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Pond.com

Building a Pond

Planning, digging and fitting out a new backyard pond, from choosing the spot and size to picking a kit or liner and filling it for the first time.

How to build a pond

A newly built backyard pond with stone edging, a small waterfall and young plants around the shallows
Main guide

How to Build a Pond: A Step-by-Step Guide

Building a backyard pond is a big weekend project, but it's well within reach if you plan it properly. Here's how to choose the spot, dig the right shape, lay the liner, set up the pump and filter, and get it ready for plants and fish.

Pond kits

The contents of a pond kit laid out on a lawn, including a folded liner, underlayment, pump, filter and tubing
Main guide

Pond Kits: What's Included and How to Choose One

A pond kit bundles the liner, pump, filter and fittings you need into one box, matched to each other. Here's what a good kit should include, how to choose the right size, and what you'll still need to buy separately.
Sizing a pump, filter or liner? The pond calculators do the math for you.
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Planning your new pond

The decisions you make before you dig matter most. Size, depth and location affect everything from water clarity to which fish and plants you can keep, and they are much harder to change later.

Start with our step-by-step guide on how to build a pond, which covers choosing a site, marking out the shape, digging planting shelves and deeper areas, and preparing the hole. Then choose how you will hold the water:

  • Pond kits and preformed shells are the quickest option for small ponds and include matched equipment. See pond kits to compare what's included.
  • Flexible liners let you build any shape and size. Our pond liner guide explains materials, how to measure and how to install one without wrinkles or leaks.

Before buying a pump and filter, work out your pond's volume with the pond calculators, then read our guides to pond pumps and pond filters. Once the pond is filled and running, the Pond Plants and Fish & Wildlife sections help you stock it.

Common questions

Larger ponds are actually easier to keep stable, because temperature and water quality change more slowly. Many first ponds are around 6 by 8 feet and 18 to 24 inches deep, with a deeper area if you want fish to stay in the pond through cold winters.

Yes, but it takes more work. You'll need to cut into the high side and build up the low side so the rim is level, and a slope can be a good spot for a waterfall. Make sure rain runoff from higher ground can't wash into the pond.

Preformed shells are quick to install and good for small ponds, but come in fixed shapes and sizes. Flexible liners cost less per square foot for bigger ponds and let you build any shape. Our kit and liner guides compare them.