How To Plan & Design a Pond

Now you have considered all the key factors affecting the style and position for your desired pond. You have consulted one of our experts about equipment and any additional advice required. You should now be ready to sketch out your plans.

Draw A Garden Plan

The best way to achieve this is to draw out a scaled plan of the main area of your garden on some graph paper. This should include paths, trees, shrubs and any other permanent features with some basic contour lines showing slopes etc. Then, on some tracing paper overlaid on your plan, you can try various ideas for the proposed water garden and easily see which will be best suited. Try different shapes and positions around the garden, remembering to consider view points, sunlight levels, overhanging trees and all the other factors already covered previously.

When you are happy with your sketches, it is worth marking out the proposed pool in the garden using a rope or hose. Then walk around your garden and check the overall impact from all desired viewpoints. When you are completely satisfied with the general shape and location of the proposed pond, it can prove helpful to draw a more detailed plan of the actual pond including pond depth, planting areas, edging methods, filtration siting and routes for electric cables and hoses.

Check List

Position: Sun for at least half the day.
Avoid overhanging trees.
Consider power supply and accessibility of water.
Create sufficient planting areas.
Depth at least 45cm for general ponds, approx 1m for koi.
Good all-round access.
Enough room for waterfalls and filtration.
Avoid boggy wet areas.
Check there are no underground services etc.
Consider pond safety.