We dig a pond at the dacha with our own hands. How to dig a fish pond. Prices for different types of pond films

A pond with fish in a garden or summer cottage has long ceased to be a curiosity. Instructions for creating it and necessary materials are now quite accessible. This detail is good not only for its ability to grow fish, but also for its aesthetic properties that are pleasing to the eye.

You have free place on the site, desire and time? Then you can get down to business, taking into account the recommendations and step-by-step techniques.

You need to select the area where the miniature pond will be located not only taking into account your own preferences. Here are the basic principles for choosing a location for a pond:

Look for higher ground. If you ignore this recommendation, you risk getting a pond with rainwater and dirt flowing into it.
Avoid places near trees and bushes. Fallen leaves will provoke the process of rotting, which will negatively affect the inhabitants of the reservoir.
Choose a place where there may be shade. It is desirable that it appears with the help of artificial fences. There should be enough light, but not too much.
Look for soil without clay or rocks. Of course, a pond can be located on it, but you will have to spend a lot of time and effort.

Reservoir for fish breeding on the site - photo

How can you make a pond?

There are several variations of ponds for fish in a garden or summer cottage:

Without finishing (without concreting). Everything is simple here - you just need to dig a pond and line the borders with clay and turf.
A dug pond for fish on a summer cottage - photo
With PVC film. The idea is to create a recess and cover it with film. This option is suitable for those who are ready to replace the coating after ten years.
Plastic. Inserts into the dug hole plastic frame. Only small-sized ornamental fish can be bred in it, because there are restrictions on size.
Concrete. The most practical and durable option, but it requires time and effort. It is very resistant to damage and unpretentious.

Don't forget to choose the right parameters. The optimal depth is no more than two meters, but not less than half. Choose the area based on the number of fish and size own plot.

Required tools and materials

To make a pond with a concrete bottom you need:

shovel;
crushed stone and sand (if the ground on the site is soft);
two tubes (for draining and collecting water);
waterproofing film;
containers for diluting concrete mortar;
cement;
filler (crushed stone, sand, etc.);
reinforcing mesh;
putty knife;
water.

The process of creating a reservoir involves the following steps:

Mark the boundaries. You can draw them on the ground using a sharp object. The shape shown depends on your preference.
Make a depression according to the boundaries using a shovel. Remember that space is required for a layer of concrete, and the angle of the side areas should be twenty degrees.
Dig holes for draining and collecting water. Insert the tubes into them.
Make the soil harder by compacting it. You can compact it either with your feet or with a machine. If it is soft, you need to use crushed stone and sand. Fill thin layer crushed stone, and then sprinkle it with a centimeter layer of sand. Only then carry out compaction.
Take a large piece of waterproofing film and spread it on the bottom, and then press it against the walls. Secure its edges to the top using sharp pegs.
Prepare concrete mixture. To do this, take one part concrete and three parts filler, add water until you get a thick mixture.
Place concrete over waterproofing film. Pour the solution, leave it to harden, and then create a layer again. You need to do this until you get a layer ten centimeters thick.
While the concrete layer has not dried completely, apply reinforcing mesh to the walls. This is easy to do - attach it and press down lightly. Don't ignore the process, as the mesh will provide a good support.
Place the tubes in the holes for draining and adding water.
Create a mixture for concreting according to the previous instructions. Apply a thin layer (five centimeters) to the reinforcement.
Apply the remaining concrete mixture as plaster, masking all unevenness and imperfections with a spatula.

Technology for creating a pond without concreting

Mark the boundaries using a sharp object.
Dig a hole, taking into account the boundaries.
Make holes for the tubes and insert them.
Mix turf with clay in a 1:1 ratio. Add water to the mixture to get a thick consistency.
Coat the bottom and walls with the mixture.

A pond without lining is much easier to make. Here is a list of required materials:

clay;
turf;
water;
tubes;
putty knife;
shovel.

Video - Making a pond on a country plot without concreting

Fish pond made from a plastic container

Have you purchased a plastic frame? The technology for its use is simple:

Calculate the dimensions of the plastic base. You need to find out its height and diameter (if it is rectangular, measure the width and length).
Mark boundaries on the ground that correspond to the dimensions of the bottom of the frame.
Dig a hole for the frame (make a five-centimeter allowance on each side).
Dig holes for the tubes.
Place the frame in the hole and insert the tubes.
Fill the gaps between the soil and the plastic base with soil.

For making a pond with film detailed instructions need not. Dig a hole and holes for the tubes, stretch the film, reinforce it at the top with sharp pegs or bricks, make holes in it for the tubes and insert them.

Video - interesting design solutions for constructing a fish pond

What conditions do fish require?

The main condition in this case is the presence of oxygen in the water. Without it, the inhabitants of the reservoir will die. The presence of oxygen is negatively affected by any decay, so promptly remove leaves, grass, etc. from the water.

Oxygen is emitted by aquatic plants. You can plant water lilies, water chestnut, water hyacinth and other similar flora. It is advisable to purchase them in specialized stores, since plants brought from a natural reservoir can die in new artificial conditions. All this must be done before launching the fish.

