How To Build a Garden Pond

Ponds are probably the single most important wildlife feature that can be added to a garden, attracting a host of creatures from birds to frogs and beneficial insects. This article details the steps involved in building a simple garden pond.

Tools Required:

• Shovel
• Hosepipe
• Club Hammer
• Tape Measure
• Stanley Knife

Things to Consider Before Commencing

Before installing a pond, at least three things must be considered.

Style of the pond: e.g. Is it going to be circular pond, or rectangular or any other geometric shape?

Type of pond: e.g. Should you decide on a Koi Pond, it will require more filtration and must be deeper than most other ponds, with no vegetation, as compared to a goldfish pond which requires less maintenance. Koi Ponds will require advice from an expert.

Location of the pond: e.g. Is it going to be far from the house, or near the room in which owner spends most of their time?

Digging The Hole

Use a hosepipe to lay out your pond shape. When digging, do not break the edges of the pond. They hold your decorative rocks and if disturbed during the digging process, may break down due to the weight of the rocks. If the sides of the pond are soft, you must reinforce them, using roof flashing and support it with PVC pipe stakes, to hold it in place. Dig vertically at an angle to 350mm, and place the excavated dirt in a ring about one foot away from the outer edge of the pond, you will need it later to finish the pond. 

Install the flashing and hold it in place with the PVC pipe, crimp the top edge of flashing towards the outside of the pond, so that the sharp edge does not penetrate the liner.

Leveling And Felt Placement

Level the bottom for placement of plants. Clip off any protruding roots and smooth the sides and bottom well. Cover all exposed surfaces with underlay or bidim, which serves as a cushion for the liner.

Calculating The Size of The Liner

Length of the liner = 

Overall length of the pond + (2 x maximum depth) + 1000mm

Width of the liner = 

Overall width of the pond + (2 x maximum depth) + 1000mm

Liner Placement

Open the liner and spread it across the hole, and pleat or fold the liner as the pond begins to fill up with water to make the bottom and sides as smooth as possible.

As your local Build it, for this liner in their pool and garden department.

Rock Placement

After the pond is almost full, place the first layer of decorative stones or bricks around the sides overhanging by about 2 Inches. You may pile the rocks one or more layers thick depending on how high you wish to raise the level of the pond above ground level. You will need about one ton of 1-4 Inch rocks for a 6’ x 1 O’ pond, if you build a waterfall, you will need more.

Placing The Final Rocks

Once you have one or two layers of rock on top of the liner, stand inside of the pond, grasp the edge of the liner, and pull it about 6 Inches over the bottom layer of rocks, now put another row of rocks on top. Make sure no liner is showing through the cracks, cover the cracks with smaller rocks, then finish filling the pond. You have built your pond sightly about the level of the rest of your yard so that it will not collect runoff from surrounding areas. The water above the ground level gives the pond enough weight to keep it in its place when the water table gets too high. The bottom layer, now completely underwater, not only looks great but hides the liner, and will also serve as a hiding and spawning place for fish.

Completion

Rake the excavated dirt back towards the pond as backfill to cover up the liner that is showing above the ground. Gently grade it down and use it as a planting area. Put a dechlorinate in the water if you live where the water is chlorinated, and your pond will now be ready for the plants and fish to move in.

Landscaping

Use indigenous plants as much as possible, this will require less maintenance in the long run, mounding plants are also a beautiful option as they drape over the rocks and into the water.

Additional Features

Add a waterfall to your pond, you can source a pump for your waterfall from our garden and pool department, this is your pond, use your imagination! Most products and materials used in this article are available instore from Build it Gansbaai/Hermanus or on the online store www.buildit-store.com with free local delivery in the Overstrand area, for building materials, do-it-yourself home improvement tools, and expert advice.

Please send us a photo of your completed creation, we would love to see it, you can upload your images in the comments section!

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