Learning To Build A Pond

By Author: Bill Scott
Total Articles: 4393
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Learning how to build a pond is not that hard, especially if you follow all the steps and procedures properly. Since you don't have any experience yet, perhaps an expert in building ponds can assist you. You will need all the help you could get because building a pond is not a one-man task. It requires time, energy and a lot of planning.

Before you learn how to build a pond, you must first choose a perfect location for your pond.

1.Select an open space where you can build a pond. It would be much better if it can be easily seen in the patio or even inside your house.

2.Find an area that receives at least 4 to 6 hours of sunshine everyday. Nearly all marine flowers and plants grow in sunshine.

3.Select a place that is far away from over-hanging trees. Falling leaves will contaminate the pond. If they decompose it could cause troubles. Additionally, the roots of the trees can possibly change the shape of your pond.

4.If you have natural slopes in your backyard, you can build your pond on that location, so that you can add landscape features like waterfalls.

5.Find an area that is close ...
... to a water supply. Remember that small ponds could quickly lose one inch of water everyday by reason of evaporation. Make sure that you'll regularly tap the pond with water.

6.Select a location that is near a power source that has at least four available outlets. This will let you connect a UV sterilizer and two pumps, and you still have an extra outlet which you can use for lighting the pond or other pond equipment.

If you already found the perfect location for your pond, you are now ready to build a pond.

1.Designing process - Before building your pond, you should have planed on how your pond would look like.

2.Prepare the building tools - You should have shovels, rakes, half inch thick of PVC pipe that is cut into two pieces (2 feet per piece), 14 inches of 28 gauge roofing flashing, hose clamps, pond liner pump, and for the underlayment, use #15 roofing felt. You can also use tubing if you decided to add a waterfall on your pond.

3.Digging - You can now start digging the hole for you pond. You need to dig at least 14 inch deep of hole. This is enough for the fishes and marine plants to live.

Make sure that you don't damage the edges of your pond. If the edges are not that hard, you can use reinforcements. At this point, you can start placing the 28 gauge roofing, and then use the PVC pipes as its foundation. Next, put the hallowed out soil inside a ring approximately 12 inches afar from the outside surface of the pond edge. After that, you can mount the flashing and use the PC pipe to attach it in its proper place. Lastly, tuck the top edge of the roofing flashing towards the exterior part of the pond. This is needed to prevent the pointed edges from penetrating the liner.

4.Pond flooring - Place the level and the felt placement on the surface on the pond. Be sure to cover the surface and the sides of the pond.

5.Add water to the pond, and make sure that it is full.

6.Add the rocks on the side of your pond for decorative purposes.

7.Use the rake to level the excavated soil to cover the ground surrounding the pond.

8.Put the fishes and the plants in the water. It is better to put colorful fishes and striking aquatic plants. You can also add plants and flowers on the side of the pond to give it a more natural look.

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Other building articles from this author include http://www.howtobuildaraft.com and http://www.howtobuildatrailer.net.