Beginner's Guide to Garden Pond Kits

Lakes and oceans inspire pensiveness in virtually everyone who sees them, but a garden pond requires pondering of a different kind. A pond must be planned, and that requires some basic knowledge of pond kits and the practical details of setting up a backyard pond.

Pond kits

A pond kit comes in two basic forms: preformed or flexible. Preformed garden pond kits are smaller (e.g. 25 gallons), less expensive, and easier to install. The downside of using a preformed kit is that you can't create your own shape, and the pond will likely be too small for anything beyond landscape decoration and attracting birds.

Flexible pond kits come with an EPDM rubber liner and protective underlayment which allow you to create a pond in the shape of your choosing. Flexible garden pond kits are usually significantly larger (over 1,000 gallons) and more expensive.

A typical flexible pond kit will include a liner, underlayment, pump, PVC pipe, and perhaps LED lights or a Filter Falls for water filtration and aeration. Somewhat counter intuitively, it's often easier to maintain proper chemical and oxygen levels in a larger pond.

Pond types

Backyard ponds can be set up for decorative purposes, swimming, or as water gardens or fish ponds. If you plan to grow aquatic plants or raise koi or goldfish, you'll need a pond that's large and deep enough for plants to root and fish to survive in colder weather. Depending on the climate in your region, a water garden or goldfish pond should be at least two feet deep; koi ponds should be three to five feet deep, and hold at least 1,000 gallons of water.

If you plan to keep goldfish, we recommend purchasing a backyard pond kit of at least 100 gallons; anything smaller would likely require you to winterize the fish indoors. Goldfish and plants work well together, but koi are notorious for eating and/or shredding plants.

Pond location

Our professional backyard pond kits come with a complete installation kit. You can choose to handle this task on your own, or hire a landscaping professional.

When choosing a location for your backyard pond, keep several things in mind:

• If the pond is under trees and/or shrubbery, it may get dirty with leaves and organic debris.


• Aquatic plants should have about four to six hours of sunlight every day.


• Make sure the pond is near both a water source for refilling (a hose is the most convenient) and an electricity source for the water pump.


• Some shade is definitely nice if you plan to have pond-side seating.


• Don't place the pond at the bottom of a slope: it may overflow when it rains, or attract runoff that contains organic matter or chemicals.


• Before you dig for your pond, check with your local utility company to make sure you don't hit any underground lines.