by Darren Wood

Created on: April 20, 2008

DESIGNING A POND

My past 4 years has been committed to designing and building ponds and water features for my clients I would like to share a basic knowledge of the guidelines of designing a pond and giving the needs of which a pond needs to thrive keep to my guide and yo will be on your way to being the proud owner of a beautiful pond that you can admire.

SAFETY FIRST

Please remember that small children can drown in a few inches of water never leave them unsupervised for even a second i would always advise to surround the pond with a fence and even a gate with a lock on if you are still unsure leave it for a few years till the children have grown up and there is no risk of any accidents.

DESIGNING A POND
Always start you project with a drawing of the proposed plan of action including the outer of the pond and the planting you intend to do.If using a symmetrical shape then this will make a more formal effect and if using an irregular shape this will make an informal pond which will hopefully fit in to the gardens natural look blending in to the surrounding landscape.
There is many of ponds on the market today most are the rigid pre-formed plastic types which have many shapes and sizes they can have built in shelves for your loved pond plants to be placed on and make it look very natural as if its been there forever.
Installation of the rigid pond in my experience and being honest was not as easy as i thought firstly you need to dig a hole tat is large enough fr the pond to be placed in remember to dig in the ledges for the pond to sit on this gives extra strength ten back fill the soil back in to the hole around the pond and make sure that the pond is level using a spirit level this will stop water leaking over the edge when filled there is nothing more UN natural than a pond that is not full to the top in fact it looks terrible.
POND LINER
Another option foryor pond is using liner which i always use as you can build as large as you want and any shape you want the down side is there's more digging but always worth th effort at the end there is different types of liner from the lower grade to the highest which is butyl liner which lasts 35 years maybe more i would strongly advise to use the best and always use under lay before laying in the liner.
Depending on the type of fish you decide to keep if any the pond depth in my point of view should always exceed 2 feet although some fish can live in water at a depth of 400mm to 600mm
but remember heat from sun will always

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