What would you do differently?
We asked some of our experienced ponders what they have learned... what they would do differently if they were building a pond now.
Here is what they had to say, in the hopes that they can help you avoid similar missteps.
A place to catch fish is a really good idea.
I'm going to make a skimmer basket that can handle variable water levels. This from a person that saw little need for a skimmer for the first few years I had a pond.Another catch basin for the waterfalls which I had before. No foam and still surface for better viewing.
Plants in a separate pond from the fish.
Now that I understand filters better, I can build those into the design.
Pump intake that stays in the pond for vacuuming. However I'm going to try to create a settling tank inside the pond too.
I'm going to build fewer ponds. Probably just one Koi pond. I've always liked Goldfish more than Koi but in a large pond Goldfish just look too small. Maybe a separate pond for some Goldfish. But I'll stick with multi-colored goldfish this time.
I'll use a backhoe rather than a hoe to dig the pond.
I thought I'd be clever and put in a spigot in my after-pump plumbing so I could water the garden during water changes, but I forgot to put a valve to close off the pipe after the spigot. The result was water just kept flowing through the main pipes and ignored my bypass.
Deeper/bigger, and with more ability to prevent herons from landing near the pond: more vegetation around it for that.That my deeper area was bigger, I have too big an area as a plant shelf on one end, but I can fix that later.
An area to feed only and be able to corral them in that area when you need to catch them.
DEEPER....and a skippy filter, both of which I will incorporate in my winter design for expanding the present pond. But I truly enjoyed my first season with the fish, serenity and awesome beauty of my lilies. And I would have read a whole lot more before building the first one.Bigger, deeper, dug by backhoe. Bottom drains, settling tanks, better filtration. I want a shallow feeding area, also. Plant shelf all around for hiding edge of pond.
No matter how you do it you will ALWAYS want a bigger pond, and to have done something different.
I would have put in a larger pump (To run bunches of stuff off of one instead of two)
Put in a waterfall.
Used flagstone.
I don't want a skimmer, so I won't recommend one...
More Lights
Think about the design better. Have all the bigger plants and stuff at the back of the pond, and have the deep end of the pond where the most people are going to be.
More room for plants than what you think you will need. Not put the pond so close to the fence (but the hole from removing trees was already there) Did a good job with the skippy and waterfall but installed skimmer box too low. Next projects: raise skimmer, mortar down flagstone edge and build 25' stream, already started digging!
Farther from fence, not under neighbor's trees although that would mean the front lawn instead of anywhere in the back yard, electric fence from day one, deeper, bigger, electrical box located for easier access.
With my walled semi-raised pond.
Shallow shelf (shallower than 1ft)
Bottom drain
Look hard at fibre glass rather than liner
With making ponds of 50' dimensions usually now I can enjoy the marginals growing just out of reach of the goats and deer that graze here... So I'll be figuring a style of 'plant island' plantings where the four legged weed whackers are unable to reach...
I must make the paths between the ponds a little wider, even if this does mean moving a few tons extra...
Another useful feature being built in, is to make the raised sides more capable of coping with hours of torrential rain, slabs of clay form the core of all the pond sides now, so the heaviest rains don't chop through the raised pond sides when floods come a visiting...
Pond floors are angled slightly to take advantage of shallow beds of mulch and clay forming, to enable stray plants like lotus and seedlings to start up over a wider area...Create a perimeter for bog plants and marginals...more plant shelves including shelves in the middle for easy placement of potted water lilies.
We did this idea once before. How I wish I had seen it early on. I really didn't do too badly from what I've seen. Here's my list:
Deeper
No plant shelf. maybe a small one for access.
A bottom drain.
Better research on my filter/ skimmer decision.
More care in laying the liner w/o wrinkles
BIGGER - Us ponders always want our ponds bigger. I am no different. I like to have a peanut shape pond with an area just for my cattails, tall grasses and all other taller plants on the back side of the pond towards the house and all my water lilies in front of them where the water has no movement...
DEEPER - but not have to fence it in like current building code/by-laws.
BLOCK or CONCRETE WALLS - to form shape of pond and to support rocks around waterfall area and anywhere else I choose to use them. As I have found out over the last 3 years, our soil is not good enough to hold the extra weight over time with the deep frost our area has.
FEWER SHELVES - where raccoon and herons love to use to get at the fishiesssss and use PLASTIC PIPING to build up shelf areas in the pond out away from the edge, while giving more space under them for the fish to swim, hide and play.
Where black granite side walk is now, have part of it removed and a wood bridge put in making anyone who comes to our house have to cross over it and admire the pond more.. As it is now they have to walk in a curve around the pond seeing many different views as they come to the house and again as they leave.
I would have a vortex, prefilter, then a TT leading to a pump tank = ALL under ground hidden under the cedar sidewalk behind the pond.
I would use a different pump that uses way less electricity (less expensive).
Make sure I was present when the liner is installed and water added. There are wrinkles all over. If I had the time and a jackhammer, to put in underliner bottoms drains with the floor of the pond sloping towards them. Revise the settlement tank using more cement blocks, not as deep, add Black Knight (The link is https://www.blackknight.co.uk/.) brushes for more filtering. Amiad filter before the bio/upflow filter. Maybe add a waterfall/stream into another pond...oh wait..I don't have another pond...yet
Not building close to a hedge/fence is the one I had forgotten, practical reasons only for me, aesthetically it looks great but access to that edge is ummm awkward. My fishpond is liner inside a concrete shell. I used polystyrene/styrofoam as an underlay on the floors and walls, great for the walls, bad mistake for the floors as it can't be walked on because it crushes and reduces the protection.
I love the look of the natural in-ground ponds but I had a hard time working with them. I also love the look of formal ponds so to give my knees and back a break I'm going to do an above ground this time. I haven't totally decided how I'm going to build it, I'm tossing around a couple different ideas. I have several stock tanks that I use for lilies and it was just so much easier on me to take care of them, move things around, etc. That's why I'm going to above ground or partially above ground.
I'd go deeper. I saw someone post a picture once and their husband and daughter were in the water up to their chest. I like that idea. 4 or 5 feet deep would be cool. I also like the idea of making a little cove for feeding and capturing fish. Right now I have to completely drain the pond if I want to catch any of my fish.
I might like to try and make a small stream. I don't want to sound know it all or anything but at this point I am happy with everything about my pond. It has been tweaked over the course of a couple of summers. I'm glad my pond is shallow enough for me to work in it easily. I'm glad I put steps in to enter the pond. I'm glad I put the deepest part at the end next to the porch instead of in the middle. I'm glad I put in a DIY skimmer. It keeps so much junk out of the pond. I'm glad my DH built a boardwalk around the end of the pond over the skimmer/filter. Not only does it cover it, it has muted the sound of the pump. I'm glad we built a patio along the pond this summer. I'm glad we put a walkway around the pond. I'm glad we put in plant and top rock ledges. I'm glad we put in a Skippy. (The link is for https://www.skippysstuff.com/.) I'm glad I put in a floodlight shining on the Skippy waterfall. (The link is for https://www.skippysstuff.com/.) I'm glad we did everything ourselves. My pond isn't too small but it's not too big either. It is just big enough to be able to handle several fish but small enough to easily clean it and move the plants, etc., by myself.
Deeper, Bigger, and No Rocks on the bottom. Would also be a little more creative with the waterfall.