Backyard Ponds
Will Landscaped Ponds Ever Rule the World? Of course not.
However, here is some information that is All You Need & Know to Construct the Ideal Landscaped Pond. For starters, you need to acquaint an alluring new measurement with your landscape area. Simply include water. The specialists at Landscape Pros in Manassas, VA can help you with everything required and disclose the materials to make an attractive, flourishing sea-going focal point for your terrace or outdoor living spaces.
There is something about water moving that mitigates your spirit and provides a soothing calm environment. Backyard ponds are fairly easy to design and build. Once complete you can have a small slice of bliss.
Cheerfully, you need not bother with profound pockets or heaps of land to make the most of your own pond. You can design and completely prepare, arrange, a small fish-filled pond for around $500, given that you do your own digging. Simply make a pond area like the one here that requires rubbery liners, amazing siphons, viable channels, and, other backyard ponds materials available to purchase online or at your local big box store e.g., Home Depot. In any case, when you are done, regardless of whether it’s tucked into an edge of the yard or close to a deck or porch, your backyard pond will give an unending wellspring of interest for the family and guests.
Fabricated near the house, this pond makes a reviving, tranquil setting simply out the secondary passage. The stone cascade makes a satisfying sound as it oxygenates the water. Use of small plants mollify the stone edges and give cover for fish spread out.
Anatomy of a Pond
A spotless, clean pond requires a couple of key components to keep water contained, new, and filtered.
Underlayment: Protects the liner from punctures and stretching during installation.
Liner: Prevents water from leaking into the ground.
Pump: Circulates water through the filter and up to the waterfall or fountain.
Filters: Cleans the water coming from the pump.
Water Agitator: Keeps water oxygenated. Waterfalls, Bubblers, Wellsprings, Cascades, and Fountains are for the most part good agitators.
Channel: Cleans the water originating from the siphon.
Siphon: Courses water through the channel and up to the cascade or wellspring.
Covered GFCI outlet: Feeds electrical power to the pond pump. Safety Trips automatically trip to prevent lethal shocks.
Pond Vitals
What does it cost?
Home Pond kits start around $70 for a straightforward 9-square-foot, 84-gallon pond. However, a run of the mill 176-square-footer pond costs can start at $5,000, while larger pond variant costs can easily surpass over $50,000.
DIY or Hire a Pro?
Ponds that are longer than 6 feet on a side and deeper than 18 inches require significant amounts of digging and use of heavy equipment. This heavy work is best left to the Pros. Smaller ponds are good DIY projects, but let the Pros handle the plumbing and electrical work.
In the Manassas, VA area contact Landscape Pros @ 571-535-8622 for advice and assistance with your pond project. Landscape Pros is a family owned full-service landscape design company with over 30 yrs experience in providing Northern Virginia and surrounding area with professional landscape design and landscaping services. We’re voted #1 and the Best in Landscape Design and Services. We take pride in delivering outstanding customer service and having 100% customer satisfaction.
How long does a pond last?
It all depends on the liner used. The best ones have a 20-year warranty and 30 – 40 year life span.
How much maintenance cost?
The electricity to run a pump for a typical 176-square-foot pond costs about $260 a year. Smaller backyard ponds are much less usually. Pond filters need frequent cleaning and recommended to be cleaned monthly. If you cannot keep up on the maintenance, hire a pond-maintenance company. Yearly maintenance of ponds costs an average of $2,000 for four regular servicing visits during each of the seasons. People pay $450 on the low end and over $5,000 on the high, but the price is heavily subjective and based on the size and complexity of the pond’s environment.
Pond Types:
Natural – Intended to mix in like an indispensable piece of the landscape scene, this sort of pond has freestyle edges that do not follow a straight or unsurprising course and joins stones and plants local to the pond location.
Seminatural – Submitting general direction to the current hardscape around a home, this most popular type backyard ponds type has freestyle edges set close to brick blocks, cement, or stone patios and porch. The plants you select can be local or not.
Formal – Characterized by geometric shapes, this style of pond is regularly edged in costly mortared stone or poured concrete. Ideal for a reflecting pool in a formal garden, likewise, makes a fine feature for your fish. Plantings are meager or nonexistent.
Where to Put Backyard Ponds?
Backyard Ponds or Lagoon?
The location of a backyard pond determines its health and your ability to enjoy it.
How much sun?
Ideally, ponds should receive sunlight in the morning and shade in the afternoon. This keeps the water cooler, discouraging green algae blooms.
