25 Top Pond Landscape Architecture Tips. read Before You Start Your Pond Project

Just remember that you're going to build a pond to enjoy it and add value to your home without creating a lot of extra work for yourself. These are prime objectives that you need to take careful consideration of. Here's the check list and basic comments relating to the check list ... exploring this website will provide in-depth information on all the tips listed here and rest assured I only recommend good equipment and reliable suppliers. I do not supply any product directly since I sold my pond products company last year.

1. A water garden or fish pond should be aesthetically pleasing to the eye and environment. It should also be soothing to the eye and ear and not disturb your neighbours. Let it also become a personal creative exercise to which you've added your personal uniqueness
2. The location of your water garden should be where you can most enjoy it most of the time. This means place it where you can see it most of the time such as from your living room window. In this way you'll get maximum enjoyment and also be able to keep a close eye on what's happening around the pond (predators like herons might pay visits when you're not looking)
3. Do not place in an area where there are lots of deciduous trees because the leaves shed during autumn or fall will pollute the pond water. Take special note of trees that are poisonous. Trees grow large and roots spread long distances and can create havoc especially with concrete ponds.
4. Shade for ponds is important to help create more stable temperatures, and protection for fish (they need to hide now and again) but remember that ideally at least 5 or 6 hours of sunshine is best for pond plants to grow and flower well. This shade is best created using pond plants and marginal plants. Plants also provide oxygen and remove polluting nutrients from the pond water.
5. Select the right pond pump and know how to choose the right pond bio-filter ... these links are placed as a constant reminder to you. Do not build any fish pond water garden feature unless you intend to install a suitable pond pump and pond filter that purifies the pond water. You'll waste your money and your time and your fish will die unless you have a large pond with many many healthy plants.
6. Safety for children especially ... make sure access is controlled and preventative measures are taken to prevent unsupervised children from venturing close to the pond. Products are available that can be put across the pond just in case a small one falls in.
7. Avoid building ponds over water pipes, gas pipes and electrical conduit systems.
8. If you're going to put a water garden on a patio, deck or similar structure take into account that the water garden might hold a lot of water and water is heavy .... make sure that the structure can handle the weight and you don't collapse the deck.
9. How big should the pond be? In general the bigger the better but cost comes into the equation so build the biggest you can afford. The main reason is that larger ponds are more stable and fish and plants do not like rapid or significant change. Larger ponds are just much more impressive and  when done properly are real and valuable assets.
10. Select the right pond pump and know how to choose the right pond bio-filter ... these links are placed as a constant reminder to you. Do not build any fish pond water garden feature unless you intend to install a suitable pond pump and pond filter that purifies the pond water. You'll waste your money and your time and your fish will die unless you have a large pond with many many healthy plants.
11. In particular depth is an issue when it comes to pond design. Any respectable koi pond designed to hold lots of koi and where you expect the koi to grow large should never be less than 4 feet (1.32 metres) deep and preferable 6 feet or 1.8 metres. On the other hand if you want a simple garden pond with goldfish or a nicely planted water feature then a pond 2 feet deep will be adequate in most cases.
12. Where weather is really cold and prolonged freezing conditions exist shallow ponds will freeze right down to the bottom and all wildlife will be killed. This means fish need to be over-wintered indoors in tubs or other alternative containers. The fish are almost inactive in cold water so they can survive for long periods indoors (in lofts or basements)  without elaborate filter systems. Just don't feed the fish. You don't need to make the whole pond much deeper ... a section of deeper water where fish can over-winter is enough. This deeper section also helps in hot weather too. Ponds dug into the ground are less prone to freezing solid than above ground ponds which have some insulation from surrounding earth.
13. Pond excavations irrespective of the depth should have shelves built into them to hold plants that do better at different depths. For example many plants prefer wet feet rather than complete submersion in 2 feet of water. Water lilies on the other hand almost all waterlilies prefer deeper water (2 feet and deeper) to prosper and flower and spread.
14. Choose the construction material wisely for your planned water feature. For the majority of ponds EPDM pond liner (or Butyl rubber pond liner) is probably best because you can choose your own size and design and you can have a large pond without too much extra expense ... thicker is better.
15. Large ponds made of concrete are expensive and need to be built to exacting standards to prevent future leaks. For smaller ponds then the preformed variety make installation much simpler and I often recommend such water features or ponds as a starting point to learn about pond keeping. In my view the best material for this type of pond is fiberglass ... these items are moulded with built in surrounds, they look like real rock in many cases and are weather proof. They can be built above or below ground and easily placed because they are lightweight yet very strong. There are a wide variety to choose form and have a wide variety of simple to install waterfalls to add to the project.
16. Select the right pond pump and know how to choose the right pond bio-filter ... these links are placed as a constant reminder to you. Do not build any fish pond water garden feature unless you intend to install a suitable pond pump and pond filter that purifies the pond water. You'll waste your money and your time and your fish will die unless you have a large pond with many many healthy plants.
