Water Gardening: Planning My First Pond... Any Advice?, 1 by evesta

evesta wrote:
Hi everyone! I am very excited to be planning my first pond! I've been doing a lot of reading online and in books and magazines. I am so glad February is almost over...bring on spring!!!

It was a fairly nice day so I went out and layed out the hose to get an idea of the size. We have a huge yard, so space is not an issue. The measurements I came up with were first 10X15 but after laying out the hose, 19X8. I was going to start with a smaller pond but everyone suggests going bigger if you have the room.

What I want in a pond is a place to attract birds, turtles and frogs. I also want plants and a few fish and although I love koi, I think I would be too heart broken if I killed one of those beauties, so probably more likely goldfish. I want to have a small waterfall(most likely placed near the river birch) and a shallow area(probably next to the pine tree where I put their feeders) for birds, as well as lots of plants.

I have a pre-school aged son who will love the pond. I grew up with a natural steam and large pond in my backyard and I want him to have that same joy! I would like to keep the sides shallow and make the deeper area towards the middle, just in case he jumped or fell in. Any suggestions on what that might look like? We also have 3 small dogs and 1 naughty cat... whom I'm sure will be fascinated with the pond project as well as the finished project:)

Any advice that I might benefit from? The area is VERY sunny but I have plenty of room to plant trees and shrubs. Also, how deep for goldfish to survive the winter because I don't want to bring them in during the winter. All advice is appreciated! Thanks,

Eve