Pond with Koi and a surrounding garden

I have always visioned having a serene water feature in my home. What started as a hole in the ground ended up being an island of serenity and peace. I look back now and do not even think about digging up the 3 ton of earth that had to be moved and I see the fish, the waterfall, the plants and focus on the beauty of it. We also added pots/ plants and planted trees for privacy over the years. The pond underwent continual improvements with addition of water lilies, live koi, who are striving.

Materials

For the pond:

AQUAPRO 4 x 5m 0.5mm Pre-Pack Pond Liner - Bunnings Australia

AQUAPRO AP5000UV Pressure Filter With UV-C - Bunnings Australia

AQUAPRO AP3100DW Filtration Pump - Bunnings Australia

Ozito 350W Dirty Water Submersible Water Pump - Bunnings Australia

1.5L Aquatic Floaters Water Hyssop - Bacopa Monnieri - Bunnings Australia

and many other similar water plants both from Bunnings and Flower Power - we have 10 plants at the moment, some floating and some in the ground

Brilliant Colour LED Corymbia Spot / Pond Smart DIY Garden Light Kit - 6 Pack - Bunnings Australia

Tuscan Path 30-50mm 15kg White Pebbles - Bunnings Australia (we bought 20 bags altogether for garden and the pond)

For the garden:

We purchased pots on line as well as via Marketplace;

we purchased

Scotts Osmocote 50L Premium Plus Superior Potting Mix - Bunnings Australia

330mm Conifer - Juniperus virginiana Spartan - Bunnings Australia (6 of those)

and various other plants

We also purchased bricks to place around the pond

and we used cement to hold it in place

Bastion 20kg General Purpose Cement - Bunnings Australia

The external garden wall was modernised, for privacy - concreted and rendered with wooden slats between the concrete pillars

Wooden slats we purchased were from Bunnings but we couldn't find the link - it was similar to this

ProtectorAl 1800 x 900mm Black Aluminium Welded Privacy Slat Screen - Bunnings Australia

The front garden area was all tiled

Tools

* Shovel; pick to dig soil up

* Drills; hammers; grinders to cut outdoor screening to fit between pillars

* Trowel to place cement between brickwork

* Paintbrush, to paint the rendered cement and a roller

Professional builders created the rendered pillars;

brick layers for the pond; tilers for the outdoor floor areas.

Everything else was carried and created manually.

Steps

Step 1

1. Removed shrubbery and rocks

2. Marked out location of pond

3. Purchased bricks/ tools/ liners and pebbles

4. Dug out the pond

5. Levelled out front yard, using soil

6. Placed liner into the pond

7. Constructed waterfall feature from bricks, cement, rocks and decorative items

8. Cemented the wall of bricks around the pond

9. Filled pond with water & connected filter/ aerator

10. Added live plants & after a couple of months added fish

We sadly did not take any photos of the "before" as it was just dust / natural rock/ dirt and a few shrubs as you can see in the 2 attached original house listing photos. It was nothing to be proud of at the time. All attached photos are mainly from the "after" - the current situation.

View from the house looking out toward street 1Before front of house viewAfter front of house viewFront garden where the pond is - BEFOREView from the side looking onto pondView from the side 1Front garden where the pond is - AFTERView from the house looking out toward street 2View from the house looking out toward street 3View upward from house, these are lit up at night all the way to the top with fairy lightsOur pride and joy - the live koiView from the side 2Night time view from the side (before the trees became tall)Night time koi feedingNight time illumination of the pond and palm treesNight time serenity

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Comments

EricL

Hello @Alexandra11

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your Koi pond project.

That DIY koi pond is absolutely beautiful and has a wonderfully peaceful atmosphere. The arrangement of natural rocks and the thoughtful placement of ornaments, like the lanterns and turtle statues, create a perfect balance between structure and nature. The surrounding plants soften the stonework nicely, while the fish add life and colour that make the whole scene feel tranquil and welcoming. It’s clear a lot of care and creativity went into designing this space, and it has the calm, meditative charm of a true backyard sanctuary.

Eric

Alexandra11

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/58260#Comment_58260

Dear Eric,

Thank you for your kind words and appreciation of the project. It took a while to pull it altogether, but we believe it was worth it.

It is nice to look at in all seasons, especially given that all the plants are evergreens, so it is a garden that can be admired always, in any weather.

Thank you so much,

Kind regards, Alexandra

Dave-1

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/91496#Comment_91496

Good afternoon @Alexandra11

So much more relaxing! 🙂 Well worth the effort you have put into it.

Is there anything you would change on what you did? And one more question of course 🙂 How has the AQUAPRO 4 x 5m 0.5mm Pre-Pack Pond Liner - Bunnings Australia held up? I have wanted a small stream in my yard for years and this is the type of material I have looked at, just wanted to know how sturdy it is.

Dave

Alexandra11

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/111796#Comment_111796

Hello Dave,

thank you for your kind feedback. It was hard yakka but well worth the effort.

The pond is big & we love it but in hindsight could have made it 50% bigger (not 3000 L but perhaps 6000L and so we could have more koi and gold fish!)

In regards to the liner we have now had it for appx 10 years and it's good/ no cracks. Fish have been in it for 4-5 years. We only replaced parts of the liner around the rocky area at the top (where the waterfall is, simply because pipes were blocked and had to be repaired and we replaced the lining too). That was appx 6 months ago.

The pond requires regular maintenance for the filter, aeration, adding water, plants, trimming bushes & plants; feeding fish and adding the correct chemicals to the water for fish health (Prime, etc).

If you need any more info, don't hesitate to ask.

Kind regards, Alexandra

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