Add Colour and Life to Your Garden – Install a Pond

A beautiful pond surrounded by beautiful flowers – Photo Courtesy: Jason Popesku

If you are looking for an excellent way to bring a bit of colour and life to your back garden, you could not go wrong with installing a pond. A well placed pond, that has been put together well, will become an all-important focal point to your garden.

A pond is something that can add a certain charm and character to a garden that has become dull and boring. It can be an attraction for your friends and family during the warmer months when you arrange a barbeque whilst offering the sounds of relaxation when you choose to take a nap in the sun.

You have a choice of either using the more rigid forms of ponds that come in a variety of shapes as well as sizes or you could use a vinyl pond liner to allow you to create your own custom shape and size. Ideally the best pond for your back garden will be one that is the correct size in relation to the space that you have.

Patio Pond

If you already have a concrete patio in your back garden, you should consider putting in a big rectangular shaped rigid or even a vinyl liner right alongside the slabs. This enables you or any of your guests to be able to either stand on solid ground to feed the fish or sit alongside the pond to enjoy the view.

If you opt for this choice then make sure that you install the liner a little bit higher than the patio; this ensure that no water runs off the patio and into the pond.

Secluded Pergola

Left: A pergola being added near Bridget K’s nice little garden pond. Right: Pergola is complete. Photo Courtesy: Jon Ward. An important lesson learned: According to Bridget K & Jon, “an important lesson learned was to move in the bridge first, then dig under it. That is 500kg of granite, took us two attempts, and nearly killed five of us (and that is using professional equipment including skates, plates, and the purchase of safety shoes for all involved)”.

If you have a pergola or an arbor in the corner of your back garden, they are a perfect location to add a pond, though it would have to be an above ground pond. Additionally, if you are able to get electricity out there, you could put a small fountain in your pond which looks great whilst adding some beneficial water circulation. This circulation is vital if you plan to keep any fish in the pond.

For a final touch, get yourself a hammock and hang it in your pergola; you will then be able to relax to the sound of running water.

Wine Barrel Pond

There is nothing simpler than a barrel cut in half being turned into a small pond. Line it with an especially made barrel liner and you are good to go. If you felt very ambitious and had a few barrels, you could even make use of a system of pumps and have the water being pumped from the larger barrel down into the smaller one.

You could have this type of pond in the corner of your patio or even garden and grow plenty of water plants that will offset the green against the colour of the oak barrels.

Raised Bed

If you decide you would like a raised pond in your back garden, you will need to make use of a rigid type of pond liner. Simply create a circle in some paving slabs and place your liner in the middle of them, then backfill it with sand and put a layer of topsoil in between the stones and the edge of the pond. You can then plant grass around the edge, whilst the wall of the pond can act as a nice little seat for anyone who wishes to feed the fish.

Whichever pond you decide to go for, ensure you speak to somebody in the know regarding what you will need and how to go about installing it. Once you know how to go about it all, it really shouldn’t take more than a few days to have it built.

No matter what pond liner you are thinking of using or what size you desire, a pond is a small project that will go a long way to bringing your garden back to life.