Digging the hole and installing the liner was by far the hardest part of this job. Now I’d like to discuss what you’d need to get the maximum benefits from your labors.
You will find that there are all sorts of decorative type accessories available for ponds, but what I’m going to list here are the “must have”, items that are absolutely necessary for your pond to reach it’s full potential. Later on in the book I’ll give a little more detail on each of the following “hardware” items and where you can get them.
1. A good pond liner. First and foremost is the liner that you just installed. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a top quality liner. Nothing will remove the joy of a pond quicker than leaks! It’s worth whatever you have to spend, and the material I ended up with is a product called EPDM rubber that is made by Firestone It is plant and fish safe, and tough as nails. It has a twenty-year guarantee against UV breakdown; in other words it won’t deteriorate in direct sunlight. I know this to be a fact personally because this same material is used to cover flat roofs and my parents had a flat patio roof covered with it about twelve years ago and it’s still in great shape. Bottom line: Don’t cut corners with the liner!
2. A water pump. The pump is essential to keep the water moving in your pond. You need a water pump for a couple of different reasons. First you need to move the water through your filtration system. This is vital, especially in a fishpond. Second, if you’re going to have a waterfall or fountain, the pump provides the power to make these two special effects work. It’s not at all uncommon to have more than one pump in a pond, each one doing a specific job. You may want a smaller size pump to keep the water moving through your filter, and a larger one if you’re running a fountain or waterfall. The size of your pump, (or pumps), will be determined by several things: The volume of water in your pond, whether or not you have fish, and how high you need to lift the water if you’re running a waterfall or fountain. For a pond of say, 3000 gallons, a pump that will move 1200 gallons an hour would be great.
3. A water filter. A water filter helps to clean the pond. You’ll notice I said “helps” because that is only one of the factors in How To Build A Beautiful Backyard Pond