Creating a Water Feature

An important feature of a well-designed garden is a focal point. It can be a statue, a willow bench, a colorful flowering tree or an inviting architectural element like a gazebo or a rose or vine arbor. Something with strong visual interest can become the exclamation mark among the flowers and foliage. I like to add a focal point that infuses the garden with personality. Water does that for me.

Water features add an element of tranquility to a garden. The soothing sound of water bubbling instantly adds a relaxing ambiance to my garden. It’s also a place where wildlife will come to take a morning drink where I can watch them from a distance while sipping my coffee.

Here’s an easy way to make your own oasis of calm in the backyard…

  • Measure out the area where you choose to place the pond.
  • In order to calculate the surface area of the pond liner that you should get, add twice the depth of the pond to your length and width measurements. Include an additional 2-foot overlap to the length and width measurements. This extra overlap will eventually be covered with tiles, stones or soil.
  • Dig out the hole to the dimensions that you have calculated.
  • Position any external pond filters and/or pumps and level these where you have easy access to them and can also screen them from view.
  • Smooth out the hole making sure that you remove any sharp stones or chunks of roots from the hole. Run you hand over the entire surface area that the liner will lie on to make certain that there are no sharp objects that will puncture the liner.
  • Next, lay in the liner and smooth it out as much as possible. Begin to slowly fill the pond with water and smooth out the liner if required, as the water level rises.
  • Decide on the type of border that you may like a natural edge made with soil and stacked stones.

Just float in some water lilies and other aquatics, then plant around your edges to finish off your new backyard getaway-from-it-all!

To learn more about water features, check out the video below!