One of the most common ways of improving one’s property value is to make renovations that enhance curb appeal. While this is certainly important, sometimes people have a tendency to focus on curb appeal at the expense of beautifying other areas of their yard and property. This is obviously a problem—what good is a beautiful curb if you have a less than impressive backyard? In this post, we review one of the most impressive ways of improving the appearance of your yard: the backyard pond.
A backyard pond is a great way of beautifying your lawn.
How to create a backyard pond
Before physically constructing your backyard pond, it is important to find out where your electric and gas lines are located. You absolutely cannot risk colliding with your power lines, and being aware of these locations before you actually construct the pond will allow you to progress with the project without worry. After you have mapped out where the power lines are located, you can establish the dimensions for your backyard pond. When doing this, keep in mind that you want to have a minimum of 40 cubic feet in total size. This is important in order to keep the water clean and attract a diverse array of wildlife.
Once you’ve established the dimensions for your backyard pond, you will then need to get to work digging and shaping the dimensions of the pond. When viewing backyard pond, it is easy to forget that they were not always ponds and in fact require a great deal of time and effort to construct. This means that you will have to dig out the dimensions and line the base with a coating of some sort. The liner gives the pond uniform depth, essential for accommodating wildlife. For the liner, sand, burlap sacks, or even newspaper tend to work well, and expect the base layer to be about an inch thick. The actual shape of the pond should depend in part on the climate in which you live. Also, if your pond is in an area that gets cold, slope the sides so that when the water freezes over, it will not go against the liner.
Tips for a successful backyard pond
There are some tips to implement in order to maximize the success of your lawn. First of all, you don’t want to much sun as this will dissuade wildlife from coming. Additionally, make sure that your pond is within reach of an outdoor power outlet, which is essential for plugging in a pump that will keep your water healthy. Use barley straw to keep algae levels to a minimum, and you may want a waterfall in order to provide fresh water that will bring more wildlife.
A backyard pond is a terrific way of beautifying your lawn and improving property value. Make a backyard pond your summer project by following the guidelines offered in this post.
