Planting instructions for waterlilies, deep water aquatics and submergent plants.

Planting instructions for lotus plants.

Planting instructions for creeping aquatics, marginal plants, water irises and aquatic cannas.

Step by step information

Use the following are simple steps (as a guide only) to build your own water garden pond using pond liners.

1) First of all, check with your local government body (i.e., local council) if there is any restrictions to building a pond in your home garden. Certain restrictions like depth of the pond may be important in some areas as you may accidentally dig into cables or pipes that runs beneath your property.

2) Select the appropriate area in your garden (preferably an area that receives at least 4 hrs of sunlight per day during the warmer seasons) and outline the shape of your pond.

(NOTE: If you are located in areas that are subjected to hot dry Summer season. Find a location where the pond would receive at least 50% shade. This will at least reduce the amount of water evaporated from the pond.)

3) Perform measurements for the size of your pond.

(NOTE: The size of the liner should include the following 2 x depth + length/width + 2 x length of overlapping edges, see diagram below)

An example: A 4m x 4m liner could be used to make a square pond that is 30cm depth, 2.5m in length/width with 25cm for the overlapping area on the edge.

4) After digging out the designated area for the pond, place a good thick layer of fine sand on the bottom before laying out the liner. This will act as a cushion between the garden bed and your pond liner. It will reduce the possibly of friction on the pond liner when it is filled with water.

5) Fill the pond with water until full. This will then allow the pond to take its shape. Then commence landscaping the edges of the pond with featured rocks and waterside plants. Leave the water in the pond for at least 24 to 48 hrs.

6) Finally, gently place in your water plants (water lilies, water irises etc) and leave the pond water to age for a few days before introducing any fish into your pond.

Once the plant life becomes established in the pond, plants will begin to flower in warmer months.
NOTE: If building a deep pond, please keep in mind that local councils may have restrictions, such as fencing requirement for the safety of children.