“Thanks to our pond, I don’t need a summer cottage”: Finnish Ritva takes a daily dip in the backyard pond

“Every day begins with a plunge into the water. One of our two dogs usually follows me down to the shore of the pond in our yard. It waits while I swim and water-jog around the pond. My morning moment feels meditative. The pond water feels fresh on my skin. From our lot, the view opens across the field toward a lake, where cranes and whooper swans gather each spring. When I step out of the water, I feel revitalized. Then it’s nice to tiptoe inside for breakfast and start the day.

My spouse and I built our house in 2022. First, we dreamed of a house on a waterfront lot. When we couldn’t find a suitable one, we briefly considered building a swimming pool. However, it wouldn’t have suited our naturally forested lot. A pool would have needed to be really large for proper swimming and would have gone unused in winter. That’s why we decided to build a pond.

My whole gardening philosophy is that I want to do things in a natural way. I avoid plastic and chemical fertilizers because I want to protect and improve biodiversity on my lot. So it was clear that we wouldn’t use chemicals in the pond, either. Instead, the water stays clean thanks to aquatic plants and pond substrate. The substrate is a blend of minerals that acts as a biological filter.

Water circulation is also important. A pump lifts water from the pond into a small starting basin, from where it flows back along a tiny stream.

The bottom of the pond is lined with pond rubber, topped with clay where the plants grow. Above the clay layer is an insulating fabric, followed by the pond substrate that acts as a biological filter.

The stream keeps the water moving and provides a gentle babble in the yard. The pump lifts water from the pond to the top of the stream. We haven’t seen any blue-green algae, but there is some fairy and filamentous algae. “Algae are mainly just a cosmetic nuisance,” Ritva says.

The pond is also beautiful. It has pale pink and white water lilies, pale pink flowering rush, and water plantain and cattails that blew in from the lake. I kept the water plantain, but I have to remove the cattails because they have taproots that could puncture the pond rubber. There’s also water soldier, which is especially fun because it floats around. Sometimes it puts down a root and anchors itself for a while, then detaches again and drifts to another spot.

There’s a separate section for plants in the pond, divided from the sandy swimming area by a raised partition. So I’m not swimming among the plants; they grow along the pond’s edge.

Swimming is mainly my passion. My husband generally swims only in the summer or after a sauna. But the pond is important to him too, since it provides a useful water element. It evaporates into the surroundings and warms our lot’s microclimate in the fall, so many plants thrive around it. For example, our peach tree prospers next to the pond. It’s also home to plenty of dragonfly larvae, newts, and insects. In spring, frogs lay their spawn there, and birds come to drink and bathe.

With professional help, Ritva and Ilkka built a swimming pond of over 200 cubic meters (~53,000 gallons), a terrace area, and a sandy beach on their lot.

An old buoy found its way to the pond’s shore as a decoration. On dark evenings, it glows from within.

The pond doesn’t require much maintenance. You just need to add water if it evaporates significantly in hot weather. If it gets too murky, you can add more pond substrate. Algae growth can also be curbed by plugging a UV filter into the pond’s circulation system. In winter, a separate pump keeps a hole in the ice open, but when it’s extremely cold, you may need a few swings with an axe. I still go in the water then—whether it’s sleeting or -20 °C (-4 °F).

In our home, I’ve realized two dreams: living at a summer cottage year-round and swimming every day.”

Want to know how the pond was built? Check out this feature as well: From a dry land lot to a lakeside oasis! Ritva and Ilkka built a pond, a sandy beach, and a sauna with a wood-shingled roof in their yard