DIY Competition Winner Project Story

Thank you to those of you that entered our DIY competition for the best Aquascape DIY pond or pondless feature! We had so many impressive entries and we found a WINNER.

Here is the winner's full DIY project story!

We started our DIY pond project a week into the month of December 2022, with a working bee we organised with some family friends who enthusiastically volunteered themselves to help us clear an area we had chosen to put the pond, dig out a large tree stump that was in the way, and roughly dig the pond shape and depth with 2 layers. This all got achieved in one Saturday afternoon – many hands do make light work!!

From here, my partner Robert and our son Kyan took the time to carefully level out the base making sure it was flat and level everywhere and no sharp rocks were protruding – this was time consuming because we discovered so much fill of old pavers, large rocks and a huge, long, old log that had been buried for many years about 2 foot down – we later cleaned this up and used it as a feature in the garden next to the pond – what a bonus!!) We then placed the skimmer box and biofalls waterfall system in place – this took a few attempts, but we got it right in the end and were ready to move on to the next challenge!! Next was putting the underlay and liner in and trimming the excess, which we later used for putting under large rocks in the pond. The larger pieces we used for carrying larger boulders from the rock pile into the pond.. We even used this technique when we collected large giveaway rocks in our local neighbourhood. These tips we had picked up from watching aquascape youtube videos on how to build a biofalls pond (we learnt soo much, these videos were invaluable to our success).

The next stage probably took us the longest... laying the rocks.. trailer loads later we think we managed to get it looking pretty natural in the end. Then Robert siliconed on the rubber liner to the skimmer box and biofalls waterfall, used the expanding foam around the waterfall and excitedly we started filling the pond the next morning!! It's been running for 3 days now and we are sooo excited about this project and the result we have achieved in just a few weeks. It has been such a rewarding process and now we are able to say, ‘We built this!’ I am so proud of my friends and family for creating this piece of paradise in our suburban backyard.

Today, I planted the pond, and although it will take some time to mature, it already looks so beautiful. I have tried to include a few native ground covers as well to attract the local birdlife which is abundant here in Boreen Point. I hope the pond will also act as a little refuge on the hot summer days for the birds to have a drink and dip to cool down. The sound of the waterfall flowing is so tranquil and peaceful, this new addition to our yard has transformed our garden into a tropical paradise.

I hope you love it as much as we do!!

Thanks for considering our application in your DIY pond competition.

Raeleen Potter and Robert Fleming
Boreen Point, Sunshine Coast QLD

Inspired? Start your DIY project today!

Our DIY Backyard Pond Kits are designed to provide everything you need to get started on building a stunning ecosystem pond in your own backyard. This all-in-one kit takes the guesswork out of figuring out the individual components to purchase. All necessary components are provided within this DIY Pond Kit, including Pond Skimmer, BioFalls Filter and EcoWave 8000LPH Pond Pump.

Or how about a DIY Backyard Waterfall?!

Our DIY Backyard Waterfall Kit is designed for those looking to construct a waterfall feature in their own backyard. This all-in-one kit comes with all of the necessary components needed to create your own Pondless/disappearing waterfall. The kit has a Pond Pump with a flow rate of up to 8,000 litres per hour, a Pondless Waterfall Vault allowing easy access to your pump, and AquaBlox to reduce the amount of gravel and stone you need.

Have some fun and start living the water feature lifestyle today!