Questions You Should Ask Yourself When Deciding the Size of Your Backyard Garden Pond

Having decided to build a backyard pond and water feature, the time has come to choose how big it will be and how it is going to look. How does one determine the size of the perfect pond? This is a very personal issue, and the choices from one person and from one family to another will be completely different. Here are some points to consider when making your decisions. These presented in the form of list of questions for you to read through. Your own answers to these questions should help you make your choices:

• What is your budget?

• Where do you want your pond to go?

• Do you own a large property or a handkerchief?

• How big is your yard, and how much space do you want to give over to the pond?

• Will your water garden pond be a central feature in your back garden or will it be an enhancement to an already established natural environment?

• Do you want it large and impressive, or will it be small and gentle?

• What type of water feature do you want - do you want to build a garden fish pond - or do you actually just want a waterfall?

• Do you want a waterfall with large rocks where the water crashes down or small steps where he water trips down into the holding pond below?

• How can you use your natural landscape to help the water flow?

• How high do you want the waterfall to be?

• What type of waterfall do you want to look at when it is finished - a sheet of water or a narrow flowing stream?

• Do you want to use cement in your construction - do you like a modern or natural approach?

• How much water do you want to move?

• Do you want your holding pond to be at the bottom, or at the top?

• Is your water feature going to run all the time, or just when you are outside to enjoy it?

• What sort of environment do you live in? Is you pond likely to freeze in the winter months?

• How much natural litter/debris is in the environment for example, are you planning your feature to be under trees which drop their leaves in winter?

• What type of fish do you want to install and how much water volume would they require?

• Are you able to deal with the building work yourself?

• Are you physically able to life the heavy parts of the feature, for example the rocks that you use to build the waterfall?

• Is there access for lifting equipment and/or delivery of items needed for the build?

• Have you considered using a commercially available water garden pond kit?

• Do you know the size range of pre-assembled DIY kits that can be purchased?

• How deep do you want to dig?

• What sort of plants do you want to enjoy once it is established?

• How much depth of water do the plants need in order to survive the winter cold and in order to flower?

• What do you intend to do with the extracted soil?

• Who is going to enjoy the pond?

• Where will your garden fish pond be viewed from - only outside the house, or from inside as well?

• Will there be any safety issues if there are children present in the environment of your pond?

These seem a lot of things to think about - however - once all these aspects of building a water garden pond are taken into consideration - suddenly - the whole idea of building a pond is not quite as daunting as it may have been before. By knowing what you want to come out with at the other end - good choices can be made during the planning process.