While above ground ponds have been built for many years this is the first time I have come across the idea of creating a garden pond in a raised bed. The basic materials you need are a rigid pool liner and timber for the raised bed. The main advantage to this design is that you save the effort of digging the hole. It also makes maintenance easier. Full instructions on how to build the raised bed pond are contained in an article by Melissa J Will which I found on her Empress of Dirt website.
I originally built this small pond in a raised bed at our old house because I wanted a water feature in a narrow strip of garden by the front of our house. We could not dig the soil there due to underground cables so I opted to build up instead. I ended up liking this arrangement much better than an in-ground pond for a number of reasons.
Advantages To Raised Bed Ponds
- The height of the pond makes it very easy to access the pond filter pump for regular maintenance.
- It?s very easy to weed the surrounding flower beds.
- You are much less likely to fall in. I tell you this as the person who has fallen into the in-ground pond. Twice.
Supplies & Materials
You will need
- A pond form or pond liner. Here?s a 300-Gallon Pond Kit with Lighting. My pond is approximately 400 gallons.
- If you use a pond liner, you?ll also need some flat-bottomed rocks or stepping stones to hold the liner lip down around the edge of the pond.
- A recirculating pond pump made for the size of the pond. A 450 gallon pond needs a 450 gph (gallons per hour) pump. Here?s an example of a?400 gph Pond Pump. I always buy my pumps new and keep a spare on hand in case of malfunction. If you have fish, you want to keep the water circulating and healthy year round.
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