Pond Building Tips

Carefully choose your site location to get the best enjoyment from your pond and not have excessive maintenance from putting it in the wrong place. Some low locations on a slopping property are bad because of the rainwater may flow to the pond and create muddy water, washing away your fish, even contaminating the pond from landscaping materials ( like dyed mulch ). If you have a slope the best thing to do is build a retaining wall this way you don’t have to excavate a large area to utilize for your pond. If you are using a slope this makes it easier to incorporate a stream into it. Carefully select an area that has some shade but not a lot of trees that will drop any leaves and seed pops directly into the pond.

Draw out the area that you think will look best and call in some friends or neighbors to get their opinion as how they think it will look. Make sure there are no power lines, underground water pipes, waste lines etc. in the area you are going to dig. If you are not sure call your utility company. You can hand dig the pond or use excavating equipment if it is available to you or rent from a rental store.

Walk around your site and envision the location on how it will look from different location in the house and from you patio or deck area to help in making a decision on what site will be best. Also consider the cost involved to put it in different locations. Some may be easier to install than other spots and will be considerably less of an investment. You can also find free materials at times available like rock and stone from people redoing their landscaping projects.

Design carefully to use varying sizes of plants to accent you pond. Carefully determine how much sunshine per day the area will receive and go to your local nursery and show them your layout and they will gladly help you plan your landscape. Take into consideration that you want to incorporate hiding areas for your fish from predators. Will you also use plants in the pond itself? That is another factor to determine to keep an environmentally friendly pond that will attract different wildlife to that area.
Will you be adding fish and what type will be putting in the pond? Smaller goldfish require less space and are usually pretty hardy. Koi are a joy to train to hand feed, but are very hard on plants early in the season when the new growth is starting. The best bet is to make plastic cages around the plant so that the Koi don’t destroy them. Make sure your pond size is also adequate because Koi become very large quickly.

Next what is your budget? Think of what you would like to spend and almost double it. I am not kidding once you get started the costs just seem to increase. You always find more things you like to add or better upgrade to what you originally planned to purchase. I find the internet a great source for anything you need to build your pond. Most of the time I found that you can’t beat EBay for one place to shop for deals on anything you may need. You will even find live Koi being offered at reasonable prices. But check all areas even locally to get your best deals. Factoring in shipping sometimes negates the cost of buying locally. Always check the vendors reputation before making a purchase. If using a contractor always check references and see if you can look at some of his finished projects.