Garden Pond Reviews and Buying Guide:

Water features in your yard can add style and elegance to the overall landscaping. Many people like having ponds in their gardens that have fountains or waterfalls as a soothing background noise. A garden pond can be installed in most yards and additional features like waterfalls or extensive fountains can usually be added on. Garden fish ponds have been popular for decades and those that like koi fish have always enjoyed putting them in their yards for everyone to see. If you are moving into a house or having one built, that is the best time to get your garden pond installed by professionals since it does require some digging in your yard. Depending on the size of the pond, you may need to get a small tractor into your yard for the digging process or perhaps it can be done manually. In any event, any submerged garden pond will cost quite a bit of money and will take some time to be installed properly. A garden pond pump will recycle the water through the pond to keep the water moving and help prevent stagnant water.

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Most landscaping experts will tell you the price of your garden pond totally depends on the garden pond design and how complex it is. You are looking at $1000's to do a real garden pond with rocks and a submerged fiberglass or plastic pond structure. There are newer, simpler water gardens that sit above ground and they are made with plastic molded to resemble a rock feature with a small pond. Step2 makes the Stone Hill Rock Pond for $150 and it holds 32 gallons of water and the kit includes pond, electric pump with filter, tubing, fittings, and the upper cascading pond. It may not be authentic, but works great for families that don't want their children falling into a real pond. The preformed pond starter kits are another great option for DIY homeowners. The performed ponds only cost about $50 to $100 and many landscapers will tell you they are much easier to install than the pond liners that come with custom ponds. The preformed pond tubs come in several different shapes, but you will not be able to customize them as you would with a pond liner. The preformed ponds are made with fiberglass (usually) and the biggest difficulty with installing them is making sure the hole that is dug will snugly fit the ponds shape. If you are going to have a custom pond designed in your yard, then you will have to purchase a pond liner which cost from $30 to $700 depending on the size requirements. Fish ponds are great, but they require the most upkeep and maintenance of any pond type since you will have fish living in their and you must always check the algae and bacteria levels. Besides having to add chemicals to keep your fish healthy, you will also need to keep the water temperature right around 59 degrees. If the weather climate in your region is cold, you may need a heater to warm the water in the colder months or have a de-icer installed. Down below we have tried to provide details of where to buy different types of garden ponds. Many landscape companies get discounts on products they buy from retailers, so let them buy it if they are going to do the project for you. It doesn't hurt, though, to research the varieties available and find out about pricing and options.

Garden Fish Pond:

As we mentioned above, fish ponds require the most care of all types of backyard ponds. It's best to let a professional handle this type of install since many factors go into maintaining your fish properly. If you live in an area where there are birds of prey (hawks, eagles, etc.), you will need a slight rock overhand or log in the water so the fish can hide in the shade in case a predator comes overhead. In a nearby town one woman lost like 10 coi fish within a week due to redtail hawks swooping down for lunch. Koi ponds are great, but you don't want to lose your fish to predators or environmental causes such as the wrong water temperature. Go to your local nursery or garden center to see if they can recommend a landscape design person to handle the install of your fish pond. You can view plans and kits online at AZponds.com or Watergarden.com.

Water Garden:

You don't need a large pond in your yard to have a beautiful water garden. Water gardens can be done on the cheap with products like the Step2 Stone Hill Rock Pond ($150) located HERE. Although it's not the most authentic pond around, you can grow a nice plant garden right in the pond. For the real deal, you will need to purchase a pond liner at Pondliner.com and dig your hole to the required size and put in the liner. Real water gardens can be a great addition to any yard, but definitely keep a close eye on small children who often find these types of things mesmerizing and may fall in. Water garden kits are fairly inexpensive and even sold in stores like Sears in their home and garden section.

Garden Pond Waterfall/Foundtain:

Combining a garden pond with a fountain feature is a really nice touch. We found some great examples at Pondscapedesigns.com with stand along fountains or pre-formed pond shapes ready to drop into your yard. Small ones are only about 30 gallons while the larger ones were over 200 gallons and cost about $127 (preformed pond only). The self-contained waterfalls/fountains are closer to $300. The website listed above has an excellent section dedicated to installing a pond. Should you do it yourself or have a professional install it. There is a list of things to consider before making your decision. As someone who recently looked into a pond/waterfall combination in my yard, it's best to let a professional landscape designer handle the work. The time involved for a first timer is not worth it. You are better off hiring a crew to do it right the first time. Expect to spend around $2000+ for a decent sized pond with water feature.

DIY Garden Pond:

Creating your own garden pond can be a rewarding project. There are countless websites with pointers and instructions on how to do it yourself. The DIY Network website has an excellent tutorial for building and maintaining a garden pond or water garden HERE. They give you pointers on which plants to put into the pond like water lilies, lotuses, irises, papyrus, water hyacinth, and water lettuce. They also cover the differences between rigid and flexible liners and which would be right for your yard. The pictures definitely help beginners understand what goes into making their very own garden pond. Supplies are available at Pondmarket.com.

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