The function you envision for your garden pond will influence what sort of design it has. If you plan it as a fish pond, then you’ll need to take into account how deep the fish need to swim, or whether they need a longer pond because they swim very far, very quickly. On the other hand, some people use these ponds simply as a place to grow aquatic plants, and this again will affect the pond design. All of these factors will go into determining whether your pond is shallow or deep, short or long.

If you’re going to have fish in your pond, then you’ll need to decide on the type of fish. In climates that get very cold in wintertime it’s hard to keep pond surfaces from freezing over even with heaters, so koi ponds are inadvisable. Even though both koi and goldfish can handle fairly cold water, one danger of freezing is that sources of oxygen are cut off, and the fish could literally suffocate. Another concern will be fish pond predators, so you’ll need to locate the pond where you can set a net above it, or else find other ways to protect the fish. With koi, for example, you can protect them by making the pool quite deep.

The design of your pond will be different if your main emphasis is exotic plants rather than fish, but just as with fish, the depth of the pond will depend on the types of plants you include. You can stand and look at ponds that have floating water lilies on their surfaces, and never even realize that while some have the entire plant floating there, others are rooted in the soil below and send long stalks to the surface. And the types of plants in your garden pond might influence whether other wildlife will start to live there. Small frogs live in one plant environment, while dragonflies might thrive in another.

One key element to keeping your garden pond fresh will be items like a pond filter and other cleaning equipment. You’ll need to learn what types of plants help reduce the amount of algae that will develop in the pond, and how to control what algae does appear. You may pick up some information from the internet and guidebooks, but your best resource will be the experts at a garden center or a pond supply store. You want to be sure that you’re not making mistakes so that your pond is healthy and clean, and stays that way for as long as you have it.

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