If you are determined to populate your pond with plants, take note of the table. It indicates the types of flora representatives and methods of their placement.

Video - choosing plants for a pond with fish

If the acidity level of the water is inappropriate, the fish will die. The optimal level is neutral.

An important condition is the presence of useful elements in the water. Iron, potassium salts, phosphorus, nitrogen compounds - all of these need to saturate the reservoir. It is recommended to purchase special supplements sold in specialized stores.

Water temperature - important factor. Before starting the fish, it should be warmed up to about twenty-four degrees.

After the water has been poured in, you should wait for the formation of a sludge layer. This usually takes thirty days. When it appears, it is recommended to change the water without cleaning the sludge from the walls and bottom.

The new water should sit for a bit. After this, you can let the fish into their new home. There is no need to launch all acquired individuals at once. Start with four or five fish and then gradually continue to introduce the remaining ones.

What fish are best to breed in a home pond?

Don't skimp on fish - this is a very important rule. Representatives of fauna from natural bodies of water may be infected. It is worth noting that purchased sick fish must be caught.

First you need to set your priorities. Do you care about aesthetics or about the food product? If you prefer the first option, consider some ornamental fish:

Video - what kind of fish to breed in a pond at your summer cottage

Looking for edible and unpretentious fish? Pay attention to the crucian carp. Even if your pond is not large, fifteen individuals will definitely feel comfortable there. It does not need certain temperatures, as well as high concentrations of oxygen and many useful substances.

Crucian carp is not demanding in terms of nutrition. He is able to survive on any fish food. He doesn't even disdain pieces of bread.

If you do not have the opportunity to acquire an aeration device, think about breeding tench. He is able to feel great even in an environment unsaturated with oxygen. Tench quickly gains good mass, especially if the reservoir is large in area. Width and height matter here.

The only difficulty that can arise when breeding this representative of the fauna is its heat-loving nature. The water temperature in a home pond should not drop even to twenty-three degrees.

Carp is a fast-growing fish under good conditions. It does not require depth, but there should not be more than two fish per half square meter. TO cold water carp treats badly. If her temperature drops to ten, he will simply stop eating.

Carp can develop a reflex if you place food in the same place. He prefers legumes, grains, and regular feed.

Carp is an excellent fish for breeding in a home pond.

Pike perch grows quickly, as the body length of young fish usually reaches thirty centimeters. It's worth taking his appetite into account. To grow an individual to medium size you will need at least two hundred small fish.

If you are worried that the fish may remain hungry due to the small amount of free time you have, you can get perches. They are unpretentious and not too gluttonous. It is enough to feed them well during the day.

Pike perch is an interesting fish for breeding

Ruffs and gobies have a similar advantage. They can be left without feeding for a long time, especially if there are plants in the pond.

Can an artificial home pond be productive?

This question interests those who want to raise fish not just to admire them. A pond on your own property can generate income from the sale of ornamental and river fish. There are several basic principles for their successful breeding:

If you are going to get several types of fish, consult about their compatibility. Even cute colorful fish can turn out to be insidious predators, so find out about their properties in advance so that your money is not “eaten” by predatory individuals.
Prepare in advance for the wintering of heat-loving fish. Here we are talking about decorative types. Cold weather can come unexpectedly, and the fish will die instantly. Prepare an aquarium at home so that you can urgently transfer representatives of the fauna to a warm room.
Follow all care rules if the fish are whimsical. This is exactly the case when a business requires not only financial, but also time investments.
Don't overfill the pond. If you want to receive maximum profit, it’s better not to waste time and effort on creating a new reservoir. Space is a requirement for most fish species.

The idea to dig a pond on my property came to me several years ago. But, since this work is labor-intensive and difficult in terms of creative approach, its beginning was delayed for a long time. Finally, during my next vacation, I decided to get down to business and follow step by step all the steps necessary to create a pond. It was decided to make the pond film, with a geotextile lining. Plant it with plants and get some fish. Install an aerator for fish. Water circulation is also planned through a small waterfall with three cascades. It was made initially, even before digging a pit for a pond, from a pile of stones laid on a man-made clay hill. Water will circulate in a closed circle from the pond to the waterfall using an inexpensive bottom pump.

That's all the initial data. Now I will proceed directly to the story about the construction of the pond, trying not to miss the details.

First of all, I took a shovel and dug a pit with plan dimensions of 3x4 m. I tried to make the shape natural, round, without sharp corners. After all, in nature coastlines always smooth, without straight lines, these should be adhered to when creating artificial pond. At its deepest point, the pit reached 1.6 m below ground level. It would be possible to do less, but in my case it involves breeding wintering fish, which requires a minimum of 1.5-1.6 m.

There are 3 terraces on the rise of the pit. The first (shallow water) is at a depth of 0.3 m, the second is 0.7 m, the third is 1 m. All are 40 cm wide, so that it is possible to install pots with plants on them. Terracing is performed for more natural look water surface. And also for placing aquatic plants, the type of which will determine the number of terraces and their depth. You need to think about this in advance. For planting cattails, for example, a depth of 0.1-0.4 m is needed, for nymphs - 0.8-1.5 m.

