Back to Gardening Chapter 4, Design - Part D: A Tale of Three Ponds

In this section of Chapter 4, I share my lessons learned from ponds I've made in my backyard, and then I summarize all the ways that ponds are good for gardens.

Back to Gardening Chapter 4, Design - Part D: A Tale of Three Ponds

Pond 1, Year 1

The first pond I ever made was an experiment. There was a spot in my backyard that always formed a puddle after a good rain. I had young children at the time, and I thought it would be fun for them to have a goldfish pond in the backyard. So one day in spring I grabbed a shovel and started digging until I was exhausted (which only took an hour). By that point in time I had dug something that resembled a shallow grave, that was about two feet deep, 4 feet wide and six feet long. The next day I made it deeper and wider, and the next day deeper still - so that in the end it was 4’ wide x 8’ long by 4’ deep. After a good rain, it filled with water, so I went to a pet store and bought six “feeder” goldfish¹ and put them in the pond. The fish were just over an inch long. I also explored the ditches on my street and grabbed the plants that seemed to be in the wettest parts of the ditches - assuming that they were ok with being submerged. I then planted them along the edges of the pond, using pointy sticks and rocks to hold them in place until they could take root. Finally, reasoning that the microscopic life in ponds is important to the health of pond-systems - I gathered a bucket of water from a nearby pond and dumped it into my pond.

The funny mosses, grasses and other weeds at the edge of the water came from a ditch just down the road from my house. These plants had no problem living at the water’s edge, and helped remove excess nutrients from the water to improve water quality.

Lesson 1: Spots where water gathers naturally are ideal spots to make ponds, and with heavy clay, a liner may not even be needed.

Over the course of the summer the transformation of the pond was miraculous. The vast majority of the ditch plants took roots and grew well. Water skippers (Gerridae) showed up in a matter of days. Water Boatmen (Corixidae) also showed up eventually, and of course, about half a dozen frogs also took up residence - in addition to countless other terrestrial and aquatic insects.

Lesson 2: Life has a way of finding ponds. Expensive pond plants and additives are not needed. A little pond water is all that’s needed to kick-start a pond.