Are you looking to go through the process of building a pond?
We’ll help with these easy tips on how to go about it.
- Measure and Dig
Dig out your space for your pond.
You should pick a place where the pond will be well situated, but you aren’t susceptible to ground water running in (therefore pay attention to the grading around the pond).
The preformed pond shell should be level with the plant ledges.
- Fill and Settle
Fill your preformed pond with water, and stand in it.
This water will not be the “real” water in the pond – it merely adds weight so that it will properly settle into its space.
By standing in it, you also provide more weight to make sure that it settles, and that it doesn’t rise up while you’re working.
When stepping into the pond, keep in mind that it is still a delicate piece and not build for jumping or quick movement.
Always avoid stepping on the edges of the preformed pond, as this can cause them to crumble and fail.
When building a pond, you always want to ensure that you’re keeping your preformed pond shell in top condition.
- Secure the Shell
At this point, there will be a gap between the shell and the edge of the hole.
Place sand into this gap, adding water to it to ensure that it is properly compacted and that the pond shell is properly placed.
It is helpful to have another person with you for this part, as once you are in the pond, you cannot leave until it is fully settled.
When the gaps around the edges are filled and compacted, you can now get back out of your pond.
You should place bricks onto the lip, about 3-5 inches around the shell. This will help give it stability and secure it.
Take topsoil, and put it around the bricks and lip. Use water to dampen it and firmly pack it down.
- Decorate
I find that flat rocks look great with a pond – and the advantage is that you can hang them over the lip so it doesn’t look like there’s a change from the pond to your backyard.
They also distribute their weight well, and don’t run the risk of altering your pond shell.
The best part of building a pond is that once it’s put together, you can now decorate however you have imagined it.
With the right touches, you’ll have your preformed pond looking great in no time!
Do you want your pond waterfalls installation to look as professional as possible?
Here are some great tips on how to have a natural setting and encourage an ecosystem!
- Get Your Concept Together Before You Purchase
Do you want pond waterfalls, flowing streams, or both?
What colors do you think will highlight the piece best?
Visit trade shows and showrooms to get a clear visual of how the projects look, and get a clear idea of what is available.
Take a picture of the location you would like to do the installation, and put images of prospective ponds over top of it (it’s easy to do with a paint program and copy and pasting from photos on the internet)
Making decisions on look and area beforehand will help you with the decisions afterward
- Cover Up The “Visible” Spots
Parts of pond waterfalls look more natural than others.
The edges are the biggest culprit of this – look to cover them up with the surrounding items. Larger, flat rocks are great for hiding away the edges as they can be easily draped over the sides, giving a natural look setting, and also covering up the edges without adding large amounts of extra weight to the area.
- Pay For Quality
When looking at options for your pond waterfalls, keep in mind that it is often worth the extra for higher quality materials that provide a more “natural” look – these materials are normally built with better quality product, and will last a longer time.
This will in turn lead to a longer life for your project, and prevent you from having to spend time and money part way through on repairs or reinstalling the project a few years in.
Simply adding an extra 10-25% to the cost of the materials can drastically improve both the look of the pond and also the overall selling value of your house – as backyard ponds do normally increase the purchase price of a home, if “cheap” looking, they can potentially have a negative effect.
If the three rules of Real Estate are “Location, Location, Location,”
the three rules of any landscaping project are “Grading, Grading,
Grading.”
The importance of preventing groundwater seepage into your preformed pond cannot be overstated.
Groundwater seepage has been known to cause a number of problems with preformed ponds in the long term, including
- Shifting of the supporting base below the pond, losing stability
- Cracking in the pond in the winter
- “Dirty” water into the pond, causing blockage of pumps and filters
When planning your pond, it’s important to ensure that it’s in a proper place.
Putting it into a hollow or a low spot in your yard will encourage groundwater seepage into the pond.
If you’re already dealing with the groundwater problem, here’s two great ways to avoid this happening
- Till the Region Around the Pond
Tilling is a method often done by farmers to move water around their fields, directing it either towards or away from crops.
Take plastic pipe, and perforate holes into it (if it does not have them already)
Lay this pipe around the area you’re looking to drain. The water will
move into the pipe through the holes, and be directed along the pipe
away from your pond.
If properly placed, this can help keep your preformed pond dry.
- Trench the Water Away
Find the side of the pond where water is primarily gathering, and make a trench 5-6 inches away from the preformed pond.
Normally the trench should be about 3 inches deep, however depending on
the amount of water you’re dealing with, this can be more or less.
Dig the trench so that it leads the water away from the pond.
While the idea of a trench may be at first an eyesore, with strategically placed rocks it can be easily hidden from view.
It’s important to make sure that the little things are taken care of
with your preformed pond – over the long run, it will keep it looking
new, help it last for longer, and greatly enhance the overall value of
your home.
Installing electrical accessories around water is a great way to add motion, sound, and lighting effects.
Imagine the quality of your backyard or showcase area with a waterfall or fountain, special lighting, or any of the other accessories available in the fibreglass pond market!
When you are installing anything electrical near water, however, be sure that you’re taking all cautions, with both the installation process and to ensure that over time your project won’t be a potential danger in your backyard.
- Purchase enough power the first time around
It’s easier to install something properly the first time than have to return to do a re installation.