The pit for the pond should be multi-level, with several terraces

Stage #2 – laying geotextiles

The pit was dug, stones and roots were selected from the bottom and walls. Of course, you can immediately start laying the film, but this option seemed too risky to me. Firstly, seasonal movements of the soil can lead to the fact that the pebbles that were in the thickness of the soil change their position and break through the film with sharp edges. The same thing will happen if the roots of trees or shrubs growing nearby reach the film. And the last factor - on our site there are mice that dig underground passages and, if desired, can easily get to the film. Need protection. Namely, geotextiles. It will prevent rodents, roots and other unpleasant factors from damaging the film.

I bought geotextile 150 g/m2, carefully laid it out and brought the edges slightly to the shore (about 10-15 cm - as it turned out). Temporarily secured with stones.

Geotextiles are laid with edges facing the shore

Stage #3 – waterproofing

Perhaps the most important stage is the creation of waterproofing. It can be neglected if the hydrogeological conditions of your site allow the creation of natural reservoirs. But such cases are very rare and it is better not to risk it, so that you don’t have to redo everything later.

So, waterproofing is needed. In my case, it is a dense butyl rubber film specially designed for ponds and reservoirs.

Initially, I want to dissuade you from using polyethylene films, sold in regular hardware stores and used for lining greenhouses. Especially if your pond is large enough. This insulation will last for 1-2 years, then, most likely, it will leak and everything will have to be redone. Extra headaches and expenses are guaranteed. You need a special film, for ponds - made of PVC or butyl rubber. The last option is the highest quality; the strength of the butyl rubber film will last for 40-50 years for sure, and maybe even more. The advantage of rubber waterproofing is that it stretches well. The water pressure in the pond will sooner or later lead to subsidence of the soil. In this case, the film is stretched. The PVC may crack or come apart at the seams. Butyl rubber will simply stretch, like rubber, it can withstand significant stretching without consequences.

I calculated the dimensions of the film needed for my pond as follows: the length is equal to the length of the pond (4 m) + double maximum depth(2.8 m) +0.5 m. The width is determined in the same way.

I spread the film over the geotextile, bringing 30 cm of the edges to the shore. I tried to smooth out the wrinkles on the bottom and walls, but I wasn’t particularly successful. I decided to leave it as is. Moreover, the folds will compensate for temperature changes and there is no need to pull it too tightly.

A pit covered with butyl rubber film will hold water in the pond

After laying out, it is necessary to fix the edges of the film. It is impossible to leave them open on the ground, since water will get between the film and the walls of the pit. The appearance of water bubbles is inevitable, due to which the film will have to be removed. And this is very difficult, especially with large pond sizes.

I decided to dig in the edges of the film and thereby secure them firmly. At a distance of 10 cm from the edges of the pond, I dug a ditch, 15 cm deep. I laid the edges of the film inside and covered them with earth. I covered the whole thing with turf on top. It turned out to be a real coastline, overgrown with grass!

Stage #4 – starting the water

Now you can start the water. I threw a hose into the pit and pumped water from the well. The water took several hours to collect. As the film was filled, the folds became confused and had to be straightened. But in the end the tension turned out to be quite uniform.

A pond filled with water must settle for some time to establish a biobalance

And one more important detail that is worth mentioning. Together with clean water From the well I poured a bucket of water from a natural reservoir into the pond. This is necessary to accelerate the formation of biobalance. In other words, water from a reservoir with an existing biosphere will help to quickly install the same one in a new pond. There will be no balance, the water will become cloudy and green in a matter of days. And soon it will resemble not a pond, but a swamp with greenish slurry. Activation of the biosystem will also be facilitated by plants planted in water on the bottom.

I immersed the pump to a depth of 0.5 m; it supplies water to the upper cascade of the waterfall and to a small garden fountain. The water division is adjusted directly on the pump.

Water circulation in the pond occurs due to a fountain and a waterfall

Stage #5 – planting plants and launching fish

Plants are a separate topic. I wanted to plant a lot of things so that the pond would immediately, from the first days, create the appearance of a natural, natural reservoir. So I went to the market and picked up marsh irises, whitewings, water hyacinths, and several nymphs. To landscape the shore, I took a couple of lobelia bushes, loosestrife, and white calla bulbs.

Upon arrival, this seemed to me not enough, so I made a foray to the nearest pond (from which I drew water for biobalance) and dug up several bushes of young cattail. It will grow and purify the water. It's a pity that there is nothing else suitable in this pond. Otherwise you wouldn’t have to buy anything. Perhaps you will be luckier and in a nearby pond you will find all the plants you need to garden your own pond. After all, almost all aquatic plants grow in our natural reservoirs. With some luck, you can find and pick sedge, cattail, yellow irises, calamus, loosestrife, yellow egg pods and much more.

