Building Your Own Garden Pond

A garden pond is a wonderful addition to accompany your birdhouse feeders. It will add beauty and charm to your lawn and garden. However, it can be quite a job to keep your pond looking clean and beautiful. The best way to do this is to build a pond with nature in mind. This will result in less maintenance costs and easier installation. It will also be beneficial to our natural resources. So remember low maintenance and natural is the way to go when building and designing a pond for your backyard.

If not properly maintained, ponds can become mucky and quite an eyesore for their owners. Algae spreads quickly in a pond that is not well maintained. Some ponds have had to undergo drastic steps such as extensive sand-based filter systems and costly ultraviolet light sterilizers to alleviate the problem. However, these solutions may merely treat the symptoms rather than get to the root of the problem. It can be a vicious cycle. Whereas the UV light cleared the pond of algae, at the same time, it removed the helpful pond organisms that actually helped to reduce the algae, thereby causing the problem to return and become worse than before.

There is a method you can use which is based on working with natural systems and is relatively low maintenance. Some of the basic principles for a healthy and low maintenance water system for your pond are listed below.

Simple elements that you can include in your pond are to place rocks and gravel at the bottom of it. The rocks and gravel actually act as a filter by reducing repairs for the mechanical filter, as well as providing a clean and safe environment for your pond. There are literally millions of tiny gaps that can be filled by useful microorganisms which break down waste from fish and decaying plant material.

Ponds containing gravel and rocks also look more natural than does a smooth surface; smooth surfaces can be slippery unlike rough surfaces with rocks and gravel; they offer an environment for useful aquatic insects; they protect the liner of the pond from elements such as the sun and from animals; and they will hold the pond liner firmly in place.

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