Planning How To Build A Garden Pond

by Mary Ann

From time to time, I also get gardening-related questions submitted to us, so every now and then I’ll give you some general gardening tips and strategies too.  Since us plant lovers need to stick together!  So here’s a gardening-related article you should enjoy…

Almost all farms and settlements would have a type of pond and it would most definitely be different in what we think of a garden pond to be today. Most people’s impression of a backyard pond is a small area of water with some fish and plants and a pond pump running a small fountain.

A modern day pond is nothing like a village or farm pond was centuries ago. A pond was a vital source of water in communities and farms. The water would be used by both animals and humans. When water supply and drainage became available everywhere many ponds were neglected and were either filled in or became overgrown.

This article is about how to plan to build a garden pond. The natural environment for pond life to survive is reducing every single day because of land shortages and pollution. To entice wildlife into their backyard many people build a pond.

This guide can help you with the planning stage. The planning stage of pond building is the most significant thing that you need to do. Its well worth the investment in time to get it right.

You really do need to sit down with some pen and paper and decide what your finished pond should look like. Without doubt the location of the pond is the most crucial thing to consider.

The location of the pond should not be exposed to direct sunshine for more than 5 hours per day. If your home does not have shelter from the sun consider purchasing a number of plants and bushes to provide some protection.

In countries that are cooler then the amount of direct sunshine exposed to the pond tends to get slightly less important. The pond should if possible be seen easily from your home as it will hopefully immediately grab your attention when you go out into your back garden.

A natural balance is more stable in larger ponds, and therfore much easier  when maintaing a garden pond, the size is calculated from water volume. If you are limited to size in your back garden then to gain more water volume then you will need to either construct a deeper pond or a raised pond.

The pond size will also have to match the type and quantity of fish that you plan to keep. It is vital that the pond is deep enough so that it can never totally freeze. During winter fish will spend most of the time in the deepest part of the pond.

It is a good idea to work out the actual water volume during the planning stage. When adding water remedies it is necessary to know the exact volume of water in your pond.

If you want to appeal to wildlife like frogs and newts to your pond you will have to build it at ground level. Design the pond so that other animals like hedge hogs can climb out if they fall in.

A good pond will have three areas, a shallow marshy, middle and deeper areas. This is ideal if goes around the whole circumference but this is often not practical for example if you want to create a waterfall. Roughly 20% of a ponds surface should be shallow.

One way of gaining this is to have a tiered pond design. Having a shallow area will enable you to have a variety of different pond plants. The middle region should be deep enough for planting water lilies and must give plenty of room for your desired fish to swim freely.


The shape of your pond is also a consideration. It is thought that fish favor a rounded shape rather than a square shape, but there is very little evidence to support this opinion. If the pond is built with a pond liner then you will be get a bigger pond if you make it an oval shape than if it was square or rectangular.

Finally if you have small children then make sure you build a pond surround to keep them safe.

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