Tips for DIY Building a Large Pond in Your Backyard

After a new project to get started on before the summer months roll around? Have a little bit of space in your garden that you’re not quite sure what to do with? Why not create a large pond that can be enjoyed by your family all year-round?!

A recreation pond is the perfect natural alternative to a chemical pool. Not only does it provide a great space for swimming in, but it can also be a sanctuary for a myriad of different native birds and animals. A whole ecosystem can be created around your pond, and you get to watch it unfold! Check out our page on Recreation Ponds & Large Projects for more information about these ponds, plus a little inspiration to get you started.

Building a large DIY pond doesn’t have to be scary or stressful! Check out a few of our handy tips for building your own large pond below.

 Work out where you'd like your pond to be

The first step is to work out where you’d like your pond to be positioned. The amount of space you have to work with will help you determine the size of pond that can be created. You might like your pond to be positioned under some shady trees, or to receive a bit of shade from your house in the afternoon. If you want a bit of help envisioning your pond, consider drawing the potential outline on the grass to see what areas receive shading throughout the day and whether the size suits your yard

Choose the shape

Another important element is choosing the shape of your new large garden pond. While it might be tempting to create a perfect oval pond, such symmetry often doesn’t exist in nature. Instead, to make your pond appear natural and give it that always-been-there look, play with a few different irregular shapes. This is again where the chalk outlines can come in handy! When creating your potential designs, remember to keep a bit of space around the edge of the water feature to allow some room for rocks to be placed or plants to grow.

Waterfalls and levels

One-level ponds look beautiful, and you may love the stunning simplicity of these designs. Alternatively, you may like to incorporate waterfalls and other staggered levels into your water feature. Moving water features can make a stunning addition to a water feature, but these designs might take a little more thought and planning than a standard, simple pond. Remember, you can always call in the professionals to help you design or build your pond. Find and connect with a Certified Aquascape Contractor near you by filling out our form.

Pond kit vs individual parts

With building your own large DIY pond, you’ll need to decide whether you wish to buy your parts separately or in an all-inclusive kit. There are benefits to each choice. With our DIY pond kits, you get all the parts you need to complete a simple pond build all in the one spot. Aquascape Australia offers a wide range of DIY Pond Kits that provide all the parts needed to create a pond in your own garden. Alternatively, you may like to create a more custom pond, and individually choose each part you’d like to incorporate. If this is the case, you might be better suited to selecting individual high-quality parts.

Invest in a high-quality pond liner

At Aquascape Australia, we recommend ponds be built with high-quality EPDM pond liner. We are a proud supplier of Firestone EPDM pond liner, offering a wide range of sizing options. This fish safe pond liner is UV, oxidation, and ozone-resistant, plus backed by an industry-leading 20-year guarantee. It is reliable and sets a strong foundation for your pond to be built on. These rubber pond liners can also be recycled at the end of their use, making them a more environmentally-friendly choice.

Decide on whether you want fish

The steps of how to build a large fish pond are very similar to those for how to build a large pond in general. In fact, the main difference is often simply whether you’ll be incorporating fish or not into the feature! We find there can be several benefits of adding fish into a pond. For one, many species of fish will eat insect larvae, which can help to keep the number of mozzies (and other bugs) down. Fish play an important role within an ecosystem, while also being enjoyable to watch swim about!

Don't be afraid to call in the professionals

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by the concept of building your own backyard pond, or have gotten halfway through the project and are unsure of how to proceed, don’t stress, simply call in the Aquascape professionals! There are many Certified Aquascape Contractors across the country who are trained in building stunning ponds and water features. Reach out to a CAC today and get the pond of your dreams built in your own garden!

A large pond can make a fantastic addition to a garden. Offering a space for friends and family to congregate around, these water features are not only exciting for humans, but also offer a fresh, cooling retreat for native animal species. For more tips and information on building large garden ponds, check out our video on How to Build a Backyard Pond.