On the upper terrace I placed balcony boxes and baskets with planted cattails, whiteflies, water hyacinths, marsh irises. Put him in heavy fertile soil, covered it with pebbles on top so that the fish wouldn’t drag the soil away and pull out the roots.

I planted nymphs in baskets - I have 4 of them. I also covered it with pebbles on top. I placed the baskets on the middle terrace, the one that is 0.7 m deep. Then, as the stem grows, I will lower the basket lower until I install it permanently 1-1.5 m above the water level.

Aquatic plants are planted in baskets and boxes in shallow water

Nymphea flowers last only a few days, then close and sink under water

I planted lobelia and loosestrife along the coastline. I also dug calla lily bulbs there. The loosestrife very quickly began to lower its branches directly into the pond. Soon the film will no longer be visible on the rise! Everything will be overgrown with grass, loosestrife, calligraphy and other planted plants.

At first, the water in the pond was as clear as a tear. I thought that would be the case. But after 3 days I noticed that the water had become cloudy and the bottom was no longer visible. And then, a week later, she became clean again - a biological balance was established. I waited another two weeks and decided that it was time to introduce the fish - all the conditions for its living had been created.

I went to the bird market and bought several suitable specimens of comets (almost a goldfish) and crucian carp - gold and silver. Only 40 fish! He let everyone out. Now they are frolicking near the fountain.

The pond with running fish looks magical!

For a comfortable stay for the fish, an aerator was connected. The compressor is 6 W, so it works constantly and does not consume electricity. In winter, an aerator is especially useful. Saturation of water with oxygen and polynyas will be ensured.

This concludes the master class. I think it turned out very well. The most important indicator of this is pure water. As such, I do not have mechanical filtration. The balance is regulated by a variety of plants, an aerator, water circulation through a waterfall and a fountain using a pump.

As for finances, most of the funds went to butyl rubber film. I dug the pit myself; if you hire an excavator or a team of diggers, you will have to pay, but the hole will be dug quickly. Plants are not too expensive (and if you take them from a natural pond, then they are generally free), and neither are fish.

So everything is real. If you are not afraid of significant labor costs (especially for digging a pit) and the need for a creative approach, go ahead. As a last resort, if you are unlucky with a design streak, look through photographs of ponds in magazines or on the pages of specialized websites. Find what you like and try to make something similar for yourself. And then – enjoy the result and your own pond on the site.

Ivan Petrovich

Many landowners of suburban areas and summer residents want to dig ponds for certain purposes. Small ponds good for decorating the area near the house. Moisture-loving and aquatic plants are often planted in them, and ornamental fish are bred.
Large ponds carry a completely different task:
— they can be used to breed fish and crayfish for food;
- determine a place for swimming so that on hot summer days you can relax and swim in your own pond;
- poultry also loves to spend time near the pond and on the water;
— if you have a vegetable garden nearby, then you can take water from a large pond for watering your plants.
A large pond is not only a decoration for the site, but also, accordingly, a great potential for increasing profits, because you can grow fish and crayfish yourself!

This article will help you plan ahead all the work on digging a pond, since a small reservoir can be dug manually, but large excavation work requires inviting specialists and equipment to the site, with the help of which all work will be carried out.

Dig big pond on the site you need an excavator, but not always an excavator can cope with earthworks, especially if the work is planned for late autumn, winter or early spring, when the soil freezes. Taking into account the fact that in the summer there is so much other work on the garden plot, it is best to postpone digging a pit for a pond until a time when you do not need to rush, since it is advisable to constantly monitor the digging process.
Frozen soils are much harder and must first be loosened, then the soil must be removed with an excavator bucket.

And if you are the owner of an excavator or have friends who work on such equipment, then take into account in advance the fact that the soil is in winter period need to be loosened with special ripper for excavators. Nowadays it’s not even difficult to hire an excavator, but it often turns out that just such a ripper is not included in the kit. And this is a powerful tool that can cope with the most difficult soil- frozen, clayey, rocky, with an admixture of construction waste. It is also important to find a quality tool, because weak rippers can do the job, but will take a lot of time, for which you will have to pay.

No construction is complete without plans, therefore, before starting the construction of your own pond, you must first analyze and plan everything, so that later you do not delay, postpone the work, or even redo what has been done. Because a dug pit is just the beginning of constructing a pond!
Creating a pond on a site requires not only cold calculations, but also creative ideas, with which landscape designers can share.
And keep in mind that it is almost impossible to repeat a pond you like that you saw somewhere in reality or in a photo, since all areas have their own individual characteristics, including climate, soil structure, vegetation, groundwater occurrence, etc. Therefore, your pond will be completely unique. It must also meet all your requirements in the form of aesthetic pleasure, and, if possible, generating income from breeding the same fish, crayfish, and poultry!
If you decide to create a pond project yourself, then upon completion of its creation we advise you to show the project to specialists who can give you some advice or correct or add to it. Then you can be sure that the pond will not have to be redone.

