This guide is for the avid do-it-yourselfer and I will tell you about my small pond: How I dug it, what is in it, and the surprises both good and bad along the way. I have done all kinds of gardening for years and my little water garden has been one of my real gardening joys.

My husband came home and found me digging a hole in the backyard. Our Southern soil is rock hard clay after the first couple of inches, and I had succeeded in scratching out an area about two feet square and an inch or two deep. "What are you doing," he asked. "Putting in a water garden, " I replied with a small smile. We have been married thirty years and friends for even longer, so we both understood.

I did my homework before I started. There are many terrific books on this topic, and reading several is a good idea. They will show you pictures of gardens so that you can find your own style. They will suggest plants that work, and address the issue of goldfish and koi. A water garden can be anything from a big pot on the deck to a vast and formal concrete structure.

My little pond is about 6 feet by 6 feet and about 2 feet deep in the deepest spot. I dug it out by hand (yes, my husband helped some) and wish I had made it bigger and deeper but my back gave out. We may redig this year to add depth and a little more size. I suggest that you go a little larger than you think you want, and a tiller is not a bad thing.

I lined my pond with a first layer of some old carpet to protect the liner from stones and tree roots. The liner was the biggest expense. Liners are sold at many garden centers. You can also use a preformed liners but none of them quite suited me, and you have to dig your hole to conform to the shape, rather than just laying a liner over what you dig. I like a natural look and my goal was to have my pond look like it was part of the yard. When you dig, you may want to have several levels to your pond, a shallow section, a medium section and a deep section, to accomodate a variety of plants and to add interest to the look of the pond. On a hot day. my fish are often in the shallows, taking in the sun, but in winter they go for the deep water.

Before you take up the first spadeful of dirt, here are some thoughts to consider:

1. Choose a spot that is not under trees that shed a lot of leaves- the leaves  will end up in your pond and are simply a nuisance. They will also block the sun, and both plants and fish enjoy their sunshine.

2. I placed my pond inside a fenced back yard as I was concerned that a curious child might find this little pond too tempting, especially with fish, and two feet is unfortunately still enough. You can check for local codes and ordinances for your area concerning ponds and size can matter (this is a good idea for any significant project anyway).

3. Also, before you dig, make sure that there are no buried underground lines such as gas or electric. If you aren' t sure, call first. This is a real safety issue and not a step to skip.

4. During heavy rain, soil can wash towards your pond and dirty the water, so some well chosen landscaping around the pond can help absorb the excess and is pretty as well. I like plants that attract birds and butterflies and that flower, but taste is individual on this topic. I like English cottage garden style, maybe a bit overgrown, but formal water gardens can be breathtaking, too.

5. Have at least some bank around the pond. My pond is lined with and surrounded with stone, but I have made a couple places accessible to small animals and birds who visit any pond (more about this later).

6. Sunshine is a two-edged sword. Small ponds (and big ones) can have an algae problem, and it is gross looking and unhealthy for the fish, so some shade at times can be a good thing. We solved this problem with water plants that cover much of the pond surface, blocking some sun, but still leaving some areas open for the fish to come and bask.

7. Plan for a sitting area of some type where you can enjoy your pond. We have a bench, but chairs and a table would also be nice. You will want a  place to sit and read or just watch the fish and look at the flowers and water.

8. This is a project that can grow. We added a second small pond just for water flowers with no fish, and there are many fountains and waterfalls available. You can also do bog or marsh areas. I would add a little at a time as too much at once can just become work, rather than a pleasure.  

 Once your pond is dug and ready, add whatever plants you enjoy. We have several waterlilies, but since our pond is small, not as many as I might like. They are beautiful. Along the edge, where it is damp, we have water iris and reeds and they add another dimension to the garden.

We did not add fish the first year, to give our water garden a chance to settle and to be sure it was a healthy place for living creatures. I learned two things about pond goldfish: they are remarkably sturdy and they are prolific breeders. At one point, we had over 100 fish (I started with two), but the raccoons have helped quite a bit with that (more later).  We feed a good quality fish food since we have quite a few fish for a small pond. You may find it helpful to know a couple of things about goldfish in a pond: Small goldfish start out black-looking, not gold, so when you see a "minnow" in your pond, you probably have baby goldfish. We are in the South, but even with our pond frozen over, our fish have been fine. We do thaw a spot on the ice after a hard freeze, and I have a floating heater for really cold spells- you can see the fish gather around when it is on, like folks around a nice fire.  

Finally, the good, the bad, the ugly. Ponds are hard work, and you must fall in love with your pond to make it worthwhile, or hire someone. Ponds require attention to keep them attractive and healthy, and if you have fish, it is a must. Leaves have to be taken out, algae cleaned, stones tidied, some water changed from time to time in a small pond. In order to protect our fish from raccoons and other "seafood" loving animals, we have netted our pond and it is a bit of a hassle to maintain  and less pretty than I would like, although it shows less than I thought it would. This is the bad. Algae blooms are truly gross, and the occasional dead thing is hard, also. Fish will die or be killed. A dirty pond can smell bad. This is the ugly. The good deserves the most space.

We added a solar fountain to our pond, and the sound of the moving water and the sight of the sparkle of sun on the water offer a true satisfaction. The grace of a single newly opened water lily can provide as much satisfaction as the blooms of many other plants. For me, the greatest surprise was how much I have enjoyed the living creatures who come to visit. We have always had many living creatures in our yard, birds and squirrels, chipmunks and raccoons and possum. The availability of a source of clean water has greatly increased the number of visitors. The South can be very dry, and it is a pleasure to see a squirrel sipping at the edge of the pond, to know that our pond helps them to live happily.

They say that many things grow in a garden that were never planted there. I am a restless spirit, but many times, I have sat down on the bench by our pond and done nothing but sit and look and think and absorb. Our pond has given me the gift of many moments of peace.

To close, as you begin your dig, I will offer what I hope is an inspiration. I came home one day, and startled a great blue heron that was drinking at our pond. These birds are fairly common in our area, but without the pond, I am sure one would never have come so close. The wingspan on this awesome bird was surely four to five feet. Your water garden may give you the gift of the unexpected,  a rare gift indeed.