Garden ponds are quickly becoming a much desired parts of the landscape around people’s houses. Unfortunately, ponds can almost never be constructed without any investments, there will always be some pond costs. Although you can bring the final costs down by doing all the hard work yourself.
Garden pond benefits
The benefits of having a pond in your garden will be great. You will feel better when working on the pond’s construction and maintenance. You will enjoy watching the fish and other animals inhabiting your pond. Sitting by a pond with a burbling waterfall or fountain and reading a book, is an extremely calming experience.
What costs can you expect when building a pond from scratch?
Pond digging costs
The first and foremost cost will be the cost to dig the pond. It will require either a machine to dig the hole or a human workforce. Such excavation operation can be rather costly, especially if you are planning ot build a large pond. A man made pond costs would be considerably lower. You can do it yourself of course and save some money in the process. Keep in mind you will need a relatively flat ground where your pond will be situated.
So how much will this cost? The price of digging will vary based o your location, but you should expect to pay between 5 to 12 dollars per square feet. These prices usually don’t account for all costs. Expect to pay additional fees for for example specialty equipment needed for the job. All in all, the digging costs will be the most expensive part of the whole setup.
Pond liner costs
Another investment will be needed for a pond liner. Pond liners are essential parts of garden ponds, as they are waterproof and prevent the water from soaking into the ground. Pond liner costs are however not that high. Make sure you get a quality pond liner to keep the water where it should be. Otherwise you will be spending money for unwanted fixes.
Pond pump costs
Now comes the technical hardware – unless you want to have your water feature full of algae and mosquito larvae, you will need to provide the water a mean of moving. Usually, that is accomplished by utilizing a pond pump. Such devices are either submersible or external, and they continuously pump water so that there is constant water movement in the pond. This keeps the algae and mosquitoes at bay. The cost of the pond pump largely depends on how powerful pump you are going to get. The smallest pumps can be had for mere 12 bucks. However they will be sufficient only for tiny pools of water. For larger ponds, expect to pay somewhere around the 200 dollars price mark.
Pond filter costs
Apart from the pump, you will most likely need a filter that will cooperate with the pump and keep the water clean. Again there are various filters to choose from and their price depends on their features and specs. Do expect to pay somewhere between 20 to 200 bucks for a pond filter.
Pond plants
A pond without plants in an around, would look cold and lifeless. It is important to bring it or life with plants and decorations. These will again cost some money, though it will not be that much.
Fish cost – how much do Koi fish cost?
Fish form another additional costs, depending on the species you want, they can be rather cheap or much more expensive. Most of the pond owners go for the Koi carps. These beautiful orange fish can themselves be quite costly. Their price largely depends on their size. The young 3 inch long Koi will be cheap – about 4 dollars per piece. However the largest Koi out there can set you down by more than 1000 dollars. Though it is unlikely most of will want to purchase such prime exemplars.
Final words
Pond costs can be pretty high if everything is to be done by someone you need to pay. If you can do some of the work yourself , you will likely save some money and feel much better when the work is done. So we’ve gone through some the pond installation costs which you should keep in mind. Now go and make your garden unique by building a new pond!
Photos: Christine Crott, SXC.hu