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Want to Build a Pond?

By: Wendy Mundy


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Nothing beats a backyard pond and building a pond really is enjoyable! It provides a nice small private oasis in your backyard. Backyard ponds offer many things, like, with a waterfall or fountain in your pond you can help cut out traffic noise; provide a safe haven for little creatures and give you a lovely focal point to any backyard setting. What else can do all that and help the environment and plus add to the value of your property? Honesty I can't think of to many things except a backyard pond! Okay let's build a pond!!

Hold those diggers for a minute though because before you start to dig your lawn up there are a few of items that you need think about before you stick that spades in and start building a pond. You really should start with paper and pencil first. A backyard pond layout is needed if you want to get the pond of your dreams and not a swamp! The more information you can put in your pond layout the better; it will help you choose such things as whether your pond will have water features like fountains or waterfalls, how big you want your pond (do you want to swim in it?) and what type of vegetation or fish you want in your backyard pond.

Egads! There are tons of things to think about when constructing a garden pond to your backyard, you might just say “forget it!But don't! First map out your backyard and find the right spot. The location should be neither in complete shade or full sun, though if you have no shade you will have to provide some shady nooks for any fish you add with plants and rock ledges. Second jot down a rough design of the pond you want to build, don't worry if you're not an artist just the basics will do. The pond may be structured or more natural, big, small etc, the choice is yours. Third is what you can afford, will you buy a preformed pond kit for your new pond for faster results or use liners and stones to build your pond by hand? Remember most ponds grow and change over time as you add new things and it matures. However if you would like a waterfall it's best to add any large design feature from the get go when building the pond. Fountains, islands and other things can easily be added later. It will never really be completely finished because it's a living thing really. Not sure what you want? Time to hit the books! There are lots of ideas to be found! Checkout your local library or the web.

From the addition of fish, type of plants, water features, sculptures and lighting, there are a lot of neat elements you can have when you build a backyard pond to give it your own personal touch. Remember this is your backyard pond oasis! All of these pond building choices may blow your mind at in the beginning but that is why you must have a layout and ask for help if needed.
There are several things that you will want to be prepared to make decisions on when the time is right when it comes to building your pond. Here are some of things you should consider as you begin to design before you actually build your pond:

Do you want or need lighting when you build a pond?

Lights can add an elegant feel to your pond at night. When installed correctly, the lighting can be easily tucked amongst the pond rocks or in the greenery surrounding the pond. Running wires will be necessary or you can look into solar light too.

What kind of plants do you want to add when you build a pond?

Aquatic plants are a major part of your ponds ecosystem and are kind of the bones of the pond, though you can keep it simple with just the basics like a few lily pads to start until you're more comfortable, good choices are: a mix of Marginal Pond Plants, Hardy Water Lotus (Nelumbo), Hardy Water Lilies (Nymphaea), floating pond plants like water lettuce and water hyacinth. Look at them as a biological filter. How many to add well like I said it's up to you really but the rule of thumb is have 30-50% of the surface covered

Do you want to add Koi or other types of fish to your pond building plan?

While it's not really needed you probably will want to add them at some point. Not only do they add some sparkle to the pond, they also help the ponds ecosystem be better balanced. To boot they are fun to watch and feed especially Koi.

Hopefully this will give you some things to start thinking about as you move forward with your pond building dreams.

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