2.
Shaping Your Pond
People
have all different types of taste, so you can build
your pond to reflect your outdoor decor. From a
formal type pond to a pond that looks like a lagoon on
a tropical island, the choice is yours.
You can use a garden hose or string to design the
shape of your pond. Avoid making small curves
and crevices. It will be harder to keep clean
and also harder to conform a liner into the small
curve.
If you are going to include a stream or waterfall in
your pond, you need to take that into consideration
before you start to dig.
3.
Digging Your Pond
Once
you are satisfied with your layout plan for your pond
site you can start your digging (don't forget to check
with your utility companies before you dig). Depending on what type of
soil you have, actually getting the dirt out can be
relatively easy; or slow and painful. With some
hands on experience, I have dug out ponds in Oklahoma,
Texas and Arizona, with soil types of clay and sand.
Once I got past the 1st foot of soil it was easier
digging in Arizona but harder in Oklahoma, so it just
depends on your soil type.
Protecting
the Liner
Something you need to
think about when you install a pond is the environment
around it. A few important points to keep in
mind are:
A. Will the pond come in contact with wildlife,
especially hoofed animals such as deer, elk, cattle,
horses?
B. Will the pond be used for swimming?
C.
Will the pond be used for fishing or any other
recreational use?
If you answered yes to any of these, the recommended
installation procedure is to put a layer of
GEOTEXTILE
on top of the base soil, then install the liner, then
put another layer of GEOTEXTILE on top of the liner,
then bury the liner under 8-12" of sand or soil.
Depending on the use, you can install the GEOTEXTILE
just around the outer edges of the pond, in all the
areas where hoofed animals, wildlife or people may
come in contact, and then cover that area with sand or
soil.
4.
Installing a Liner
After the hole is dug, leveled and ready for
the liner, be sure and dig a small trench
around the outside edge of the pond to bring
the liner into and back out the trench.
You then backfill this area in order to
secure you liner. For those of you who
are not going to bury the liner, you will
need to batten the liner at the top edge of
your containment area.
Put your liner (geotextile
underlayment should be placed first if you
are using it to protect the liner) into the
pond, leaving it loose fitting, fixing the
corner areas by folding over neatly.
Once your liner is in place where you want
it, put some of your backfill loosely ( do
not compact yet) in the trench to partially
secure the liner. Now, slowly
fill the pond with water. It is best
to get into the pond with your bare feet or
with soft soled shoes and adjust your liner
as the pond is filling, making sure the
liner is conforming to your pond the way you
want it. Do
not start filling the pond and then leave
area, or you may have to drain and refill to
make any adjustments.
Once the water is within a few inches from
the top of the pond, turn your water off.
You will want to then cut off the excess
liner around your partially backfilled
trench, leaving about 6". At this
time you can add your pump, filter,
lighting, fountains and any other
accessories that have tubes or cords that
can be buried in the trench. Once all
your connections are ready to be buried, you
can finish backfilling and compacting the
entire trench area.
5.
Laying the Border
Lay
the rocks of choice around the edge of the
pond so they lay over the edging toward the
inside of the pond about 1 to 2 inches. This
will help hide the top inside edge of the
liner. Also, if you build the coping
area as illustrated above it will hide the
liner from showing. Once you have all
the rocks or brick laid out, start placing
the mortar to hold them together, or
whatever means you are using to keep
the border secure.
6.
Finishing Touches
The
pond is now finished, except now you need
some fish and plants. Place
water plants into the pond by setting the
pots onto the shelf and on the bottom of the
pond. Before placing fish into the
pond, make sure you put a water conditioner
into the pond that will take out chlorine,
etc..Usually well water is just fine
as it is. Be sure your pump is
oxygenating the water. A good rule of
thumb is one inch of fish per sqft of water
surface, unless you are stocking KOI
fish then the rule is one fish per
25 square feet of pond space.
Building
your own pond can be an exciting fun experience or a
disastrous adventure. By knowing what to expect
before you start your project will help keep your
temper in check.
Listed below
is a general step-by-step guide that may give you an insight into
building your pond, but first the most important step is to check with your city
about its building codes and with your utility companies
concerning buried cables and pipes.
