I want a pond in my garden how should i start it. and what fish should i keep?

Answer 1

Go to www.gardenweb.com..then to pond and aquatic forums. They will answer any and all questions you have concerning the building and maintaining of your pond. I have a pond and the other ponders on that site have helped me so very much.
Hope this helps and happy ponding!

Answer 2

I am a landscaper and build lots of ponds.the only advice I am going to give is this.Most people don't want a pond to be too big as it can take over the whole garden.That is fine but most ponds I see are never deep enough.
remember in winter you fish will need to escape from the cold and do this by going deep.You need to have part of your pond at least 2' 6'' deep.Also the more volume of water you have the less the fish will suffer from fluctuations in temperature.

You will need to consider several things.Position - away from trees that drop leaves but not too much sun (Algae grow in sun).The shape.Wether you use a plastic/butyl liner, a preformed or concrete.What filtration, pumps/ lights, waterfalls you are going to use, and where the power supply is going to go.Finally think about shelves for plants and how you will line the edges.When you dig the hole where will the soil go?Consider using this for a rockery at the side of the pond.I always make a small cave system at waterlevel for frogs to hide in.
Any good gardening book will point the way.There are loads of good pumps on ebay and plastic liners are the cheapest option.
Try goldfish to start. They are pretty resilient.
Good luck.A pond is very rewarding and worth the effort.

Answer 3

A good starting point is grab a copy of "The Rock & Water Garden Expert" by D.G. Hessayon, which will tell you what all the options are (e.g. plastic pond liner, concrete lined, pre-formed liner, etc and the advantages / disadvantages of each) + also gives a run down of all the types of fish you can keep in a garden pond + how to care for them. I'd suggest sticking with Common Goldfish, since their probably one of the easiest to keep.

Anyway, the book costs £7.99 (so hardly a massive outlay).... here's a shortcut to it on Amazon UK:
http://astore.amazon.co.uk/jdcouk-garden-21/detail/090350538X/203-9338484-3266364

Answer 4

when i first moved into my new house i wanted a pond so i went and bought a pond kit. it's not real big. it's about 5' x 3' and 2' deep. now i had to dig the whole, put the liner in and then put the pump in... easy enough for my first time. i also added gold fish... they lived for almost 3 years... i paid 28 cents for each one. there is a lot of maintenance work with it though, so be prepared for that... all in all.... i love it and it adds that little extra to my garden. you can find pond kits on ebay, wal-mart, lowes, etc.... good luck and have fun

Answer 5

the pond isnt to hard as u can see just dig and add a liner and a pump of some sort right lol . now your fish ,u never said what part of the country (planet) you are from ! most certainly gold fish are able to live in most climates as they are in the carp family . unless u are in the north ,where it freezes then fish will have to be brought indoors for duration of winter . there is no reason that you couldnt put fish for an aquarium in that pond so let your imagination or finances tell you what to put in it

Answer 6

My parents have a pond. A big un, back in the 1990's i helped dig it !!! first pick a shape, mark it out with string etc, then get a spade and dig dig dig !! then fill it with a liner and fill her up. Or you can go to a garden centre where they sell those plastic ones. Next decide if you want a water feature, size of the pump will depend how big the pond is, get some plants and then some fish. I got some Koi Carp many years ago, 4 of them, all still alive and apsolute monsters !!! eat out of your hand. However, watch out for Herons, so add a rifle to your list, but please note it is illegal to shoot them !!! Have fun diggin

Answer 7

How big? this is the critical factor. Small, you can hand dig it. Big? You'll want a machine. I could step by step it as I install quite a few each year. However, I'll give you a web site that will be possibly more helpful.Aquascapes.com. I buy supplies from Greg and this is the #1 pond company.

Answer 8

You will need to dig a hole, but make sure its not too deep, not looking for the lake feeling and you definetly want to avoid the septic system (yuk). The hole will then need to be packed with heavy dirt or cement otherwise you will get a lot of murky water. Goldfish are easy to get but make sure your pond has a filtration system, usually a fountain, which is also good for bird watching. You can get materials from Home Depot and fish from Petco.

Answer 9

Being around the water offers allure and beauty, which is why waterfront homes are admired by many. Your own backyard can be alive with the visual appeal and sounds of water in motion. These soothing sounds and the beauty of colorful fish swimming among your plants, brings your landscaping alive. It's fun to create this attractive feature and it will become the centerpiece of your backyard.

Before we get started I would like to answer some frequently asked questions about backyard ponds.

Will the winter cold kill my fish? Most fish will naturally stop eating and hibernate at the bottom of the pond when the temperature of the water goes below 45 degrees. If you live in a climate where the pond will completely freeze over (even at the edges) you will need to create a hole in the ice for the fish to remain alive.
Will the winter cold kill my plants? Yes, if it goes below freezing in your area. Bring plants inside for the winter months.
Do I need to filter the water? That will depend on your climate and the design of your system. Ask a local dealer his recommendations for your geographical area concerning filtration. (look up in the Yellow Pages under ponds or water gardening) The action of water moving provides some natural filtration, so sometimes you can get away with only a fountain or waterfall. There are biological filters and cartridge filters available from pond supply outlets. We have provided links below to 3 sites that offer products, services and advice for building backyard water gardens.




Step 1. Educate yourself so you can make intelligent decisions. Learn about water gardening in your part of the country. Visit retail stores, shop out of a catalog click on the website links above. Determine the answer to such questions as, will I use a flexible liner or pre-formed shell...The location of my pond should take into account such things as availability of electricity...will I have a waterfall...etc.
We will describe how to install a flexible vinyl liner pond in this article. Flexible liners give you complete variety in the shape of your pond, and are extremely durable.

Step 2. Locate the area in your yard for the pond. Determine how deep you want your pond to be. The depth of a back yard pond will usually be between 18-24", but you determine that after study and deciding the particulars about your pond. Mark the outline of the pond shape with string or garden hose on the lawn. Remove sod and start diggin ! The outside wall of the pond will have a step in it to hold potted plants just under the water. Figure 2 below shows a profile view of the step in the side wall. You create this step by leaving the original dirt in place as you dig. This will make the step as solid as possible. The depth of this step is approximately half of the depth of your pond. This depth is also determined by the potted plants you plan on placing in the pond. Figure 1 represents digging out the pond using a 2x4 board with level on top to make sure the outside edge is level all around the perimeter. You need to raise low areas so the entire perimeter is the same height. Check the depth as you dig to make sure the bottom is level as well.




Step 3. Figure 3 shows how to measure your pond to get the right sized liner. The big square on Figure 3 represents the liner size needed for the pond in the drawing. To determine the right liner size, take the width of the pond and add twice the depth of the pond, plus 24 more inches. The length measurement will be done using the same formula.



Step 4. When hole is completed, drape liner over pond, centering it and placing stones around the edge. Start filling with water. As it fills, remove wrinkles and fold large creases into neat folds to be less noticeable.

Step 5. After pond is filled, trim excess liner to within 12 inches of edge of pond, and place your coping material around edge to give it a natural finished look. We recommend large flat stones because they can overhang the pond edge slightly, and they look very natural. See Figure 2 above.

Now your ready to add the finishing touches. This article covers the basics of how to install your own backyard pond. To finish the project you will need to investigate pumps, filters, plants and fish. Check out the 3 website links above for the specifics needed to have a pond that is exactly right for your area.

I know from personal experience that the catalog from Lilypons is complete and informative. Enjoy your new water gardening hobby.

Answer 10

Why not have a wildlife pond, that way you can have all native plants in it rather than introduced spices