?
Create an Outdoor Water Garden
Looking for a way to make your lawn and garden more tranquil and visually appealing? Creating an outdoor water garden is an affordable and rewarding do-it-yourself project. Water gardens provide calming sounds and lend an air of natural elegance to your yard while creating a habitat for plants and animals.
For help planning and executing your water garden home improvement project, consult the experts at your
local True Value hardware store. To get started, follow the do-it-yourself steps below.
Step 1. Plan Your Garden
Careful planning is important for a successful water garden. First, determine a suitable location. Choose a spot you'll be able to enjoy that's close to a power source. To keep leaves out, opt for a spot away from overhanging trees. Make sure your garden will get just enough—but not too much—sun. Most aquatic plants require 4 to 6 hours of sunlight a day to ensure healthy growth. To avoid rainwater runoff flooding your garden, choose an area away from any inclines. If the pond is located in a low area of your yard, lawn fertilizers and other chemicals could flow in and harm the fish and plants. It may help to create rough sketches of your water garden to visualize how it will look in your yard.
Consider space and time limitations before deciding what type of water garden to build. While smaller fountain-type water gardens require less space, larger pond-style water gardens are often self-sustaining and require less maintenance. Regardless of the type you choose, you will need a reservoir to hold the water and a pump to keep it flowing.
Step 2. Excavate
Clear away the pond area and outline the desired shape with a garden hose or rope. Use a shovel to dig a trench about 5' wide and 1' deep around the outer edge of the hose. Remove any rocks, sticks or other sharp objects and yard debris. Excavate the pond area with a shovel, forming a slight downward slope into the center of the pond floor. To ensure that the water's surface is level, place a long board and a carpenter's level across the hole. Correct any imbalances, making sure the dirt rim is higher than the surrounding ground. For cushioning, rake a 1" layer of sand evenly across the pond floor before installing the liner. Consider using leftover soil to build up a berm (mound) at the rear of the pond for additional landscaping. will irritate insect pests feeding below the surface, forcing them to rise to the surface. Once you have some specimens, place them in plastic bags and identify them.
Helpful Tip:
- To allow your pond to support a more diverse range of plants, create a plant shelf or shelves inside. Rather than simply sloping the sides to create a rounded bowl shape, level off the inner perimeter of the pond about 1' deep and 1' wide. The shelf will allow you to plant shallow water species. Dig additional shelves deeper for taller bog plants if desired.
Safety Alert!
- Before excavating, locate any nearby utility lines by contacting your local power company.
Step 3. Install Rigid or Flexible Liner
Place a ¾" to 1" thick, preformed, heavy-duty pond liner along the bottom. There are a variety of different types of liners available. Rigid fiberglass or plastic liners come in many shapes. They are nearly indestructible in the elements but can be more expensive. Plastic or rubber liners are more flexible, less expensive and allow you to create unique shapes for your pond. Consider how long you want your pond to last. While polymer PVC liners only last about 15 years, heavy-duty liners made of butyl rubber can last up to twice as long.
Unfold your liner in the pond with the black side up. It helps to have someone else on hand to avoid dragging and tearing the liner. Arrange the pleats along the edges to fit into the pond's contours. Fill the pond with water so the liner conforms to the shape of the hole. Trim excess material around the outer edges using scissors or a utility knife, leaving a 6" to 12" flap all the way around. Use a hammer and 6" nails to secure the flap to the ground. Place rocks or flat stones around the pond edge but leave a few hanging over into the reservoir to create a small overhang. This will hide flaws and protect the pond from the sun.
Helpful Tip:
- To calculate liner size, add twice the pond's depth plus 2' for edging to both the pond's length and width. For example, a 10' x 12' pond that's 2' deep would require a 16' x 18' liner.
Step 4. Install the Pump
The size of your submersible pump should correlate to the size of your water garden. If the reservoir is very large, center the pump or install a second pump to maintain water movement. Place a brick at the bottom of the pond to act as a small shelf. Elevating your pump prevents it from clogging with debris that settles on the bottom of the pond. Install the filtration system onto the pump and connect the water hose. Fill the pond with water from the garden hose and de-chlorinate it using a carbon filter or specially formulated water conditioner before testing the pump.
Helpful Tip:
- Use steel mesh to cover and protect your submersible pump.
Safety Alert!
- Keep all electrical cords outside of the pond until you're ready to turn it on.
< back to top
Step 5. Add Plant and Animal Life
Aquatic life makes your garden interesting and alive! Try to cover approximately half the pond's surface by placing a variety of floaters, marginal plants and submerged plants (also known as oxygenators) in the pond. Floaters, such as lotuses and white water lilies, are popular choices and adapt well to cold winters. Marginal plants, such as marsh marigold and rushes, grow vertically and increase visual interest. These plants require only 2"-12" of water. Oxygenators, such as Washington grass and wild celery, are critical to a strong water garden because they absorb excess nutrients and help keep algae at bay.
Pot the plants you choose in heavy soil in pans or tubs and place in the pond; use sand for potting submerged plants. To keep deep-water plants above the surface, place those pots on top of several bricks. You can remove the bricks one by one as the plants get taller.
Adding fish further increase the beauty of your pond and helps control mosquito populations. Popular choices are common goldfish and colorful, docile Japanese Koi fish. Both are types of carp. Consider adding snails to your water garden to consume excess organic matter and eliminate algae. Add one snail per square foot of surface area.
Helpful Tip:
- Before introducing fish and snails to a pond, allow the bag they were sold in to float on the surface for a half hour to help them adapt to their new environment. Keep the fish and snails in the bag to allow for a gentle transition from one water source to the next.
Step 6. Maintain
A properly maintained water garden will be more attractive. Every week, remove the filter from the pump. Remove the lid and pads and thoroughly rinse them in fresh water. When the pads need cleaning, the flow of water from the pump will be noticeably reduced.
Feed your fish commercial protein fish food once or twice a day when they're most active during the spring and summer. If you live in a hot climate, cut back feeding on very warm days. In winter, fish usually hibernate and do not need to be fed.
Feed aquatic plants by pushing fertilizer tabs into the soil of their pots once or twice a month. In winter, delicate plants should be lowered deeper into the water. Lilies need no special care as long as they receive plenty of sun. Tropical varieties, however, should be cut off at the tubers (the walnut-sized growth at the crown of the plant) with a utility knife and stored in containers in a dark room during the cold months. Marginal plants should also be cut back and brought inside during the cold months. Floaters like water hyacinths and water lettuce usually die down to buds in winter and sink to the bottom.
Helpful Tip:
- Don't be concerned if you notice a burst of algae growth shortly after filling your water garden. As the snails and algae-eating plants like water lilies become more established, the level of algae will decrease.
Safety Alert!
- Consult your pet store about feeding your particular breed of fish.
Great job! You've created a beautiful outdoor water garden that will bring pleasure to your family for years to come. Head to your local True Value hardware store for additional home maintenance tips and ideas to improve your lawn and garden.
For more projects, go to TrueValue.com. >
< back to top
print project & coupon | email