How to Build a Natural Looking Manmade Pond

Fish Pond

Building a natural appearing outdoor pond is not as difficult as it sounds. It can be dirty work and time consuming, but the end result is really quite lovely and soothing in a person's hectic world.

Things You'll Need

• Plastic liner
• Cement
• Rocks
• Native plants
• Filtration device

Instructions

How to Build a Natural Looking Manmade Pond

1. Mark out the perimeter of your pond prior to digging. If you are using a plastic liner for your pond then you can pretty much create any shape you desire for your pond. Just laying out a garden hose into the desired shape and digging around the inside of it will do the trick. Then dig down to the desired levels and lay your plastic liner in the hole. You will probably have to fold it in places to get it to fit better if your pond is an unusual shape. If your pond liner is of the premolded, hard plastic variety, then you will need to dig according to the shape of the pond. The easiest way to do this is to dig a hole the approximate size of the liner and make it deep enough to rest the liner inside the hole until the rim is even with the level ground. Then, you need to fill in the hole, both around the perimeter and underneath the liner as well to match the shape of the bottom of the liner.

2. Replace the sod around the edges of the pond liner to cover the plastic and make the pond look natural. Now you are ready to fill your pond with water. This is easily accomplished with a garden hose and well water. Once the pond is filled you will need some sort of aeration to keep the water oxygenated for your fish. If you are not planning to supply the pond with fish, then you will likely not require any type of aeration unit. If you desire aeration you will need a pump designed for that purpose. You can buy them at pet supply stores. Follow the instructions on the pump as you set it up. When it is running properly it will suck water in at one end of the pump and push filtered water back out the other side.

3. Plant native shrubs and decorative grasses around the edges of the pond. This will make your pond look like it's always been there and will also serve to disguise any hoses and electrical cords running to and from your pond filter. Try to place the plants in such a way that the colors complement each other and make sure that the plantings are appropriate for the area you are planting in, like full sun, or partial shade.

4. Build a natural looking waterfall by gently sloping the soil next to the pond and putting down a layer of cement, with rocks embedded into it. You can hide the water hose beneath one of the larger rocks at the top of the fall. The other end of the hose is attached to the underwater pump and filtration unit. The water goes into the filter, and up through the hose to the water fall where the filtered water runs back into the pond in the form of a waterfall. Make sure the cement is fully hardened before you turn on the filter and get the water running.

5. Plant flowers and decorative grasses around the edges of the cement waterfall to make it look as though it belongs there. These will help to disguise the fact that your waterfall is made from rocks embedded in cement and make it look much more natural. Make sure that the cement basin is concave so that the water goes down into the pond where you want it to go. Otherwise, it will spill out over the edges of the rocks and cement and you will lose your pond water into the soil.

Tips & Warnings

• Be creative. Natural ponds are often oddly shaped, and the best man-made ones are done the same way to look as natural as possible.

• Be very careful when installing anything electrical anywhere near a body of water. Make sure that the power cord is well insulated before plugging in the device.

Resources

• JustLiners.com