Most likely you’ve driven near properties with water gardens and enjoyed the lovely landscaping. After all, burbling, cascading water and the display presented by a beautiful pond, fountain, or waterfall can make any yard prettier, as long as it’s created with taste and an eye for curb appeal. You might have even thought about having a water garden built into your own yard until you learned the cost of the project. Fortunately, you can build your own water feature and save paying all the labor costs involved. By following a few simple guidelines, you’ll be on your way to becoming the envy of everyone who drives by.

You may be saying, “But I’m not especially talented that way.” Most of us aren’t, but creating a water garden depends more on your creative planning and hard work than it is on having advanced building skills. If you can plant a garden, you can build an eye-catching water garden in your yard.

Start by discovering your town’s codes about where you can build your water garden. There are most likely rules governing where your water feature can be placed as well as its size and depth. Some towns will have safety guidelines, such as how deep you can build your pond without needing to fence in the area. You will also need to know where pipes, wiring, septic system, or other subterranean utility features are buried, because you obviously can’t dig in those areas.

Select your location carefully. Once you know what you’re working around, you’re free to choose a location where your water garden will be both easy to see and functional. If you are only planning on planting water plants in and surrounding your pond, it will be fine to locate your water garden in an area where there is no shade. However, if you would like to to add fish to the pool, you have to locate it where there will be some shade during the times of the day when it’s hottest.

Actually, the time you invest in planning and shopping will probably take you longer than building the water garden itself. You can begin the project with nothing more than a small pump, a pond liner, and a shovel. Over time, and as you can afford it, you can add onto your water feature and make it more intricate and fancier so that someday you’ll have the water garden you always dreamed about, and you’ll have developed it yourself.