Building a pond.

by Amy
(Springsure, QLD, Australia)

Hi Doug. Dad and I (I'm only 13) are buying a botcat for the garden landscaping and I'm really keen on building a pond with a fountain running into it, circulating from the pond, through a knee-high stone wall and back out.
Could you please give me some tips on building the pond ourselves? We're actually thinking about lining the pond with bentonite then pebbles instead of cement in case we need to do repaires or something later on. We live on rocky terrain too. Should bentonite work?
We live on a plain, dry 5 acre block now and am thinking of transforming part of it one day. Any inspiring pics would be welcomed!
Thanks so much!

Doug says the best place to start is over at my water gardening site - there are a ton of articles there to read (including pond construction stuff)

Bentonite is good if you have a clay soil or if you have a naturally wet area. Otherwise, it can be a royal pain to make work properly as you'll wind up spending as much money on bentonite as you would a liner (been there done that) particularly on a small pond. Rocky soil is going to be even more of a problem because you don't have a consistently smooth surface (rocks allow water to seep around them).

Concrete is indeed a problem if it cracks but the rubber/plastic-style liners are easily worked (see site for details) and easily repaired.

But check out the site for more details.