The most important question about building a pond on a site is its future location. The main thing is to place it in such a favorable place as to create a landscape view from the side of the house. To do this, you need to determine an appropriate piece of land commensurate with your pond plan. If there are old, unnecessary trees in this area, they need to be uprooted.
Also think about the fact that a dug pond near trees will be heavily clogged with leaves and branches. And at first, this vegetation may cause the water to bloom.
The best option for placing trees near the pond would be the south side, due to which part of the water surface will be slightly shaded, which will prevent the water from blooming. But trees should not grow very close.

Next, you need to decide on the size and shape of the future pond. If you want the pond to look harmonious, then its size should be proportional to the size of the site itself. Small, decorative ponds should occupy no more than 3% of the area of the site, but a large pond or reservoir can occupy the entire 10-20%, depending on the purpose for which you are creating it.
The shape of a large pond on the site should not be pretentious, the coastlines should not be broken, this type of shape can only be suitable for creating decorative ponds, and then in modern styles. It is better if the coast lines are smooth. Most often, ponds are made round, oval, square, trapezoidal, that is, the shape that will be most beneficial for a particular site.
Moreover, different parts of the pond can serve different functions. For example, the shore closest to the house for swimming should be flat so that the water heats up faster, the far shore can be built for breeding fish and crayfish, and there the shore should be steep and the bottom deep.

The next planning stage should be choosing the depth of the pond. And the depth must be calculated so that the pond does not freeze in winter, otherwise all aquatic vegetation and fish may disappear. There is special literature that can be found on the Internet about matching the depth of a pond, plants and fish, since for different types algae or fish need different depths of the pond. In any case, you can go a little deeper than planned, which will give you a better chance of a normal winter.

Excavators dug a pit. Along the edges there are mounds of earth that need to be removed somewhere. For this, a work plan for constructing a pond on the site will again be useful. You can ask the excavator drivers to spread the soil and dump the topsoil in one direction and the bottom layer of soil in the other direction. Then the fertile soil can be used in the garden plot, creating decorative, alpine coaster or raised beds in the garden, raised beds for planting fruit trees, if groundwater lies very close. And the lower, poor layer of soil can be used for marshy areas, bordering the banks of the pond with it. Then, as if by magic, your pond will be deeper, and the coastal soil will crumble less, since the lower layers of soil are usually heavier, with an admixture of clay. A kind of border from infertile soil will not create very good conditions for the growth of marshy plants and the shore of the pond will not silt or become overgrown with unnecessary plants.

And the last stage - where to get water to fill the pond? It is very good if you have a river, water canal, stream flowing nearby, or if there is a similar pond next door. This means that most likely in some areas the groundwater is located quite close to the surface, from where your pond will be filled. In swampy areas this is not a problem at all, the main thing, as described above, is to make a soil barrier so that the shore does not become swampy and crumble, making the pond smaller and smaller.
When you dig a pit with an excavator (ripper for frozen soils) in winter, you can just see that the layer of frozen soil is soon replaced by soft soil that is not frozen. At high level groundwater The soil does not freeze deeply. And in the spring, you can be sure that most of the pond will be filled with water.
If there are no natural reservoirs nearby, then we advise you to dig a well in the deepest part of the pit, which will serve as a spring in your pond.

And lastly, please note that a large pond on the site can be dug in 1-2 weeks! If you are asked for more time, it means that the workers are most likely not specialized in digging pits, in which case you need to look for others.

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How to dig a pond

Having chosen a place for the pond, determine what shape it will be. To do this, you will need rope and pins to secure the rope lined outline to the ground.

When using soft lining, the contour of the pond should have smooth corners and rounded outlines. Ponds with sharp corners create dead zones where debris accumulates. Move away from the rope lined outline and look at it from different points to get an idea of what it will look like.

Sod removed from the area where the pond will be dug can be used to restore lawns. The removed squares of turf should be pressed firmly to the ground and watered frequently until the turf takes root.

Along the contour of the pond lined with rope, drive pegs into the ground at a distance of 60 cm from one another. Now you can begin to excavate the soil to a depth of 20-30 cm inside the space marked with pegs. Preliminarily determine a place on the site where you can put the selected soil on a spread tarpaulin, but do not leave it there for more than a day, otherwise the grass under the tarpaulin may die.

The walls of the reservoir should be flat, approximately 20° from the vertical. But if you want shallow-water animals to live in the pond, then you can make them even flatter (60° from the vertical).

Approximately 60 cm from the edges, mark the outline deep part of the pond inside the partially dug hole and start digging, but do not forget to create a ledge on which you can place pots of aquatic plants, put stones and place seaweed. It is very important that the ledge is smooth and horizontal. Use a spirit level: place it on a horizontal surface inside the pit and in in the right places add or select soil. The ledge can be made around the entire perimeter of the reservoir or in one or two places.

If your garden pond is shallow, then you can do without a ledge by placing pots with aquatic plants directly on the bottom.

Finally, you can begin to excavate soil in the central part of the reservoir. At this point, the hole should be 5 cm deeper than the intended final depth. For zones with temperate and cool climates, it is recommended to make ponds at least 60 cm deep if you do not want the water in it to freeze to the bottom in winter.

