Build your own garden pond
Because building someone else's garden pond would be trespassing.
Building your own garden pond is not as difficult as you might think. If you have opposable thumbs you can wield a shovel, and if you're not legally blind you can properly position a pool liner. Often the most time-consuming part of building water garden ponds is filling them with water. So set your mind at ease, and read on for simple instructions on how to build your own garden pond.
Purpose
Chances are that if you're standing in your backyard with shovel in hand, you've already decided why you like garden ponds. Then again, if it's after midnight and you have a beer in the other hand, your reasons might be a little too impulsive.
The purpose of garden ponds plays a significant role in garden pond designs. If you want fish, your pond should be deeper and larger. If you want water lilies, it should be positioned for maximum sun.
Above ground or in ground
One more digression: many first-timers decide to purchase preformed above ground ponds. Above ground ponds are also simple to build. So if the in-ground thing seems a little daunting, try researching above ground water garden ponds.
Building in ground garden ponds
Begin by laying a garden house on the ground. Move it around until it resembles the shape you want your garden pond to be. Before you start digging, run through a quick mental checklist:
- Is this the right size?
- Is this the right location?
- Am I sure there are no utility lines I'm going to "discover"?
- Do I know the exact depth this garden pond needs to be?
The commonest mistake at this point is for garden ponds to be sized too small. A good rule of thumb to follow is that garden ponds will look about one-third smaller than you initially expect. However, that doesn't mean you should turn your backyard into a tribute to Waterworld.
Now you dig. Create a shelf or shallows by digging a perimeter that slopes to about one foot wide and one foot deep. This encourages birds to visit garden ponds. Unless you want fish, water garden ponds don't need to be much deeper than 18 inches anyway.
Once you're achieved the shape you want, dig any needed ditches for pond skimmers, filters, or waterfalls, for example from a submersible pump/skimmer to an external filter/waterfall.
Liner notes
There was a time when concrete was the favored liner for garden ponds, but not anymore. Flexible synthetic or rubber pond liners are going to be easier for you to position than rigid ones. We recommend putting a layer of sand or roofing foam between the soil and your garden pond liner to provide a cushion to prevent rupturing.
Put the water garden pond liner in the excavated hole and unfold it, smoothing out wrinkles without being obsessive-compulsive. Connect the pond liner to the skimmer if you have one, and hold the liner in place with rocks set around the perimeter of the hole. How much time you spend on this depends on how natural you want your water garden pond to look. A more organic appearance can be achieved if you've dug a slope that permits multiple layers of stone.
Water time
Once you've completed any excavations necessary for skimmers or waterfalls, it's time to fill your garden pond. Fill slowly, allowing the liner to gradually conform to the shape of the ground. If your garden pond liner is sticking out over the pool edge, don't trim it until after the pond has filled. The weight of the water should pull it down as it fills.