By now the location of your little lake should be decided. You’ve picked a good spot in your yard where you can see the pond from different places, and it’s near enough to the house so you can see it from a window. This is really part of the fun because you can visualize the landscaping ideas you’ll be incorporating into the pond area once the dig is finished.
The first thing to do is outline the perimeter of your pond. Avoid square or sharp corners because your pond liner will conform much better to a freeform round or kidney shape. You should also have made the decision by this time about the size of the design. I would strongly suggest not going too small. I changed the size of our pond two times because the first and second time just weren’t big enough. Lay out the final design and size on the ground where you plan to dig with a can of spray paint.
The next thing to decide is the depth of the pond. I would suggest at least twenty four to thirty six inches. Our pond is thirty six to forty eight inches deep and the main reason is the fact that we have fish. Some of our fish are quite large, we have two Koi’s that are about eighteen inches long and they definitely need the room. If you’re going to have fish, or think you might get fish in the future, then don’t skimp on pond depth. If you live in a cold winter climate like we do, then the fish need room at the bottom to winter over. Like I mentioned previously, we haven’t lost a fish to the winter in the eight years we’ve had our pond.
Keep in mind that you want to keep the top ‘shoreline” edges pretty level. The reason for this is that once you put the liner in and fill the pond with water you won’t have a large piece of the liner showing
How To Build A Beautiful Backyard Pond