How to Build a Pond

If you happen to be fortunate enough to live on 3 or more acres and would like to enhance your property with a pond, then you can find basic information on how to build a pond here. If you don’t live on a few sprawling acres, then don’t despair, you can build a small fish pond or water garden in very small areas. However, this article focuses on how to build a pond of a much larger scale.

If you have the land capacity, you will want to build a pond to scale with the rest of your property. If you have over 10 acres, by all means build a 1-acre pond. If you have less, scale the dimensions down a bit. To build a pond, you will have to bring in excavating equipment and a digger. You will want to level the area where you will dig the pond and clear it of trees and brush. Then the digging can begin in earnest. To build a pond of such magnitude, you will want to have some gravel back-fill once the hole is dug.

To fill the pond, you can wait for mother-nature to accommodate, but unless you live in a very rainy area, your best bet will be to have water hauled in. Depending on how remote your area is, the fire department may be able to accommodate your needs for a fee. Otherwise, you’ll need a hauling company specializing in water.

If your goal is to build a pond that is fully stocked, you will want to wait a few months before adding fish. Good fish to start with are crappie and bluegill. You’ll also want to toss in a few catfish and moss carp to help balance out the pond’s ecosystem. The catfish will feed from the bottom where as the crappie and bluegill will feed from the top. You will definitely need to devise a feeding system for this size pond. Some suggestions from owners of large ponds include a pulley-system and a net to deliver food to the middle of the pond and investing in a paddleboat and feeding the fish from buckets.