Several years ago we were blessed to be selected to have a pond installed in our backyard. It was when water features were first gaining popularity and more and more homeowners were looking to have them installed in their yards. A local irrigation company was offering a training class to contractors to become certified in pond installations in both commercial and residential settings. They were looking for a homeowner willing to allow them to come and install a pond in their garden. 🙋🏼♀️ We were the lucky recipients!!!
The pond was installed in a day, yes in just one day. We had about 20 contractors in our yard digging and working to install the pond. All we had to do was sit back and watch them do all the hard work. What a dream come true for us!!!
Pond; 1 year after installation.
We watched closely and learned some valuable lessons in the proper installation of a natural looking pond. It really is not complicated to do, but if you elect to do it yourself, it is a backbreaking project. It requires a lot of digging, and moving heavy rocks around. If you are up to the challenge then read on for the step by step basics of installing a pond in your yard.
We have since moved and I wish we could have brought the pond with us! When we moved to Nature Way we were blessed with a beautiful sculptural water feature but it just wasn’t the same as having an actual pond.
There is something magical that happens in your garden when you install a pond. Birds start coming to visit for a drink of water during the hot summer afternoons. Hummingbirds come for sips of water, dragonflies appear from nowhere and flit about, even bees congregate along the water’s edge for a drink of cool water. The sound of water splashing and bubbling over rocks has a soothing, relaxing effect on your mood.
We quickly realized that the water feature we inherited needed some work. After running it for a short while the reservoir underneath ran dry and the pumps were strained. So the fountain sat dry and unused for several months.
One morning while sipping a cup of coffee I decided that today was the day! It was time to move the cobble rocks along the base away from the tall sculptural rocks and take a look at why the fountain wasn’t working properly. Moving small pebble rocks was something I could easily do. My thinking was, once we could get a good look at the pan underneath maybe we could easily clean it up and fix the problem. I mean, how hard could it possibly be?
Well that fateful decision to move the cobbles turned into a full blown makeover of the water feature. It turned out that it was not going to be an easy fix.
We already had power for the fountain. When you decide to install a water feature in your garden the first consideration is how to get power to it to run the pumps that will circulate the water. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, hiring an electrician to do this part of the project might be a good idea.
Once you have a source of power in place it’s time to clear the area and start digging. This is by far the least fun part of the project.
If you think roots may be a problem, adding a barrier to deter roots is a good idea. We did it on the cheap and purchased a couple of inexpensive plastic kiddie pools to place in the bottom of the hole.
We cut the pools and duct taped them together to form the walls and we used burlap sacks to cushion the bottom.
Next we placed the liner over the kiddie pools and burlap sacks. The burlap sacks aren’t required but will help cushion the bottom and hopefully prevent tears in the liner later on when we need to get into the pond to make any adjustments or clean the pond.
TIP: purchase a liner that is at least two to three times the size of the pond. You need enough liner for the bottom and to go up the sides with extra material to roll over rocks along the perimeter. You are better off having too much liner instead of not enough.
After getting the liner in place we had to address getting the pan and the 1 ton rock in position. It proved to be quite the challenge. Geometry was involved, as well as fulcrums and a jack. I can honestly say that I never thought I would need to use geometry in my life after high school, I was wrong, LOL!
Once we finally had the rocks in place and the tubing in the fountain rocks it was time to fill the pond with water.
Place pumps in the pond and run tubing to appropriate areas for water flow.
TIP: Buy pumps that will move the appropriate amount of water needed. Bigger more powerful pumps will move the most water and produce the best flow of water.
The last step for installing the pond is to place rocks all around the perimeter to cover the black plastic liner. This will take some time to do. It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle with really heavy pieces. Take your time with this part of the process. Work from the back of the pond towards the front.
Step back and take a look at it from different vantage points and make the necessary adjustments to cover all the black plastic.
TIP: For the most natural looking pond be sure there is no black plastic showing. If there is, your eye will go straight to it.
Set larger rocks in place first, then fill in gaps with smaller rocks. We played around with this step over the course of several days until we got it looking just right.
Be sure to place rocks inside the pond as well to hide the black plastic liner. We dumped a few bags of smooth black cobble rocks in the bottom of the pond.
TIP: Use dark rocks for the bottom of the pond. It will make the bottom disappear and the pond will appear to look deeper.
Before After
The only thing left to do is to place plants along the perimeter to soften the edges. Once plants grow in, the pond will look a lot more natural and look like it’s been a part of the garden for years.
If the pond you install is large enough you may want to consider adding aquatic plants. We purchased this water lily, Escarboucle aka Aflame.
This is a hardy, zone 3, water lily which means that it will survive a frost. It’s a free flowering variety with large bright fuchsia blooms.
TIP: Water lilies need full sun to bloom.
Aquatic plants are virtually maintenance free. Just submerge them in the pond, container and all. Every so often you may need to remove a dead leaf. Wouldn’t it be awesome if all gardening was as easy as that?
We also placed a Ruellia brittoniana (Blue Bells) in an area of the pond where it’s feet are continually submerged in water. This plant will thrive in a wet environment in full sun.
This is a zone 8 plant with blue-purple flowers that will grow to 2-3 feet tall.
TIP: Avoid cat tails and water hyacinth, both are invasive and will quickly overtake a pond.
I hope I took some of the mystery out of how to install a pond. It is a project that a homeowner can tackle as long as you are willing to put in some serious sweat equity. It took us about 5 weeks to get our pond installed, but that was working on it for a few hours at a time mostly on the weekends.
I’m off to my favorite nursery for some plants to plant along the perimeter of the pond ☺️
Snap a pic and hashtag it #naturewayblog — I love to see your creations! Let me know if you have any questions; I’m happy to share what we learned from this process. Don’t forget to comment and leave a review, or tag me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
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