How to Make a Garden Pond

Intro: How to Make a Garden Pond

Late spring is perfect for this project and it's easyer than people think. A pond enhances the style of the garden. Always have it in a sunny, open place.

STEP 1: The Base

You can have two types of pond bases:

A fiber glass mold
or
A flexible liner

Pick and buy one in a gardening shop.

STEP 2: Dig

Mark out the shape of your pond with a rope. Then dig out to the correct length. Make sure that the top of the pond is level.

STEP 3: Cover Hole

Make sure nothing hard or sharp is at the bottom of the hole. Cover the base and shelves of the pond with a smooth layer of sand. Steach the linger over the hole but don't drape the liner into it or put the mold into the hole. If you are useing liner weigh it down with bricks or rocks.

STEP 4: Fill With Water

Place your hose in the center of your pond and turn on the water. Once pond is full trim away extra liner if your useing it.

STEP 5: Decorate

Line the perimiter of the pond with rocks concealing the mold/liner. Some plants can live in water and would do great in your pond such as lily pads. Add fish you will have to take care of them but they are a good thing to have as they make your pond more real. Once you have your pond you will be amazed of how much wildlife finds their way there. Frogs and fish eat bugs. Add a pump and a waterfall if you want.

STEP 6: Maintenance

Feed any fish you have.

KEEP LEVEAS OUT OF POND a net over the pond may me necessary if around trees

in mid-fall and winter take out the pump and clean them, then store under cover

if you have a water oxygenators cut them back in winter

clean up fish food not eaten in 5-10 min

if pond freezes more than a few days fish can be kill so install a water heater

Comments

[elizabethingham1]

I live in the Northwestern US, it gets really cold here. Does anyone have any advice to keep fish from freezing at a really low cost? Also, is there a way to keep the cats from fishing them? I have a few inside-outside cats and would like to keep my fish and my cats as safe as possible if I choose to build one.

[maliksudhir]

Can anyone help me out ,i need to know that as i have the turbine system (plant) which releases Co2 at the rate of 1932.3kg/hr and i need to consume that Co2 with the help of Algae in pond just like as the Raceway ponds do ...i have all the specific industrialized land area to construct the pond and to perform this task i just need to have the specific size of the pond system which can consume 1932.3kg/hr of Co2 so that i can perform it on the large scale project with minimum cost involved for example " http://www.ems.psu.edu/~elsworth/courses/egee580/Utilization_final_report.pdf " ...... you can take a look at that pdf file on page number 9 figure 2.1.4 ,i just need to have the minimum area to make that pond including the calculation of all the dimension and all including minimum cost ....but the main focus here is the calculation of the pond area , i just need to have the total area of pond (sizing and dimension) (length,width,depth and all)which can perform this task of consuming Co2 at rate of 1932.3kg/hr with the help of Algae.........i am in great confusion with my calculations and i need help can you please help me out in performing the calculation work and finding out the specific area needed......i will be really very thank full to you...........Have a Good Day

[skipthompson81]

:-) it's going to be hard to make the water unlevel at the top of the pond.

[lokichomps]

As to the freezing... I do not think it is necessary to heat the water. Adding a small air stone to the deepest part of the pond with (A) make sure the fish have O2 and (B) keep the surface free of ice in a small area. It is far cheaper to run the little air pump than the 110V and a couple of amps, just don’t let the air pump get wet. De-Icers obviously don’t care about getting wet.

[Mr.staton]

Ha ha ..lol.. im would be the store clerk, ive worked at our local pet store since 2004 and yes all this is true. EXCEPT you can keep a hole on the ice or spend $$$ money on a heater and the electricity bla bla.. OR you can actualy let your pond freeze over, now what u have to do is once winter is on its way you wate until the temperature gets down to almost freezing for 10 days ( basically really close before your pond freeze over for the winter) and you stop feeding you fish and let it freeze now DO NOT feed your fish I'm serious about NOT feeding them because there metabolism will slow and they will not be able to process food they basically go into stasis and if u feed them the food will rot in there stomach and they will die. once spring comes your good to go.

[Payleitner]

I suggest your initial fish come from the "feeder" tank at the pet store. For 10 cents apiece, and a few kind words to the store clerk, you can find some pretty colorful fish that will grow to 10" pretty quickly - but if the worst happens (leaks, bad chemistry, etc.), you're not out the $$$ you can spend on Koi. Just tell them what you're doing so they put them in fresh water so you don't import any evil. Don't overfeed.... keep the water moving with a pump... and keep a hole open in the ice...

[jakee117]

I have a pond.. our de icer short circuted and killed the fish...lol

[granyhuskr]

You don't have to spend a lot on a heater. Go to your local farm implement store and get one for a stock tank. Works great. Also, I used rubber roofing to line my pond. All the sites said not to, but I couldn't afford regular pond liner. I have my 2nd pond for 3 years, it is filled with fish that reproduce, toads, etc.

[andrewdpham3]

If you live in a place where it dosent freeze a lot you can put a ball into the pond to slow the freezing. Otherwise you can get a better heater.

[jakee117]

good idea, thanks.