6/12
Cut Steps Into the Soil for Easy Access
Steps make it easy to get in and out of your pond, whether you need to clean it, care for plants or just cool off on a hot day. Steps also act as shelves for pots, providing different water depths for different plants. If it will hold plants, the top step should be covered by at least 6 in. of water.
Steps that fall 12 in. or more below the water line should be at least 20 in. wide to accommodate large pots. If your pond is too small for built-in steps, create an entry point where the side of the pond is vertical. Sloped sides make getting in and out difficult.
7/12
Trees Add to the Work Load
The closer your pond and waterfall are to trees, the more time you’ll spend fishing out leaves with a net or cleaning out your skimmer. With some trees, this is only a problem in the fall, and some pond owners stretch a net over the water for a couple of weeks in autumn.
But other trees (certain varieties of maple, for example) also drop seeds in spring and summer. You can’t let leaves, seeds or pine needles build up and sink to the bottom. They’ll turn the water brown. Natural chemicals in leaves and in the decomposition process can also kill fish.
There are two more reasons to keep a distance between your pond and trees. Growing tree roots can poke holes in a pond’s liner. And digging a pond hole can destroy roots and injure or even kill a tree. Here’s a rough formula to determine how far roots extend from a tree’s trunk:
- Measure the diameter of the trunk (in inches) about 4-1/2 ft. from the ground.
- Multiply that diameter measurement by 1.5.
- The result tells you how many feet the roots extend.
Example: Let’s say the trunk is 10 in. thick: 10 in. x 1.5 = 15. So in this case, the roots extend about 15 ft. from the trunk.
If you can’t place your pond away from root zones, consider an above-ground pond. Above-ground ponds are created by piling up soil to form dikes or by building retaining walls to contain the pond.
8/12
Drain Runoff Away from Pond
Runoff from your yard can carry silt, grass clippings and other debris that lead to murky water. It also contains lawn chemicals that can support algae growth or harm plants or fish. You can protect your pond from runoff by simply forming a slight ridge around it as you begin figuring out how to build a pond. It doesn’t have to be very high; 3 in. is usually plenty. If the pond is on an incline, you can create a shallow channel with a slight slope to divert runoff to a garden or flowerbed.