The finished pit must be lined with a layer (5 cm) of soft sand, old blankets, newspapers or other soft material that will protect the lining from sharp stones and roots. Only after this, carefully lay the bottom and walls of the hole with the purchased lining, starting from the middle, and press the material extending beyond the edges to the surface of the earth around the hole.

It's time to fill the pond with water. The easiest way to do this is to use a garden hose. Direct the stream of water so that it falls into the pond from above. This will enrich the water with oxygen and activate the process of freeing it from chlorine, if the water is tap water. When the water covers the bottom, pull the trim up by the edges to remove any wrinkles. As the pond fills, the weight of the water will press the lining against the walls of the pit.

Regardless of the type of lining, special attention will be required to the edge of the reservoir, where the top facing material comes out to the surface of the earth. A clean, level bank, gently sloping down to the pond, will protect the pond from dirt and stones. It is good to use tree bark, gravel and turf to frame the pond. Many people like to line the area around the pond with flat stones, securing them mortar. Some people use large boulders to frame the pond, which press the facing material to the surface of the earth.

Pond at the dacha Photo 1: It’s always nice to relax in such a shady and cool corner near a pond you dug with your own hands.

Pond Plants

Pond plants help purify the water, provide fish with food and serve as a refuge for other living creatures, including beneficial insects. The easiest way is to place pots of aquatic plants on ledges or at the bottom of a pond, placing bricks under them. Potted plants are easier to care for, especially if you have to take them out of the water to plant them.

There are four main types of pond plants: submersible, water lilies, coastal and floating.

Underwater plants are the workhorses of the pond. Among them are water plague (Elodea canadensis), urut (Myriophyllum) and vallisperia. Receiving nutrition from the water through small, constantly swaying leaves, they absorb excess nutrients contained in it and thereby doom the algae to extinction. Thanks to underwater plants, the pond always looks beautiful and clean.

Since underwater plants do not consume nutrition from the soil, they are planted in pots with coarse sand, and the sand is sprinkled with pebbles on top so that fish do not burrow into it and cloud the water. Pots with underwater plants are placed in the pond at a depth of 15 to 75 cm from the surface of the water. The recommended norm to ensure water transparency in a pond is 10-12 bunches of plants per 1 sq.m of pond surface.

It is impossible to imagine a pond without water lilies. In addition to the fact that these plants decorate the pond, they also bring practical benefits. Their large leaves, floating on the surface of the water, protect the pond from the penetration of sunlight and prevent the growth of algae. Water lilies grow well in artificial reservoirs; for this, pots with plants are placed in water so that the root collar (i.e., the place where the stem connects to the tuber) is at a depth of 15-30 cm from the surface of the water.

Tropical water lilies survive only in climate zones where there is no frost. Winter-hardy lilies can winter in a pond in northern latitudes, provided that the water in the reservoir does not freeze completely, and for this its depth must exceed 60 cm.

After the first severe frost, it is recommended to cut off the leaves of a winter-hardy water lily and move the pot to the deepest place in the pond.

If your garden is in a cold climate zone or your pond is shallower than 60 cm, it is recommended to remove the lilies from the water in late autumn, cut off the leaves from them, and place the pots with the rest in black plastic bags and store them indoors during the winter at a temperature of about 10 ° C (this could be a garage, veranda or an unheated room in a residential building). During storage, care must be taken to ensure that the plants do not dry out.

Chromatella- a winter-hardy water lily with many canary-yellow flowers and leaves in green and reddish shades.

Dauben– tropical type of water line with graceful pale blue flowers. It grows well in small ponds everywhere, but in cool climates it must be removed from the pond in the winter and kept indoors.

Coastal marsh or border plants love and grow well in slightly flooded areas near the shore of a body of water: pond, stream. They need moist soil, but they do not tolerate as deep flooding as water lilies: “They prefer their feet to be in water and their knees to be dry,” experts say.

These plant species do well on ledges at the water's edge, with different species requiring different depths. You need to start growing them in the shallowest areas of the reservoir, and only later move them to deeper places. Most coastal plants are grown primarily for their leaves. The exceptions are rushes, which bloom with blue flowers, and water cannas, related to those tall beauties that thrive in flower beds with well-drained soil.

But tall, spiked plants, such as reeds and reed calamus, look especially attractive in the coastal part of the reservoir. They look beautiful next to tall calamus low growing plants, for example, water mint.

Calamus(Acorus calamus), tall plant with stiff, iris-like leaves, and the American iris (Iris versicolor), a shallow-water plant with violet-blue flowers, may freeze completely in a pond but will grow again in spring.

Purchased floating plants can be brought home in a plastic bag with water, like goldfish. They are not planted in pots, but simply lowered into a pond. The leaves of these plants shade the water, and the free-hanging roots suck nutrients from the water, suppressing algae growth.

Floating plants include water hyacinth– a succulent with orchid-like purple flowers, and pistia, which looks like greenish-yellow cabbage.

Another very beautiful floating plant is deciduous moss (Azolla caroliniana), which has nitrogen-fixing nodules on its roots. It becomes especially attractive in the fall when it turns reddish in color.