Having enough power with an accessory is an example of this – if installing a waterfall, look at your current needs as well as those of the future – do you plan on having multiple falls, or potentially a higher output point at any time in the future?
If that is the case, it is best to look at a pump that satisfies these options the first time around. The force can (usually) be turned down, and in the future it is simply a matter of extending a pipe or tubing instead of replacing the pump.
- Ensure proper circuitry
Ensure that any plugs you’re using are connected to a GFI plug (ground fault interrupter)
These are the same type of plugs that you likely have in your bathroom, and may have in your kitchen near the sinks.
These switches work under the idea that if there is an abnormal load placed on them (for example if the circuit is shorted with water) that they will shut off before any serious damage can be done to people.
This is essential with your backyard project, as if there ever is a fault the wiring, the circuit will shut off before there can be any damage.
- Protect cabling
Electrical cabling is fairly rugged, however susceptible to damage from everyday wear and tear, as well as deterioration from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.
Look to keep the cabling intact with plastic tubing – this will ensure that it is the easily-replaceable tubing that receives the wear and tear, and not the electrical cord.
Tubing can be purchased in various colors, and blended in with your backyard display to ensure that it is as invisible as possible (and much less unsightly than an electrical cord).
– Get Help
While a fibreglass pond can be a great project to do over a weekend or as a family, when dealing with anything electrical, always know your limits and when you should be working with a professional.
When compared with the downside of a mismanaged project, an electrician can be well worth the money.
Consider hiring one if this project is on a level you haven’t attempted before.
Here are four ways you can turn your preformed pond from good to great
- Put a timer on the waterfall or fountain
Not everybody leaves their fountains running 24 hours a day, if anything the pump sometimes needs room to relax.
Having a timer on it, however, will allow it to turn on a few minutes when you’re about to return from work, until whatever time you desire.
This makes it so that as soon as you can hear the fountain, you’re reminded of its effects. There’s no need to think to turn it on.
Your pond will feel like it’s even more natural surrounding!
- Tactfully place landscaping to hide components
Place rocks to hide electrical components or ditches to remove ground water.
Have flat rocks go a few inches over the edge of a preformed pond to hide the edges of it
Use shrubs to accent the pond, and act as visual and sound barriers
- Think noise barrier
There’s nothing like somebody riding a motorcycle down your street to remind you that you’re aren’t in as natural of a setting as you’d like to be.
Fountains and Waterfalls are great, as they create a pleasant sound that blocks out noise from cars as well as the neighbors in their backyard.
Shrubs and plants can also be aligned so that they create a noise muffler
Keep in mind, that while you’ll never be able to completely down out ambient noise, the goal is to disturb it enough so that your ears won’t recognize it
- Spend money
Ponds are a place where you get what you pay for. A preformed pond can be great for easy installations, but care should be taken beforehand to ensure that you’re getting a good quality product. Years down the road, you’ll thank yourself for spending the extra, and not having to replace a preformed pond because of a cracked installation.
Get quality surroundings, shrubs, and rocks. This will accent the piece much more.
Water lilies are a great addition to any preformed pond.
Whether to look at silk or real ones, however can be an important question.
Real lilies
Real lilies are a great addition, and in the right place can be a major focal point of your preformed pond.
Nothing looks as authentic as real lilies.
Real lilies also act as natural oxygenators of the water, and provide for a more natural ecosystem.
There are two possible hurdles going this way, however
- Real lilies are more to maintain
Every living item in your garden is another thing to maintain, one way or another. At some point, it will need replacing and replanting.
Real lilies will decompose over time, and have a habit of plugging up the water flow. While this isn’t a task that is difficult to fix and clean, it is one more step in maintaining.
- Real lilies will attract wildlife
This is both a positive and negative. Real lilies will attract more wildlife in your preformed pond.
This is a positive as more wildlife is often more visual to see, and is one of the reasons you keep your garden
This can be a negative, as the wildlife that visits the lilies often finds them very delicious to eat.
Silk lilies
Silk lilies have come a long way in the last few years, and if you’re willing to spend the additional to get a high quality set, can look very authentic.
There is little mess to clean up, and if properly positioned they can look very real.
While some animals do not notice the difference between these and real ones, and are just as happy to vist them, others do notice (however the animals that care are often the ones that would be eating the lilies anyways!)
Whether to use a preformed pond or pond liner is a question I get all the time.
Here are the benefits and drawbacks of each:
Preformed Pond:
Benefits:
- Best for smaller, contained units
- Easier to fit
- “package” result
Drawbacks:
- Limited to the existing shapes of the pond
- Lack of design control
- Transportation from the store or via shipping can be difficult
A preformed pond is great for a quick, easy installation. They’re built to simply install into the right sized hole and go from there.
The only thing you’ll be missing by going this route will be the creative control to have the pond shaped EXACTLY how you like.
Pond liners:
Benefits:
- Complete control over your project
- “One of a kind” result
Drawbacks:
- More work involved
- Not as “out of the box”
Pond liners are great for the complete “do it yourself-er!” If you have everythign planned out as to the different shelves and results, and don’t mind the extra work involved, this is a great way to go.
If you’re asking for my personal choice of what I prefer to work with, I find that the preformed pond can be much easier to set up.
