Quacking frogs in the bank grass, small floating insects above the sun-reflecting water surface - many garden owners want this pure idyll. How to build a natural pond in your garden yourself? Here's a little guide.
How to create a natural pond in the garden?
To create a natural pond in your garden yourself, first choose the right location and plan the plant selection as well as any building permits. Then dig up the pond depression, put in protective fleece and pond liner, layer a gravel bed and plant the pond according to the depth zones. Finally, fill it up with water.
What preparations you need to make
The desire to have your own natural pond in the garden can sometimes turn into blind enthusiasm. However, careful planning is essential, especially if you want to build it yourself. On the one hand, you can enjoy your water oasis more and for longer if the depth management and planting planning result in a self-sustaining biotope.
On the other hand, there may be legal matters to consider in order to avoid any problems with the authorities from the outset.
The essential pre-planning steps are:
- suitable place selection
- biologically sensible and at the same time a plant composition that suits your taste
- depending on the planned pond size and depth, obtain building permit if necessary
The choice of location when building a pond in the garden is not just a matter of design. A certain amount of sunlight is also beneficial. In order to provide the pond plants with enough light and at the same time to prevent excessive water heating that promotes algae, the pond area should receive around 6 hours of sunshine per day.
For a natural pond, we recommend an informal, rounded, but not too snaky design. The choice of plants should aim for a good biological balance, adapting to the different pond zones. After all, a filter pump system for water purification does not belong in a natural pond. It is advisable to plan as many plants as possible for the shallow water zone. Because they absorb nutrients from the pond bottom and the water, they have a cleansing and oxygen-promoting effect.
Building
Once everything is well planned, it's time to start building. To do this, follow the following steps:
1. Dig out the trough
2. Lay with protective fleece and pond liner
3. Create a gravel bed
4. Planting5. Fill with water
The Unearthing
When digging the pond depression, you create the classic depth zones either in a gradual descending manner or in more fluid transitions. These are:
1. The swamp zone – up to 20 cm deep
2. The shallow water zone – 20 to 60 cm deep3. The deep water zone – 60 to about 120 cm deep
Line the hollow with a protective fleece and a pond liner (€10.00 on Amazon), which you weigh down and conceal with a bed of gravel and, if necessary, larger stones at the edges. If the soil quality is very stony and perhaps heavily rooted, you should dig a little deeper and work another layer of building sand under the film.
The planting
Then you can start planting. The beautifully yellow-flowering marsh marigold or the frog spoon are suitable for the swamp zone. The important shallow water zone can be easily planted with calamus, heart-leaved pikeweed, arrowhead or hedgehogs. In the middle, the deepest water zone, there is space primarily for water lilies.
Tip
If you also want fish to live in a species-appropriate manner in your natural pond, a minimum size of around 6 square meters and an average depth of around 1.20 meters are necessary. This gives the animals enough space and opportunity to retreat, even in winter when the pond may freeze over.
