Accessories

I designed and built this Koi water garden pond after visiting Japan a number of times and admired their water gardens with Koi. The design has three ponds, the top pond is filtered by water hyacinths that float on the water, the water is crystal clear. The middle pond has a waterfall from the top pond and aerates the water. The bottom pond is the largest and holds about a 2000 gallons of water.

We sit beside our water garden pond listening to soothing and relaxing water rushing down a small water fall. The dragon flies are fluttering in and around shrubs and plants, crickets are tweeting, bees are whizzing and humming birds are dancing around while the Koi swim lackadaisically around in the water garden pond.

We have about 6 water lilies plants that cover almost all the pond. They grow pink and red blossoms in the crystal clear water in the summer time. They re-grow in the spring as the days get longer and warmer after they die off in the fall back to their roots.

We have over 40 multi colored Koi in the pond. I purchase small Koi that are 2 to 3 inches long to stock the water garden pond where they will grow over 10 inches long.

We have had a lot of visitors to our pond. The most frequent ones are egrets. They land on our roof or the neighbors roofs then swoop down to our patio and wade into our pond. If I or the grandchildren see the egret, we let our dog out and he scares the egret off. He won’t jump into the pond.

We have had raccoons play in the pond and sit on the water lily containers. I watched a mother and 3 baby racoons play and try to catch the Koi.

I used stakes and strings to outline the pond design for our do it yourself Koi pond. I placed 3″ PVC pipes from the pump in the lower pond to the top pond. I used an asphalt paste on the block wall before I piled dirt against it. I placed 4 railroad ties two layers high in an L shape to make the front edge of the upper pond and the back edge of the middle pond for the waterfall.

I then made a 1/4 circle ridge from the ends of the ties to make a small middle pond where water would roll over the full 1/4 circle edge into the bottom pond. I dug the lower pond about 18″ deep putting most of the dirt into the retaining walls of the upper two ponds. I covered all the ponds with a PVC liner that I cut and glued to fit.

I bought and installed an above ground 1/5 horse power pump with a 2″ inlet and outlet. This was the right amount of water flow over the waterfall. Some times I would have to re-priming the pump when the inlet pipe sucked air.

I found a submersible pump that is 1/3 horse power and was OK to use in a fish water garden pond. You need to check the fine print as some pumps cannot be used in a fish pond. I found this out the hard way when after about 6 months my pump failed and I tried to get a replacement pump.

We’ve had this pond design for about 15 years. We have had good luck with this design and the raccoons and egrets like it too.