A backyard water garden is a pleasant addition to any yard or landscape. The sound of running water is peaceful and calming. My own small garden pond has been a great source of enjoyment for me but it took some time and effort to make it so. Here’s how I built my own garden pond.
Location
The first step is choosing a location. If you have a garden area already set up you can choose a spot within it for the garden pond. With my pond, I had a spot where I had a vision of a water garden, a perennial butterfly garden, a meandering path, and a bench.
Digging
I dug my pond by hand, with the help of my children and an enthusiastic dog. It took a few days of hot, sweaty work but we got a basic hole dug. I wanted one end to be deeper while allowing other parts of the pond to be shallow.
Liner
There are two choices for lining your backyard water garden – a hard, molded plastic liner or a soft, plastic liner. I had hoped to use a soft liner because it was more forgiving and versatile with the size of hole I had dug, but my uncle saw my efforts and offered to give me a molded liner he no longer needed.
Problem solved with no outlay of cash. While this molded liner was smaller than the original hole I dug, it was free so I was willing to adapt my plans. Positioning the liner into the hole required some additional digging, leveling and backfilling, but once I got it into place it was worth the effort to see the beginnings of my pond.
Pump
A pump is necessary to circulate the water, aerate it and keep it from stagnating in a pond. The aeration is necessary if you plan to have fish.
Choose a pump that is rated for the size of your pond. Some pumps may include fountain features. Check at your local home and garden center to see what is available.
Plants
Your local garden center should have water garden plants available for purchase. Last summer I purchase a water lily for my pond. Too many water plants would quickly overwhelm a small pond (mine is less than 100 gallons), so I chose to limit the actual water plants to the water lily. I added additional plants around the outside perimeter of the pond to add interest.
Critters
The best thing about my little pond is the critters who have made it home or their favorite place to visit. I have a family of frogs living in my pond and I enjoy watching them sun themselves on top of the lily pads. I enjoy the dragonflies that visit my pond and the other garden creatures that make use of it.
A garden pond has been an enjoyable addition to my butterfly garden and I love to sit outside listening to the water gurgle and watch the frogs.
