How to Build a Backyard Pond

How to Build a Backyard Pond

Many gardeners would love to have their very own backyard pond, but they’re afraid to try building one themselves because it sounds difficult or complicated. It’s not actually that difficult though, especially if you follow some simple guidelines.

1. First you need to decide where your pond will reside in your yard. You can choose to make the pond the focus of your yard, or integrate it into a larger overall theme. Once you’ve chosen where the pond will be located, you’ll want to mark the spot and shape for your pond.

You can of course just buy a premade plastic garden pond, but the overall effect will be much more pleasing if you try to create something that looks much more natural. To do this you’ll need to use a pond liner instead of a premade insert, but the liner will allow you to create whatever pond shape you’d like.

If your local garden centers don’t sell pond liners then try searching around online and you’ll find plenty of suppliers.

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Garden Tip...

Probably the most important matter to be observed in growing house-plants is that of watering them. The cultivator should know just when to water, and to give it where it will do the most good. Amateur florists often exhibit much poor judgment in watering. It is the habit of some to keep the soil about their plants constantly soaked with water, and they wonder why they are not thrifty or healthy. These cultivators do not stop to consider that such treatment is unnatural, and will have an effect contrary to what is desired. There are those who resort to the opposite extreme, and keep their plants all the time in a perishing condition of dryness, which is even worse than if they were watered to death. If we will observe how judiciously Nature distributes the sunshine and shadow, the periodical rains, and the refreshing dews, we will learn an important lesson.
~ James Sheehan
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2. Next you’ll need to start digging your pond. Now some people think this part needs to be perfect, but it actually doesn’t. You will need to create layers of different heights in your pond of course, so you’ll be able to grow a variety of plants within it. But those layers don’t have to be perfectly level or perfectly shaped in any way. You can in fact, simply dig the pond without creating various height tiers, then lay gravel or put in rocks that will lift various plants to different heights as needed.

You will of course want to make sure the top parts of the pond are level though, so that when it’s filled there won’t be water trying to run out from one side. If you’re putting your pond on a slope of course, you may need to add dirt, rocks, or other materials to the low side to help contain the pond water once it’s filled.

When digging your pond, try to make the shallowest areas at least six inches deep, and make sure there is at least somewhere in the pond which is two feet or deeper. This is particularly important if you want to have fish in your pond, because the deeper water will help protect them from severe weather in the winter and summer.

3. Once you’ve gotten your pond to the shape and depth you’d like, put your liner over it and let it sit for awhile so that it becomes easy to work with. Then start fitting it to the bottom of your pond and layers. Don’t worry about making things perfect either. You may have wrinkles in your liner for instance, but these will not be too noticible once you have the pond completed.

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Garden Tip...

It is a mistake to try to stimulate into growth, by the use of fertilizers, those plants which give every indication of being sickly or stunted; they will make such a plant sicker, if they do not kill it outright. If guano is used in potting soil, it should be in the proportion of one pound to every bushel of soil.
~ James Sheehan
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4. Start filling your pond with water. As it’s filling, you may want to climb in and help smooth out some of the worst wrinkles. You can also add rocks and stones at this point, to help hold the liner in place until the water is able to.

5. After you have the water in place, start adding rocks, other decorative features, and plants. You might also decide to add a filter and pump, or even a waterfall or fountain too.

Let the pond sit for at least a day so the chlorine can evaporate before you add fish.