Like regular legumes, leaf moss plants capture nitrogen from the air. Leaf moss has a very high vitality, so its reproduction should be kept under control, and excess should be caught and thrown onto the compost heap.

If you want to clean the bottom of the pond, use the drained water as fertilizer. The water and sediment collected at the bottom are rich in organic nutrients absorbed from fallen leaves, pieces of plants, dead and decomposed fish, frogs and tadpoles. But unless absolutely necessary, you should not clean out the muddy sediment accumulated at the bottom and the insect larvae living there, so as not to deprive the frogs of food.

Photo 2. The design of the edges of a country pond and its borders is half of its beauty - pay attention to this!

Pond care

If the pond is properly arranged and there are a lot of plants in it, then this section would be more correctly called “Your pond does not require maintenance.” In a balanced ecosystem, the pond functions on its own. If there are not too many fish in the pond (and they breathe, eat and excrete, as a result of which the oxygen content in the water decreases and ammonia appears) and there are enough plants that extract excess nutrients from the water, then the water will always be clear and the fish will always be healthy . As for algae, microscopic plants that give water green color, then don’t panic. Algae blooms are completely normal. The appearance of algae blooms is a common occurrence for new ponds in the spring, since the pond plants have not yet grown enough to effectively filter and shade the water in the pond. When the algae fade in due time, the water will self-purify in a few days.

If self-cleaning does not occur, there are too many fish in the pond, or you are giving them too much food, or you need to put them in a pond more plants, which will obscure the water.

Experts believe that 60% of the surface of the pond should be covered with floating plants or water lilies. To care for the pond, you will need a pump and external electrical wiring.

Preparing the pond for winter

At the beginning of November, start preparing your garden pond for winter. Collect the last fallen leaves from the surface of the water with a net, do not put off this work for later - after decomposing, the plant debris will enrich the water with nutrients, which will cause rapid development of algae next summer. In addition, the fermentation process produces toxic gases that are very harmful to fish and other pond inhabitants. Although a small amount of algae is still useful: they set the water in motion and thereby prevent it from freezing longer. If you have a net stretched over the pond, then in November it must be removed along with the leaves that have accumulated on it. Plants that are sensitive to water should not be left in water. low temperatures, such as Orontium and the tiny floating fern, Azolla Carolinica. They are caught with a net and winter time kept in an aquarium. Dismantle the pumps and rinse thoroughly. Check the instructions as some models need to be stored in a bucket of water.

You should immediately warn those who want to have a pond for fishing and swimming in their dacha. This is a rather complex structure; its construction should be undertaken carefully, with the sole desire to “create a magnificent landscape design"is not enough. This refers to a fairly large body of water, not a decorative one.

What will be needed for construction?

Availability of special earth-moving equipment and trucks for transporting earth. There will be quite a large amount of it, the specific volumes depend on the size and depth of the pond. For swimming and breeding fish, the depth must be at least two meters; multiply this figure by the length and width and find out the volume of the soil.
The ability to continuously supply fresh water to the pond and consider a way to drain the runoff. Without a constant change of water, the most beautiful pond will turn into a green, stinking puddle in a few years; cleaning it out or, in extreme cases, filling it up is a big problem.
Significant financial resources. They will be needed not only for the construction of the reservoir, but also for maintaining it in proper condition.

If you have no problems on all counts, you can begin construction. We will tell you in as much detail as possible about all existing rules and requirements, each owner suburban area must independently decide what to do: take into account existing requirements and be guaranteed to have a real functional pond, or act at his own peril and risk, build “at random.”

The pond at the dacha for breeding fish and swimming has quite big sizes, and this is already real in its complexity hydraulic structure, requiring a competent approach.

Before the immediate start of construction work, the following problems need to be solved:

When the preliminary questions are clear, you can begin to sketch the reservoir and draw up a water supply and drainage diagram.

How to draw a sketch

When you do not have the slightest experience and knowledge, it is better to seek help from specialists. Their services will cost much less than correcting mistakes.

Scheme of a film pond
Show on page Open full size

If you have some preparation, then with the help of our tips you can make a sketch yourself. What should be indicated in the picture?

FOUNDATIONS OF BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES. S V O D R A V I L SP 22.13330.2011. SNiP 2.02.01-83. File for download

Water purification measures, filtration prevention

Seepage protection is carried out when the pond is dug in light soils. In addition, the issue of withdrawal should be resolved melt water, if they can get through the sides or from a spring at the bottom. Internal surfaces The reservoir can be protected using a traditional compacted clay screen or concrete with special additives. Today, there are newer materials on sale: rubberized films, synthetic mats with dry clay powder inside, etc. A specific choice must be made taking into account the financial capabilities and characteristics of the soil.

Over time, the water in the reservoir becomes contaminated with various mechanical deposits. The maximum damage is caused by clay particles entering through the active aquifer pores of the soil. In the most difficult cases, siltation can amount to up to ten centimeters per year. To eliminate such negative consequences, gravel-sand cushions can be poured onto the bottom or non-woven synthetic filter materials can be used.