17. If you're going to do the job of building your own pond whether it's in ground or above ground preformed liner or flexible liner or eve concrete then splash out a couple of dollars (about $13 including postage ... that's all last time I checked) on the most practical small pond landscaping book ever published. It's available as a fold-flat heavy duty handbook you can take into the garden with you; it's full of diagrams that mean something to ordinary people and includes sections on exactly how to work out the types and quantities of materials you'll need. It can be ordered online to be sent by post and if you do this you get a free pdf download to use while you're waiting for the postman to arrive. It's written by Peter J May a very well known UK author, prize winning garden designer and practical water garden and pond landscaper with many years experience. It's called "The Perfect Pond Recipe Book" Just click the link to see Get it now ... you'll save the price many times over to say nothing of the effort and hassle you'll save. If you want to see some pond pictures of work done by Peter click here
18. Depending where you live and size of water garden you intend to build then maybe you'll need to seek planning permission before you start. It's best to make sure before you build that your water garden will comply with local building laws, statutes or whatever the latest regulations might be. AS an example there will almost certainly be a regulation regarding how you connect up to a power supply and you'll need electricity to run the pump, and possibly the UV light for algae control. Safety is the highest priority when using electricity close to water outdoors. And this means that you'll need to make sure earth leakage and trip systems are in place in case damage to cables takes place. While you're at it think of contacting your insurance company to let them knwo your intention and see if they have any special conditions.
19. The best way to start is lay out using a hose pipe what you think the finished shape of the pond or water garden feature should be. Do not build into your pond (unless you want later hassles) sharp corners, complex and convuluted shapes. Avoid debris settling areas (ie still water areas created through bad form). Gentle curves are best in terms of functionality and simple installation and operation. Your final pond will also need a pond filter and pump and these need to have pipes running to them so be aware of this and plan a layout accordingly. YOu may need to make a plan to hide the pond filter. Make sure that the electrical connection point is close by and add an extra connection for possible later use (maybe for a pond light or UV)
20. You may want to incorporate a waterfall or bridge or both into your final design. This is the time to think of this and plan your water garden project actually out in the garden by placing obstacles that resemble your final objective so that you can get a good overall visual impact. This is far better than just creating a plan on a piece of paper. Maybe you'll want to sit around the pond in which case also position a bench in the area you might like to sit (shade, setting sun etc should be taken into account). What will you do when the time comes to drain the pond (and one day it might) ... give some thought to this also at the planning stage. You might want to pump the water out and onto the garden or else down a drain. talking of draining a pond this is another reason to have a deeper pond section ....the fish will go here as the water level drops and this will make it much easier (and less stressful on both you and the fish) to catch them.
21. Select the right pond pump and know how to choose the right pond bio-filter ... these links are placed as a constant reminder to you. Do not build any fish pond water garden feature unless you intend to install a suitable pond pump and pond filter that purifies the pond water. You'll waste your money and your time and your fish will die unless you have a large pond with many many healthy plants.
22. Avoid rain water running from roofs and the like. Also make very sure that water run-off from surrounding garden areas does not run into the pond since this water will almost certainly contain too much nutrient from fertilizing your grass or plants and maybe the water run-off will contain pesticides which are toxic to fish and plants. Think also of surrounding areas like neighbour's gardens that might create problems for you. Run-off can also cause murky pond water from mud getting into the pond. This will settle on the bottom and require cleaning out at some stage.
23. The ideal garden pond will have a bottom drain and sloping sides and a sloping base(s) so that all debris finds its way to the bottom drain which is allowing a continual purging of debris. This debris is then removed in a good mechanical filter system before the water now separated from the solid debris enters a biological pond filter in which bacteria purify the water (fish excrete toxic ammonia which must be broken down in a bio filter). Unfortunately the extra cost and engineering involved in creating a bottom drain system puts pond construction beyond the capabilities of the average person. A bottom drain is also overkill for most small to medium ponds. Just be aware that a bottom drain system is desirable and not essential in most garden ponds. In larger koi ponds I would say it is almost a complete necessity.
24. If you use a pond liner for constructing your pond make sure that there is a layer of protective material between the pond liner and the round. It might look like you have removed all rocks and stones and potentially sharp objects when you have finished digging the hole in the ground. But miraculously it seems that sharp stones have a way of working their way up through the ground and a liner can be punctured. To prevent this place a layer of sand on the base of the excavation and a a layer fleece like material (even old carpet or underlay will do) around the base and sides of the structure before laying the pond liner itself. To protect liner from over-exposure to UV from sunlight make sure any pond edging protrudes by about 2 inches into the pond so that the liner above the water surface remains in the shade.
25. Do not place rocks, pebbles, stones or other paraphanalia on the bottom of the pond no matter what anybody tells you. Such items allow debris to be collected in undesirable places that in turn allow non-beneficial bacteria to build up to higher than normal levels and consequently increase the risk of disease breaking out in your pond. The bottom of a pond should be kept as clean and as clear as possible at all time. Even be prepared once a year to climb into your pond and shovel out accumulated debris... if the bottom is covered with rocks and pebbles it becomes an impossible job to do this.
26. When you get around to digging the hole and placing the liner in position it is vital that care and attention is paid to making sure everything is level ... how to do this is explained very well in "The Perfect Pond Recipe Book" . If you don't get the levels right your water will look "lopsided" once the pond is filled and you'll be forever unhappy. Promise. This mistake has been made by thousands ... do it right first time. You want t enjoy the benefits of your hard work and your well-thought-out and carefully planned water garden.
27. Select the right pond pump and know how to choose the right pond bio-filter ... these links are placed as a constant reminder to you. Do not build any fish pond water garden feature unless you intend to install a suitable pond pump and pond filter that purifies the pond water. You'll waste your money and your time and your fish will die unless you have a large pond with many many healthy plants.