspapers to prevent soil from coming out of the pot
- Fill one-third of the surface area with soil and then plant your chosen flora (Additional tip: Make sure the soil is about 4cm deep)
- Water the plants to settle the soil around the roots
- If it’s a small container, add pebbles and pea gravel; if it’s a larger one, you can include some other interesting elements such as miniature figurines (Additional tip: try to add about 2 cm of pebbles or gravel into the soil)
- Use bricks or pavers to place plants with about 5 cm of water above their crowns
- Fill the container with water.
Needless to say, add your chosen varieties of fish to give life to your brand new aquarium garden.
Step#3 Care and Maintenance
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Once you are done with this DIY project, it’s easy to forget about the maintenance of your indoor aqua garden. Simply follow these helpful tips to ensure the longevity of your garden.
Follow the general planting tips
Remember to change the water every day before it starts becoming murky. Add aspirin to the water to inhibit the growth of bacteria or algae. Place a bit of charcoal in the water to keep it fresh. Don’t forget to add organic fertiliser after every two weeks.
Care for the plants based on their specific requirements
Each of the four plant types mentioned need specific care, as their growth patterns are very different.
- Rooted floating plants such as water lilies need to be fertilised during the growing seasons – from September/October to April/May to ensure proper growth.
- Marginal plants propagate by division, so take them out every one to three years and thin their edges a bit. Keep only some of them in the container. Give away the surplus plants or transfer them to another container to create more aquatic ecosystems.
- Since floating and submerged plants grow quickly, they can end up covering the entire surface of the water. Remove the excessive plants and leave only one-third of the surface covered.
Things to consider when adding plants in an aquatic garden
- Placing floating plants does not take much effort. Simply position them on the water’s surface, they will grow naturally
- For submerged plants, it’s important to bunch five or six stems together and put them at the bottom end of a pot to ensure they stay underwater
- For marginal plants, make sure the crown of the plant is at the top with the soil covering the roots.
Tips to help you create an aquatic ecosystem in your Dubai home
- If the water in your garden contains algae, don’t make a conscious effort to change the water. They will disappear naturally once your plants consume all the resources required for the growth of algae
- Use heavy clay garden soil to pot aquatic plants
- Compost can turn water brown so avoid using it
- Refrain from adding too much fertiliser or manure as it may enhance the growth of algae
- Use plastic pots as they are lightweight
- Opt for either dechlorinated water or rainwater, as chlorine is harmful to fish gills.
We hope these tips help you to win the DIY game and create an indoor water garden in your Dubai residence.
For those of you with green fingers, an aquatic garden is not the only method you can use to beautify your home. Try your hand at building a vertical garden in your kitchen and do your part in going green!
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