Aquatic Plants

POND BASICS  

How to Build a Pond

Location & Design

There are many kinds of garden ponds. When you are designing your pond, you must consider your lifestyle. Is it formal and therefore you want a formal pond, a rectangle, circle or other regular geometric shape? If this is the case, usually the pond is built from concrete and might be covered with masonry or tile both in and out. The formal pond usually holds a fountain or statuary. Sometimes it is a reflecting pool with no fish or vegetation and needs to be treated like a swimming pool. Other ponds are informal with rocks or boulders placed around the pond. A roaring waterfall or trickling stream might be the moving water feature rather than a formal fountain. This pond might also be chlorinated, but most have vegetation, fish and are treated as a balanced ecosystem. The pond must fit the lifestyle of the owners.  Many deck ponds are now available.  Small, simple and easy to maintain, they are a summer pleasure.

After the style is determined, we must know the type of pond to be installed. The koi pond is a special type of pond and needs much filtration, must be deeper than most other ponds, is treated like a very large outdoor aquarium and must be taken care of like one. The filters must be cleaned regularly, the koi must be fed daily, and most of the time, there is no vegetation growing because the koi will eat it....and they will eat it FAST. If goldfish only are placed in a pond, the maintenance is less, but only if the goldfish are not fed. If they are fed, the fish will grow larger than the pond can support, keep having babies and sooner or later there will be a fish kill. To have a balanced ecosystem and therefore the least maintenance, the goldfish must survive in the pond with existing vegetation, working daily for their room and board.

So after the style and type of pond are determined, the location is the next most important factor in pond installation. I always recommend the pond be as close to the viewing area as possible. The pond/bog plants move in the breeze, the waterfall makes a delightful noise and the fish are colorful to watch. If the pond is in a far corner of the yard, chances are the owners will not enjoy it as much as if it is near a den or kitchen window or even a bedroom window that can be left open in good weather. I usually determine what room of the house the owner spends the most time in and decide the location from there.

So before installing the pond, at least three things must be decided: Style, type and location. After these decisions are made the rest is easy

Choosing the location and the shape
Put your pond where you will enjoy it most - where you can see it from inside or near where you generally sit outside. If you want water lilies make sure it gets sun about 5 hours a day to maximize water lily blooming.

Lay out the design with a garden hose to the shape you like. Avoid sharp curves, as they can require pleats or folds in the liner and make rock placement difficult later.

Equipment:

Digging the hole

Level 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 15 pound roofing felt, which serves as a cushion for the liner.

Calculating the Size of the Liner
Length of the liner = the overall length of the pond plus twice the maximum depth plus three feet.
Width of the liner = the overall width of the pond plus twice the maximum depth plus three feet.

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

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" -2" flat veneer rocks for a 6' x 10' pond. If you build a waterfall, you will need more.

Placing the last course of rocks
When you get one or two layers of rocks on top of the liner, stand inside the pond, grasp the edge of the liner and pull it over the bottom layer of rocks about six inches. Put another row of rocks on top. Make sure no liner is showing through the cracks-cover cracks with thinner rocks. Finish filling the pond.

You have built your pond slightly above the level of the rest of the your yard so that it will not collect runoff from surrounding areas. Also the water above ground level gives the pond enough weight to keep it in its place when the water table gets high. And the bottom layer, (now under water) not only looks great and completely hides the liner, it also serves as a hiding and spawning place for fish.

Rake the excavated dirt back toward 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 dechlorinator in the water if you live where the water is chlorinated. Now you are ready for plants and fish. Landscaping

You may plant whatever you like around the pond. I use native plants as much as possible. I also try to use mounding plants so they will drape over the rocks and into the water. I like to have plants that creep around the rocks and partially cover them as the seasons pass. Soon your pond will look as if it has been there forever.

