Pond protection with obi - important for families with small children

A garden pond is not only a source of relaxation, it can also be an underestimated source of danger, especially for children. Young children who have not yet learned to swim are particularly at risk. Just like adults, a garden pond always has a fascinating and attractive effect on children, but they can often not correctly estimate the water depth.

Even conscientious parents cannot always have their eyes everywhere – so if you are thinking about creating a pond in your garden, you should make sure that you have adequate pond protection. There are several ways to secure the pond. You can get valuable tips here.

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1. Reduce security risks when planning the garden pond

When planning your garden water, you can make a great contribution to securing the pond later. A garden pond with a gently sloping bank, for example, is much less dangerous for children than a pond with a steep bank. Because if the bank of the garden pond immediately drops steeply, a child who has fallen into it often does not have the opportunity to pull out on its own. Use rough natural stones when laying the bank for good pond protection – with wooden edges or smooth paving stones, the risk of slipping is too great, especially when it is wet.

In the deep water zone of the garden pond, you can lay out large stones that make the water shallower. The paths around the garden pond should not be laid directly next to the water so that children can use them safely. In addition, you should not necessarily create the garden pond directly in front of the house, since every neighboring child has quick access to the water. Of course, you should generally place the water in an easily visible place

2. Pond protection with a fence

The most obvious variant of pond protection is probably a fence. Although such a border may not sound particularly attractive to many garden owners for optical reasons, a fence can be integrated into the overall garden pond concept with the help of reeds or rushes. When securing the pond with a fence, you should definitely pay attention to a height of at least one meter. The pond protection works particularly easily with a fence made of metal, plastic or wood. This fence can be implemented and expanded very easily, and it does not require a foundation. What is safer, however, is a stable fence that is bent at an angle of 45 degrees in the upper area towards the water. This angle makes it difficult children climbing the fence.

As an alternative to a fence, a densely planted and therefore impenetrable hedge is also suitable for pond protection. Box trees or roses are ideal for this. Ideally, you should include such a hedge when you create the garden pond so that it quickly reaches the required height. If you do not have your own children and only want to secure your garden pond for a short time when you visit, you can also build a mobile fence instead of a fence or hedge, for example from canvas tarpaulin. The tarpaulin is provided with simple eyelets and then sunk into the ground with iron bars.

3. Pond protection with a net

As an alternative to the options mentioned can You also use a tear-proof net to secure the pond, similar to that used to secure a swimming pool. The nets are inexpensive to buy and do not disturb the animals in the pond or the plants – pond plants simply grow through the mesh. The net is anchored to the ground with long hooks, for example tent pegs.

Make absolutely sure that the distances between the net and the floor do not become too large so that children cannot simply crawl under it. Use nets as an additional pond protection – permanent fences are the better means, because according to the DLRG, the protective nets have sometimes not proven themselves in practice.

4. Warning device for pond protection

The possibility of pond protection with so-called automatic warning detectors is relatively new. The alarms look like small Plastic islands and emit a loud alarm sound as soon as they notice a major movement in the water. When using such a device, you must make sure that it is stable on the water surface. This stability is decisive for the reliability of the device. On the one hand, a false alarm caused by wind, for example, should be avoided, but on the other hand, the alarm must also be triggered reliably if the previously set tolerance size is exceeded.

As the owner of a garden pond, however, you should never rely solely on this system, as the warning signal can easily be ignored. Warning detectors should therefore only ever be seen as an additional variant of pond protection.

5. Conclusion

A pond in your own garden or in the neighboring garden can pose a danger to small children. Therefore, even if you only have a very shallow pond in the garden, you should always pay attention to the correct pond protection – whether with a fence, a net or a grid under the water surface. No matter which form of pond protection you choose, small children should never play unattended on a body of water. In addition, you should always educate your children about the dangers of the garden pond.