Want a lush, green oasis in your very own backyard?
A pond can be the perfect way to spruce up dead space with the
pleasant trickle of a waterfall or the splash of colorful interest
that water lilies, koi fish or turtles can provide.
Want a lush, green oasis in your very own backyard?
A pond can be the perfect way to spruce up dead space with the pleasant trickle of a waterfall or the splash of colorful interest that water lilies, koi fish or turtles can provide.
Best of all, it doesn’t have to be a huge investment. Most ponds require less care than the average lawn, and you can build a small one for as little as $300, says Frank Banuelos, constructor for All Points Landscape in Morgan Hill.
Moreover, a pond could also add value to your home – how much is dependent on both the home’s size as well as the water fixtures, said Peter Gallo of Gallo & Gallo Real Estate Appraisals in Gilroy.
If you’ve been thinking about installing one of these backyard ecosystems, take some time to think about what you envision before you go out and buy a kit or a preformed pond, although there’s no need to have an exact picture of what you would like.
“Get a Sunset Magazine on pools and ponds,” suggests Skip Watts, owner of Skip’s Landscaping in Gilroy. “That’s how I started.”
Watts, who had no formal training as a landscaper when he started his business nearly 20 years ago, says he started installing ponds by trying to reproduce what he had seen in the magazine. Most of his clients have a vague idea of what it is they’re after – a mood or a rough concept – and they let him take it from there.
If you choose to install your own pond, combing over these pictures can help to give you a clear view of exactly what it is you want to see when you’re done. Here are a few other things you might want to consider:
 The Liner
In order to keep the water in your pond, you will need to install some sort of waterproof liner. There are really just two options here: Pre-formed pond liners and flexible liners.
While they might look like rejected kiddy pools, pre-forms are essentially ready-made plastic ponds. They appeal to the average consumer because they offer a starting point – a specific shape or some sort of terracing for planting – and the concept behind them seems fairly simple. You dig a hole, plop the pond-form in, add some vegetation and (viola!) you have yourself a piece of aquatic art.
In reality, most require a substantial effort to install since the rigid form must be perfectly balanced to stay in the ground. If you like the idea of having one solid piece in the ground though, Randy Linke, retail manager of Central Coast Nursery in Morgan Hill, suggests a flexible pre-form. Unlike their rigid predecessors, today’s pre-formed liners are designed to have a little bit of give. If you don’t get the hole perfectly level, simply weight down the loose end with a few extra rocks and the problem will resolve itself.
For the best installation on this variety, lay the pre-formed liner out on the ground. Use a shovel to mark the edges of the pond’s shape and then begin digging. Be sure to dig down an extra two inches or so because you’ll want to put in a sand barrier. Not only will this protect your pond form from sharp rocks in the ground, it will ease installation and help with drainage should the pond begin to leak over time. Â Â
Pre-formed liners come in all sorts of shapes and sizes for small to mid-sized ponds, but if you want to maximize creativity, fill an inconveniently shaped space or create a large pond, a flexible liner is your best bet.
Flexible liner can be rolled out and cut like sheeting, and will take whatever shape you decide to create. Remember to include an extra two inches of digging here, too, for sand, which will protect your flexible liner from rips and tears.
Once the liner is installed, you can use rocks, stone, or nearly any other material as a border to cover the edge of the plastic. Applying these same materials over the lip of a pre-form pond can also help a less expensive kit to blend seamlessly with your garden.
The Water Feature
A point of interest in your pond, like a small fountain or waterfall, will not only add beauty, it will keep your pond safer. Mosquitoes prefer to breed in standing or still water, and these features will make sure that your pond’s surface is in constant, subtle motion.
Fountains are widely available through nurseries and Internet sites, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Waterfalls are really an element that is up to you. It is easiest to include this feature along a wall or hillside, since the height element is already built in. However, you can create this rise with nearly anything, even the dirt excavated to create the pond. Banuelos has created waterfalls out of false rock forms and natural stone as well as wine barrels and other household items.
“You can use almost anything you can think of,” he said.
A very important note here, though: Be sure to use a waterproof membrane against any exterior household walls. The last thing you want is a waterfall seeping into your home.
The Pump
This is the most crucial part of your project. Without it, what would that watery hole in the ground be except for a mosquito pit?
Pumps are generally unsightly but necessary evils. And many of the small versions available on the market today are outfitted with virtually silent magnetic drives, says Linke.
For a small pond, a pump that is placed directly in the water is fine. Larger pumps may require you to place them outside the pond. While they are less prone to breakage, out-of-water pumps do require more installation work and a little bit of extra creativity to hide.
Plants
A pond is really a small ecosystem and is suitable for a wide variety of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants. Mask the edges of your pond with marginal plants (plants that live partially submerged in water) like cattails, pickerel weed, papyrus and lobelia. For the center of your pond, consider hardy water lilies, whose blooms will add some color to the pond’s surface.
And if you want fish, be sure to plant some aquatic plants, which live totally submerged. They will help to oxygenate the water, promote the growth of healthy bacteria and recycle the fish waste, says Watts.
Water Quality
The natural environment of a pond will be a luminescent green color. But most home owners prefer clearer water. If the clear look is what you’re after, or if you have substantial amounts of chlorine present in your tap water, you will need to invest in a filter. These little devices will cleanse your pond of the impurities that might harm fish or other pond residents.
If you have a large pond, your pump and goldfish combined may not be enough to keep the water from becoming a mosquito breeding ground. Call Santa Clara County’s Vector Control Office at (408) 792-5010 to schedule the delivery of little fish called Mosquito Eaters free of charge.
Wildlife
Goldfish, koi or turtles will bring a picturesque finished look to your new water fixture.
Make sure that turtles are prevented from leaving the enclosure, as they tend to be escape artists. This can be accomplished by blocking off an area of the pond with inconspicuous wire fencing or creating steep barriers outside the water at the edge of the pond.
There’s no need to go for an expensive array of creatures here, since you’ll likely be replacing them. Pond fish make tasty meals for raccoons and opossums, who may come and rob you of your bounty during the night.
“They’re smarter than you think,” says Watts. “One got in and cleared out my whole pond in a night.”
Lighting around the pond can help to detour predators as can motion-activated sprinkler systems (especially helpful around large ponds or in areas where deer are prevalent). And you can also give your fish the option of protecting themselves by sinking a few different sizes of pipe in the ponds deeper areas. This will give fish the option to duck into artificial caves.
But none of these methods can save your fish forever, so Watts offers up his own brand of advice.
“Buy cheap fish,” he says with a grin.
When is it time to call in a pro?
Ponds come in all shapes and sizes, from $300 budget projects to $60,000 aqua-scapes. If you’re both handy and creative, putting in your own pond may sound like a great idea. Still, you may be better off with an expert if the total surface area is greater than 8’x11′, says Frank Banuelos, constructor for All Points Landscaping in Morgan Hill.
“There’s a great sense of accomplishment that comes from putting in a pond, from doing it yourself,” says Randy Linke, retail manager of Morgan Hill’s Central Coast Nursery. “But if you’re going with anything of a larger size, it’s really best to have a professional help.”
