Finding just the right spot for your water garden and pond

The first thing you need to do is look at your landscaping and slope of your yard, don't fight it just work with what you have. You may think the lowest spot in your yard is the best place to put a water garden, but it is not.

This is where all surface water is going to collect and you don't normally want that in your pond water. Poor drainage can also undercut your pond liner and create problems, place the water feature or pond just above this point.

If the slope is steep you may have to put in a small retaining wall so you cal level where the liner goes. If you don't want to use a retaining wall to build the pond then just use rocks and soil to build it up.

Sloped sites are the ideal place to build if you want to add a waterfall.

If you have very rocky and hard soil that is almost impossible to dig then use a preformed liner above the ground and just build a frame around it. You can also do this if your soil is extremely sandy. Clay soil is hard to dig but is the best for soft liners.

Find the right area for your water garden and then fountain

The first thing you need to do is look at your landscaping and slope of your yard, don't fight it just work with what you have. You may think the lowest spot in your yard is the best place to put a water garden, but it is not.

This is where all surface water is going to collect and you don't normally want that in your pond water. Poor drainage can also undercut your pond liner and create problems. Place the water feature or pond just above this point.

If the slope is steep you may have to put in a small retaining wall so you cal level where the liner goes. If you don't want to use a retaining wall to build the pond then just use rocks and soil to build it up. Sloped sites are the ideal place to build if you want to add a waterfall.

If you have very rocky and hard soil that is almost impossible to dig then use a preformed liner above the ground and just build a frame around it.

You can also do this if your soil is extremely sandy. Clay soil is hard to dig but is the best for soft liners.

You need to survey your yard at different times of the day so that you can judge how much sun and shade each area gets.

This also determines which plants you can use in your water garden and fish if they are to be added later.

Strong winds also affect your pond they can speed up the evaporation of the water creating a problem if you don't keep a close eye on the levels.

Strong winds can also break  water plants that are tall. If you have no choice and wind is a problem you can always erect a windscreen of fence.