How to Build a Pond in your Garden

Building a fish pond in your front or back yard will not only increase the outward appearance but the value of a home. If well designed it could make it look and feel like a cooler place to sit on a hot sunny day.

Position

There are many ways of building your fish pond. Before starting you need to decide roughly where you will put it and how big you want it to be. When looking for the best position, look for an area with a little shade. Not necessarily under a tree as if you have a deciduous tree it will drop leaves into the pond causing a big cleaning problem. A non deciduous tree will give shade throughout the year reducing the amount of algae that will form in ponds placed out in the open sun.

Front Yard

If thinking of putting one in your front yard, then you need to be very careful.  We did and then someone brought their little two year old over when building it. She told them their would be fishies in there soon.  That was when we realised that we had a problem.  So we had to put a steel pig mesh frame over the top.  It has spoilt the effect, but several times I have seen kids climbing on it and parents don't worry about it.  So maybe think again, as a pond looks beautiful and a cover spoils it.

Although you still need to be aware of the dangers of kids and water.  Ours in over a metre deep.

Now decide if you would like a waterfall feature on one end or just a plain one. The size of your pond will determine whether you will need to have an aerator or filter to keep your pond clean.

For instance you could buy two different size fiberglass shells and have the larger one sunk into the ground and the smaller one lifted up so that one end overlaps the sunken one allowing the water to overflow from the top into the sunken one, forming a spillway.

Creating a cheap simple pond with a plastic liner

What you will need

Enough thick PVC plastic to cover area of pond, this comes in green, blue, brown or black. (dark colors do not show up as much as lighter colors) When buying, make sure you allow for the length plus twice its depth, plus at least fifteen to twenty cm on both ends to prevent leakage. Allow the same for the sides

• Shovel
• Plastic for a liner
• River or any natural Rocks
• Aerator or filter (depending on size of pond)
• Plants
• Fish

Create the pond

Once you have decided on the position, mark out the shape you want on the ground, whether it is kidney, round, oblong, or square pond. Dig a hole about twelve to eighteen inches deep (45cms). Once you have the required shape lay the black plastic into the hole, ease the plastic so that it fits into the hole all around pushing it down in and up against the walls, leaving at least a 20cms all around the top edge.

Use the excess sand that you dug out of the hole and put a layer around the edge of the overhanging plastic so it will not fall back into the hole. Start to fill the hole with water. Ease the plastic around to try and avoid big folds. Now place the rocks around the edge fitting them together so as not to have any gaps. Make sure they are wedged together so there is no movement. Where possible have the larger ones overhanging in a couple of areas. This will create shade.

You could concrete these in place, although if the liner needs replacing for any reason then you would have to break it up so it is advisable and easier to have them fitted snug against one another.

Yabbies

You do not have to limit yourself to having a pond for fish only.  Our plant filter pond has heaps of Yabbies in it as well.  Friends often come and get some small ones from us to put in their fish tanks or ponds.  The only thing is we have often found them on our neighbors lawn or even in the back yard swimming pool as they will crawl out anywhere.

You will need

Pots

Clean washed rocks

Plants

I prefer to plant my pots without any soil at all, to reduce the risks of contamination from fertilizers. Before placing any plants into the pond, you need to wash all rocks and sand from the root of the plants.

Place a plant in a pot then put a rock over the roots to hold the plant in the bottom of the pot to prevent it from floating.