Very important has a percentage of oxygen in the water, aeration should be used to maintain values within the recommended parameters (if there is no other way to exchange water). There is another option for aeration - making a decorative fountain, but this method can significantly increase the estimated cost of construction work.

Additional structures for water replenishment of the pond

For reservoirs that are built on a river or stream, this problem is solved by nature. All you need to do is install a small dam to hold back the water flow and release the excess. To prevent pollution from the river from reaching the surface, you need to install ordinary lattice filters. If there are fish in the pond, then the same gratings should be installed on the drainage system, they will prevent the fish from leaving. Dams simultaneously release maximum water flows during floods or spring snowmelt. Metal or metal can be used as drainage structures. concrete pipes, the diameter is selected taking into account the maximum flow rate of the water flow.

Significant problems can arise when it is necessary to clean the bottom of the pond. It will not be possible to drain the water completely; it will have to be pumped out with powerful pumps. Again, recusal issues need to be resolved. The pumped water should not flood existing buildings and neighbors on the dacha site.

An important characteristic for any pond is the water exchange rate. Indicators depend on hydrological features. Scientific data indicate that for large-volume reservoirs it is possible to reduce the frequency of water exchange; the system is able to cope with cleaning on its own. Reservoirs into which water comes from a river or stream (dams) do not require any effort. For all other ponds, it will be necessary to make forced water exchange systems with pumps or purify the water with biological and mechanical methods. The power of the pumps and the amount of water depends on the volume and purpose of the structure.

Table of water exchange coefficients

When natural water change is ensured various reasons is impossible, you will have to use mechanical and biological methods water purification, we will talk about them below.

How to purify water without water exchange

If the pond is quite large, then water purification occurs to a greater extent in a natural way microorganisms and plants. But there are times when these cleaners do not have time to cope with the assigned tasks, the owners have to solve the problem using other methods.

Mechanical filters. The most common and most cheap way. In most cases, they can carry out cleaning in several stages from various types of contaminants. They consist of washed crushed stone and several fractions of quartz sand.
Chemical filters. Modern devices, absorbing chemical compounds unusual for ponds. Additionally, a special installation for saturating water with oxygen can be used; it ensures an increase in its amount in the water. And oxygen accelerates the processing of organic pollutants by bacteria.
Water sterilization. An ultraviolet irradiation unit processes water and destroys all types of bacteria. For fish ponds it is used only as a last resort when pathogenic bacteria are detected in the water.
Microbiological method. Bacteria specially introduced into the pond significantly accelerate the decomposition of organic impurities.

If you do not comply with the requirements for maintaining the water in proper condition, then in a few years a beautiful stocked pond will turn into a pit with stinking water.

Special hydraulic structures

At the beginning of the article, we already said that the exclusion of flooding of the foundations of existing buildings must be provided for at the stage of planning the location of the pond. But there are cases when the landscape features of a summer cottage, the physical characteristics of the soil or the proximity of groundwater do not allow one to avoid flooding with “little blood”, it is necessary to build special hydraulic structures.

Maintaining the water regime of the dacha plot and draining filtration water outside the plot is done by drainage - quite complex with technical point view of the structure. Ponds can have a low water level (the mirror is located below ground level) or high. In the first case, drainage water can be diverted back into the pond, and the excess is removed using an ordinary drainage system. Disadvantages of this method: a fairly large distance between the ground and water levels and very extended systems. The issue can be resolved by installing intermediate wells. In the second case, you need to make a separate ring drainage pond, it will intercept filtration water and divert it to the collection tank. Used on heavy, heavily waterlogged soils.

We specifically tried to give as much as possible full information for the construction of ponds in compliance with all requirements building codes and rules. Each developer has the right to independently decide whether to build a pond taking into account the developed recommendations and not worry about its functionality or simplify some technologies.

Information about construction technology is available, there is no problem in choosing and getting acquainted with the desired pond option. We will give some general practical advice, which will be useful in all cases.

We strongly recommend that you begin constructing a pond before the construction of the main dacha buildings begins. Firstly, the fertile layer of soil can be usefully used in another area. Secondly, the work of earthmoving equipment and trucks will cause less damage to the landscape.

If the land is sandy, then it is better to concrete the bottom; flexible waterproofing materials do not have sufficient physical strength and will not be able to prevent the banks from collapsing. During concreting, it should be borne in mind that two types of forces will act: with outside the earth will crumble, the inner bowl will burst with ice in winter. It is highly advisable to use metal mesh reinforcement during concreting.

The swimming area must have reinforced shore protection. If various films are used for waterproofing, they can be damaged by swimmers. Special ladders must be installed at the points of entry/exit from the water.

Provide installation locations additional equipment and gutters should be used when working with the bowl. Exits are installed in technological areas, more thorough waterproofing is done, etc.

The fish in the pond will have to be fed; natural food is not enough for it. Feeding is an unnecessary burden on the ecology of the pond; it will not be possible to accurately calculate the amount of feed. This means that water purification systems must be more powerful and efficient.