How to Create a (Mostly) Self Maintained Water Feature

Don't have time to baby a pond? Don't want the hassle of moving parts, electricity and daily cleaning? This works great, on a small or large scale.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Shovel
• 6-10 bags of Playsand
• Your choice of Pond Liner (the bigger it is the harder to maintain it!)
• Water Lilies
• Japanese Iris (multiple)
• Various other water plants (to be decided later)
• Knee High Nylons
• Water Soil (it is different and worth it!)
• Goldfish or Koi, in about a week after setup (we will discuss this!)
• Rock of some sort to cover around the edge, Slate works well, but is pricey!

1. Decide where you want it, then dig a hole about 3/4 of the depth of the pond. Rest the liner in the hole occasionally to see how deep you are or that the shape will fit. This does not have to be perfect, that is what the sand is for. I liked this shape because it has a shelf all the way around and plenty of depth for wintering. Once you have the hole to the approximate shape and depth pour in as much sand as it takes for you to be able to feel nothing but sand as you move it around. What this does is protects the liner and makes it easier for you to both level and settle the pond into place. Now you want to fill it with water, as it fills you can shift it to make sure it is level. Once it is filled, push the leftover dirt around the edge in a slope, this provides insulation and gives a place to place a rockery around the edge of the pond, nothing fancy is needed, just stack them to hide the dirt. The reason you don't want the pond level with the ground is storm run off. This can both foul your water, or flush out plants and/or fish.
2. Now you can get your pond ready for fish. Nylons are the best plant pot, they will degrade, but slowly and will stretch to accomodate to new growth. Water Iris (often called Japanese at nurseries) are a great edge planting.
3. Papyrus are also wonderful for a partially submerged edge plant. To pot these all you need is to take a Knee High Nylon (any brand will do, cheap boxes are good) and roll it down like you were going to put it on. Put some of the water soil in the bottm and place the plant in, put soil around it, rolling the knee high up as you go. you should end up with a ball that you can place on the shelving and push down a little to give it a flat resting spot.
4. Floating plants protect your fish by hiding them from Raptors (such as Falcons) and shade the pond keeping it clean and clear. Water clover is a year round favorite of mine. Water Hyacinth, Floating Yellow Hearts (spreads quickly, appearance of small lilies) and Parrots Feather are all nice cover.
5. For your inner depths there are a few choices. If you have a second level of shelves you can put some Elephant Ears or Banana Trees (potted the same way as above) in this level, if not I have used turned over clay pots for shelves...this can be a great idea as well, for you can have some nice looking plants more spaced out throughout the pond. Water lilies are going to want to be at the bottom of the pond, and you can pot them the same way as well.
6. You want to let all this activity settle for about a week. You should be seeing new growth at this point, so your pond is ready for fish. The balance that occurs between the fish, plants and water creates a system that is closely related to a bog. This is a very good thing for your new pond. It will be the best mosquito control for your yard, as it does not need filtration. Mosquitos will lay there eggs in the "standing water" and ultimatly you will need to feed the fish little, if anything. How this all works is that the fish feed on larvae, they in turn feed the plants, who keep the water clean and clear and provide much needed oxygen.
7. As for the fish you choose, I have seen a lot of success for a limited budget to stock your pond with "feeder" goldfish. More than 3/4 survive and get to live a life that they wouldn't have had prior. If you want to have Koi, keep in mind that they do grow rather large, so pay attention to how much space they will require.
8. If you have limited space such as a small city patio or balcony (or for that matter wish to do this inside...I have done this), you can do this using a bucket style pond form. Do the same as above but limit your planting in regards to size and do the same with the fish. I had one friend who had me set up an indoor one like this for her (she lives in a studio apartment) and we did plant it rather heavy. The reason? She wanted to do it for her Beta fish, and they do not do well in open spaces. He was a very happy fish with his little tunnels between all the plants!
9. At least twice a year it will require maintenance (not bad for most ponds are 1-2 times a week). This will entail simply pulling plants out and splitting them (bulbs such as Water Iris, rhizomes - a rootlike subterranean stem, commonly horizontal in position, that usually produces roots below and sends up shoots progressively from the upper surface - such as Bananas). Leave one or two bulbs or rhizomes per plant and either donate them to a needy pond owner or mulch them! Some people will actually sell them to a local nursery. When it get to the level of growth that you see here, it is time to thin it!

Tips & Warnings

• At least twice a year it will require maintenance (not bad for most ponds are 1-2 times a week).
• Under a tree can be good, but you will have roots and leaves to deal with. Next to the house is great as well, but not too close because of storm run off.
• Keep your fish healthy, Koi and Goldfish require salt. Get aquarium salt and follow the directions per gallon. Unless you do a water change, you don't need to resupply salt.