Choosing the right combination of pump, filter, pipe, and associated plumbing is one of the mysteries many first time pond builders face. Why do you need a pump in the first place? Well, you may not need one at all depending on what you plan to keep in your pond. But, if you plan to keep fish, particularly koi, in your pond, you may need a pump to both move the water over a waterfall or through a fountain for aeration, and to move the water through a filter to help keep the water clear and healthy for your fish.

 A pump will never keep the water clear. A pump moves water and provides oxygen for the fish if you feed them and the pond is overpopulated. If you have a natural ecosystem there will be no overpopulation and therefore you will not need any pump if you don't wish to have one. Most folks like them because we all like the sound of moving water and waterfalls.

If you have a waterfall, use a pump that moves at least 1200 gallons per hour. I use a 3000 gph pump, tee the output into two hoses and have great results. No pump has to be turned on all the time unless you feed your fish or have koi.

And since we live in a climate where we have freezing weather, remove 1/3 of your water, turn the pump off , remove the pump and drain lines.

The laws of Nature:

Now that you are a pond keeper  heed the laws of nature:

1. You must have one bunch of anacharis (underwater grass) per square foot of water surface area. This serves as a natural filter and as food for the fish. It grows faster than the fish can eat it.
2. 50 - 60% of the surface of the water must be shaded with floating plants. Water lilies are great, as are water hyacinths, water lettuce or water poppies.
3. You must have fish to complete the balanced ecosystem. I recommend common goldfish. Do not put Japanese Koi in your pond. They will eat all of your plants...and they will do it quickly.
4. Do not feed your fish. EVER!! They will become too big for the pond and upset the ecosystem. You will have an overpopulation problem and all of your fish will die.
5. Put in one linear foot of fish for each 25 square foot of pond surface area. If you have 100 square feet of pond, you may have 4 foot long fish, 8 six inch fish or 16 three inch fish and so on.
6. Do not allow turtles, ducks, geese, dogs,  or raccoons to swim in your pond.
7. Do not use chemicals!!! EVER! Add a dechlorinator when you first fill the pond and then when you add more than 10% water afterwards.
8. Do not worry about pH. It will take care of itself.
9. Remove any dead or decaying vegetation regularly so that ammonia does not build up and foul your pond.
10. Relax. Your pond will generally take care of itself. I recommend benevolent neglect as the best approach to pond keeping.

Chores
To keep the pond looking good, remove yellowing leaves and spent flowers every week. If an individual lily spreads too much, you can remove the outer ring of leaves to reduce the overall size of the plant without affecting flowering. If aphids appear, hose them into the water each morning to provide food for your fish. Caterpillars can be picked off by hand.

Weekly Tasks
Check the water level--if it has dropped due to evaporation, top it off. Add a dechlorinator if you add more than 10% of the total volume of water. If it has not dropped, pump about 5% of the water into the surrounding garden and top off the pond. The water is great fertilizer and the water changing deters chemical buildup that can corrode the pump.

Check the bottom of the pond for decaying vegetation and remove dead plants, leaves or other vegetation. Dead and decaying plant material can foul the water and kill the fish.

Monthly Tasks
Fertilize your water lilies with a product made for aquatic plants. Follow the manufacturer's directions for application. Fertilize the lilies from the time the leaves reach the surface in the spring until the lilies go dormant --usually about the first of November. If you have a filter with your pump, clean it every month. During the hot part of the summer and if your pond is in full sun, clean it more often. If the filter has a foam rubber component, run water through it until the water runs clear. Do not squeeze or wring it out.

Yearly Tasks
Remove all of the fish, plants and pump out the water. Lightly scrub the bottom and sides of the pond with a brush--do not use chemicals or soap. Add new water, dechlorinate, replace fish, divide plants, repot and replace. Save some of the old water to store the fish in while the pond is being cleaned. Put the fish in plastic bags in the old water. Float the fish on top of the newly cleaned pond until the water in the bag and the water in the pond are the same temperature. Make sure the temperature of the water is above 55 degrees.

HINTS (more to follow)