How far from the house should a pond be?
Ponds that are out of sight tend to get quickly neglected. Additionally, if they are farther than 20 feet from your patio or outdoor living space, you likely will not hear the peaceful cascade of a waterfall or fountain.
Does the yard have Overhanging trees?
A tree’s afternoon shade is welcome, but a pond that is directly under a tree’s branches will quickly clog with unwanted leaves, seeds, or pine needles unless given constant maintenance. If your landscape as a nearby tree that is young, factor in its mature size and spread before settling on the location of your backyard ponds.
What do the building codes say?
Ask your local building department about how far a pond must be set back from the home property line.
Where are my utility lines?
In Virginia Dial 811 before any digging to have your utility lines marked. This is a free service by the utility company, and it is Virginia law to be done to avoid damaging underground utilities. Striking a single utility line can cause personal injury, costly repairs, fines and inconvenient outages.
Pond Materials:
Liner – Utilize these calculations to determine how much material you will need for the pond. (all measurements in feet)
In simple terms, your pond liner size is always “double your depth added to your dimensions plus a safety overlap”.
Manufactured elastic – The most ideal decision for most ponds, 45-mil-thick EPDM comes in sheets up to 50 by 200 feet. Solid, UV safe, and adaptable to – 40 degrees F. Costs approx. 67 cents per sq. ft.
Plastic – Liners made of polyethylene (PE) and strengthened polypropylene (RPP) are more slender, lighter, and more affordable than EPDM yet stiffer and harder to work with. Costs for 20-mil PE liners, are about 30 cents for each sq. ft., and 36-mil RPP, approx. 45 cents per every sq. ft.
Pond Pumps:
Select the right size pump for your backyard ponds. At minimum, the gallons every hour (GPH) rating should match the volume of your pond. The pump will require extra GPH to properly supply a cascade waterfall or fountain, and enough “head” to push water to the top of the waterfall or fountain. Search for the right pump for the pond with the lowest wattage, which will cost the least to run.
Pond Filters:
Pond filters help keep water free of debris so that the pump will not clog. Other filter types remove chemicals that can harm fish. To sustain fish in your backyard ponds, you will need both types or a product that has both filters in one package.
Mechanical
Mechanical filters trap debris before it reaches the pump. It’s best to clean filters weekly in spring and fall, every other week in summer, and monthly in winter. A filter in a waterfall or a surface skimmer is easier to reach than one on a pump placed at the bottom of pond. Costs vary on filters and range from $60—$800.
Biological
Biological filters are a must for ponds with fish. Bacteria living on a porous filter medium will digest toxic nitrites and ammonia that is harmful to fish. You should wait at least 72 hours or more before putting fish in your new pond. By taking these actions, the water temperature and chemistry can level out. Note: Drastic changes in your backyard ponds can have a serious impact on the health of your fish. Filter costs vary and can range from $140 — $500 depending on what your pond needs.
Pond Equipment:
Water Agitators
Your pond will become a stagnant and an algae-filled eyesore if you don’t keep the water moving and properly aerated. Here are three ways to agitate the pond:
Water Fountain
Water shooting up from the surface of the pond or flowing from a man-made ornament is visually compelling and nice to listen to in your outdoor spaces. Fountains come in a variety of sizes and shapes and require the right pump to function at full capacity.
Waterfall
To create the tranquil waterfall you want, measure its width in inches at the point water spills out. Multiply by 50 if you want a trickle of water, by 100 for a sheet of water, and by 200 for Niagara Falls type action. The result is how many GPH your pump will need for the falls alone and does not factor in the pond requirements.
Bubbler
Bubbler air pumps are separate devices from a pond pump and produces bubbles that subtly ripple the pond’s surface.
DIY Pond Kits
Most online retailers bundle the backyard ponds essentials. Or you can buy a prepackaged kit from a home center that includes a rigid plastic tub, flexible tubing, and a properly sized pump. These kits are small and manageable enough to install in a weekend, but they don’t include the biological filter you need for fish. Though you could add such a filter, they’re really intended to be low-maintenance water features for people who want the pleasant sound of trickling water near a deck or patio, not a full-fledged ecosystem.
Shown: Koolatron 84-Gallon pond kit, About $75 at Home Depot
Landscape Pros in Manassas, VA hopes this information helps you in designing and in the installation of your new backyard ponds. If you want the “Pros” to do the heavy work for you… give us a call @ 571-535-8622 for advice and assistance with your pond project.
