How To Build A Garden Pond

By Jamie Boyle

Do you know how to build a garden pond? If not, don't worry! Most people don't have the slightest clue on where to start. What people will need to do is some research, planning, budgeting in order to have that beautiful water garden you've always dreamed of. By reading water gardening books it will also give you an idea on what you want your garden pond to look like that are always filled with beautiful water garden complete with rock work, landscaping, plants and most importantly fish. This would be a great start to give you a better idea on what you want for your landscaping. Here I am going to give you a quick overview on how to build a garden pond in your backyard.

1. Preformed pond vs. Rubber liner

Here you will need to decide on what you want to build your pond with. There are preformed ponds you can buy on the market today in various shapes which are an easy way to get a pond built in your yard. Dig a hole, place it in, backfill and done. The other alternative in the rubber liner which one well known is the Firestone PondGuard EPDM Rubber Liners which I find are a better choice as you have much more control over the size, shape or design of your pond. For smaller pond pre-fabricated ponds made of hard plastic may be better but for larger ponds and more versatility then go with rubber liners which would be a better choice. Preformed pond or rubber liner, your choice!

2. Choosing Your Garden Pond Location

Here you will need to decide on where you want your water garden to be located. For this I made a separate blog post on to give you some pond tips on choosing the right spot for your pond. My suggestion is to keep it close to the house where you will get much more enjoyment from. Regardless read my posts on things to think about when choosing your garden pond location.

3. What's Your Garden Pond Going To Look Like?

Planning is the key to a successful and great looking pond. What people should do is draw out what they want their garden pond to look like. Get a visual picture of what you want and draw it on paper. Determine the size you want your water garden to be, whether your going to have a waterfall, a river stream etc.. What shape do you want, do you want your pond to be circular, square, rectangle, kidney shaped and how deep. How many ledges are you going to have. Are you going to be adding pond plants later on such as marginals. If so, you are going to need to have shelves where you can place your pond plants as some don't like to be in too deep of water. The most common mistake people do when building a pond is either not having any ledges or not having enough. Think and plan on what you want do. By having a design and following it makes for building your garden pond much easier and cuts down on time spent thinking what to do and perhaps save you money as well.

4. What materials will you need?

After you decided on the preformed pond or rubber liner and have done up your design and know exactly what you want it to look like your going to need to go buy your pond materials.

Here is what you will need to buy:

1. Preformed pond or rubber liner
2. Pond Pump (suitable for size of pond in terms of gallons)
3. Pond Filter
4. Underlay (if using rubber liner)
5. Rocks, Flagstone, River stone (whatever you choose)

A tip to the wise most pond materials needed can be purchased online at cheaper prices due to low overhead. Look for deals online to save you money. Other then that you can buy everything else at your local pet store, garden nurseries and hardware stores. Look for the specials as this can cut down on the cost of your garden pond.

5. Digging Your Garden Pond

Now you can start digging your pond. This is the fun part! Now depending on the size of pond you are building you may want to hire someone to come dig your pond hole themselves. I know for my first pond it was 10 x 15 and about 3 1/2 to 4 feet deep. It was hard work but I enjoyed it as building your pond is suppose to be fun. I know my father and I built it our pond in which it means a lot more to me. Our sweat built that pond, probably could have filled it too after we were done :) So decide on what you are going to do, dig it by hand or hire a backhoe to come in a do it quickly. If its fairly small consider by hand so machines don't tear up your grass and leave quite a mess. Whatever you decide may sure you follow your drawing design of the pond that you did previously. Also make sure you save the dirt in which you can create a nice waterfall and which can be used as backfill too.

6. Install Pond Liner or Preformed Pond

Here is where you can start planning to install your liner or preformed pond. Before you do this make sure all shelves are level and free from rocks that can puncture the liner or crack the plastic pond with weight. Take a rake and make sure all the big rocks are out of the pond as much as you can. Once you've finished raking the rocks and making sure no roots are sticking out then you can begin to lay your underlay down. Once this is layed down then roll out your pond liner or fabricated pond into place. Place some rocks on the outer liner loosely as when filled it will pull in. Allow a foot of liner or a little more to overhang at the top of the ground to allow for extra. As for preformed ponds backfill and level it.

7. Fill pond with water.

Now is the time you can fill your garden pond with water. A good suggestion is to get in your pond when filling it to help eliminate creases that you may see in your pond when using the liner. You can't get rid of all creases made when building your pond but you can cut down on some. This may also be a good time to hook up your filter and pump and be able to place it where you want. It's no big deal and you can always lower the pump in later too, the choice is yours.

8. Let the water flow!

Turn on your pond pump once your pond is full. Here is when you get to start loving your garden pond and listen to the sound of the water, waterfall etc... That is one of the best moments of building a garden pond, is turning on the pump and seeing it work.

9. Add Water Treatments

We all know you are going to want to add some fish and water plants in your pond later. What you will need to do is add some AquaPlus conditioner to the water to remove chlorine and harmful metals. You'll also need to add beneficial bacteria which will help start up your nitrogen cycle and get them ready for adding fish. Chlorine can kill fish so make sure you add some to your pond along with the beneficial bacteria.

10. Add a Bag of Barley

To reduce algae blooms consider adding barley to your pond. Add it right next to your pump and the water will flow through the barley reducing algae. This can only be added in before algae starts. If algae is present it won't kill it it will just help stop more algae from growing. Another alternative for effective algae control is adding a UV sterilizer to your pond. This works well.

11. Adding Fish and Water Plants

Now is the time you've all waited for. Now you can add goldfish, koi or any other type of pond fish you choose to add to your garden pond. A pond is not complete without adding fish and pond plants. Consider adding water lilies, marginals, floating aquatics and other pond plants. This also helps control against algae blooms.

I hope this step by step guide on how to build a garden pond has helped you learn more. Best of luck on building your garden pond and wish you a beautiful water garden for years to come.

Do you have a garden pond in your backyard already? If so, how did it turn out? Share stories pictures and advice or even problems you ran into when building your garden pond. Hope to hear from you all.