Your backyard is beautiful, it’s a work of art. Your flowers are in bloom and your grass is green and healthy, but you are missing something. A backyard pond can be the icing on the cake, the perfect item for completion of your backyard oasis. Here’s how you do it.
Find the Perfect Location
A pond will need certain things in order to thrive and remain clean. Putting a pond away from large trees is a safe way to preserve the liner from destructive tree roots and ensure that the pond does not fill up with leaves come fall. You will need to have a power source close to the pond for the re-circulating pump - keep that in mind when choosing a location.
Standard or Custom-Size?
Decide if you would like to go with a mold for the pond liner that is already pre-set and you simply dig the hole to correspond with the size of the desired liner. Or alternatively, you may choose to do a custom pond as this will allow you more creative freedom. To do this you will need a soft liner that will form to the size and depth of pond you have decided on.
Dig Yourself a Pond
Once you have decided on the size of your pond, go ahead and start digging! Outline the pond’s surface will give you a guideline and idea of how much space your pond will take up. Be accurate with your measurements so you can get the right size for your liner. Also think about what you would like the pond to accomplish while digging. If you want to have overwinter fish you need the pond to be deep enough to accommodate their needs. There are also many different aquatic plants that you can have live in your pond, but be certain to research ahead of time so as to provide the perfect habitat for these picky plants.
Installing the Pond
This will be the most technical part of the process. After the hole is dug be certain to line the hole with 1-2” of sand and place an underlay fabric specifically for ponds over the area of the pond. The rubber liner will be placed on top of the underlay fabric. Carefully place the rubber lining of the pond and secure it on the sides at the top of the pond and then start filling your pond with water! Be mindful to pull the liner as the pond fills with water to remove any wrinkles. Once the water is approximately 4” from the top of the pond you can stop filling and secure the overlapping liner with decorative rocks to keep it in place. It may seem like a daunting task, but the helpful staff at Ritchie Feed and Seed are here to help you achieve your backyard paradise. Visit our garden supply stores in Ottawa, Stittsville, Richmond, Brockville, and Winchester to shop for pond supplies, pond plants, and pond accessories!
This will be the most technical part of the process. After the hole is dug be certain to line the hole with 1-2” of sand and place an underlay fabric specifically for ponds over the area of the pond. The rubber liner will be placed on top of the underlay fabric. Carefully place the rubber lining of the pond and secure it on the sides at the top of the pond and then start filling your pond with water! Be mindful to pull the liner as the pond fills with water to remove any wrinkles. Once the water is approximately 4” from the top of the pond you can stop filling and secure the overlapping liner with decorative rocks to keep it in place. It may seem like a daunting task, but the helpful staff at Ritchie Feed and Seed are here to help you achieve your backyard paradise. Visit our garden supply stores in Ottawa, Stittsville, Richmond, Brockville, and Winchester to shop for pond supplies, pond plants, and pond accessories!
