55 Visually striking pond design ideas for your backyard

Summer is rapidly approaching and it’s time to start planning your backyard oasis with not just plants and flowers but considering the possibility of adding a pond design. If you enjoy spending your time outdoors during the warm summer months and you already have a garden, the incentive is there to make your garden more nature-like by adding a natural pond. We have gathered together a collection of inspirational pond design ideas in varying styles, with assorted plants and even fish. If you prefer a more refined variant, design your pond closer to the entrance of your home and create a pathway above or around it. For a more organic design choose stones in various shapes, sizes and colors for a natural look, moss, water lilies and koi or other fish, and a cascading waterfall or a fountain would help to diversify the overall appearance.

Just like indoor aquariums, fish ponds are not for the faint of heart. They take a lot of time and effort, love and care. They can be time consuming to keep clean and budget draining. But as with most difficult things in life, the payoff is worth it. And if you have the time — even just one free weekend — you could build your own backyard fish pond for around $2,500. Be sure to scroll down, as we have some great tips to creating your own backyard pond oasis.

Deeper ponds have their advantages. Fish will grow only in relation to how big the space is that they’re in. In shallow water a koi fish, which can reach 3 feet in length, won’t reach its full potential, as it would in a 5-foot-deep pond. Fish tend to get sicker in small ponds, because they’re swimming around in water with higher concentrations of their own waste. Deeper ponds mean more water volume and cleaner water. The fish are healthier, making it easier to maintain the right chemical balance. Deeper ponds make fish harder targets for predators.

To start, you are going to have to dig a hole, a big one. It’s free if you do it yourself. If you need the dirt hauled away, you will have to pay. Prices typically range from a couple hundred dollars to several hundred, depending on the amount and other factors.

There are advantages to shallower ponds. Less excavation means less work and fewer materials, so you’ll save money on construction costs and backaches. A shallow pond will also allow you a better view of your fish.