How I Made an Amazing Backyard DIY Duck Pond

My DIY duck pond is finally finished. It hasn’t really taken me long although I feel like it’s been forever. That’s all projects though, right?

I decided on January 31st that it was perfect weather for digging in the yard. You see, I’ve been wanting a full-fledged duck pond since last summer. Our ducklings got a small kiddie pool (followed by a bigger kiddie pool) last year. It’s amazing how dirty the water gets in no time flat. People talk about how disgusting ducks are but you don’t really know until you have them waddling around your backyard. Still, I wouldn’t change a thing.

But that didn’t help with the water issue. We were constantly scooping out yucky water with buckets until it was light enough to dump. Believe me, it took a while. And it never stayed clean. Never.

So this year with the dream of clean water I grabbed a shovel and started digging. Using spray paint, I marked the border of where I wanted my new pond. I took my time. I wasn’t in a hurry and I was careful to take lots of breaks. In two weeks I had just what I wanted.

The basics for a DIY duck pond.

I researched a lot! I learned that ducks need a ledge or an incline to be able to get in and out of the pond easily. So I left a ledge about 8 inches wide around the pond and dug the center out to at least 18 inches. That’s pretty much the minimum depth for ducks to actually be able to swim and do a little diving. Mine love to do both and I love to watch them.

Filters and pumps aren’t cheap, and they get more expensive the bigger the pond gets. Amazingly, I found a filter on clearance at Lowe’s. It was half off. What a deal! But I ended up getting it (a $149 filter) for $65 (including tax)! Of course, I had to get a compatible pump and hoses. I wasn’t planning on spending quite that much (I was looking for a cheaper project) but I feel like I made the right decisions in the long run. I can’t imagine my pond being smaller just so I could save a few bucks. I’m sure I would’ve hated it.

Another price point that went up with the square footage of my DIY duck pond was the liner. The one I had previously bought was just short enough to not work so I had to size up. This was the single most expensive item for the pond. But I have quite a bit left over for any other little projects so it definitely wasn’t a waste. And the plastic liner sheet is still way cheaper than the hard plastic pond liner, so I still feel like I went the cheaper route.

I pressed the liner down inside the pond and cut it around the outside edge. Then I was able to place my rock border around the pond to hold it in place. These rocks cost over $6 apiece at Lowe’s… I looked. But mine were free! My Father-in-law brought them to me last year. Someone was getting rid of them for free! It was a God-send. I used smaller ones to line the inside of the pond from the ledge up.

A few extras.

I’ll let you in on a not-so-secret thing. I didn’t originally like the inside of the pond with rocks. I was so excited after we hooked everything up that I just filled that sucker up with water. But from the water to the rock border all I could see was a black liner. It was so frustrating! What an eyesore after I had worked so hard! So I drained the pond to just below the ledge and added the rocks inside. I used pond insulation to hold the rocks in place and seal cracks and I’m much happier with the result. Now my DIY duck pond doesn’t look quite as DIY.

Speaking of getting everything hooked up, let’s talk electricity for a minute. There was no place to plug in the pump or filter on the backside of the yard. My first thought was to use an extension cord and get a weatherproof box to protect the connections. But the more I thought about it the more I hated it. I didn’t like the idea of moving a cord every time we had to mow the lawn. And I really just didn’t want to see it running across the yard. So I did some research (there was a lot of research involved with this project) and decided to run an electrical line for an outlet by the pond.

Of course, I didn’t do the actual electrical work. That was all Russell. But I dug the trench and helped hand him stuff. We got all the necessary equipment for a buried electrical line and outdoor outlet. I made sure we did everything according to code because I’m a stickler for the rules no matter what anyone says. Plus, safety first!

I knew I wanted a waterfall from the beginning. It was honestly a lot easier than I thought. Of course, mine is a very simplistic version but I love it all the same! The waterfall box was about $25 and I just surrounded it with rocks I already had in the yard. (There is a space in my front yard that is full of big river rocks. We’ve been periodically digging them up for 2 years and they really came in handy with this DIY duck pond.)

Adding more life to my Do-It-Yourself duck pond.

I decided that koi fish would be awesome to have but I was so afraid at first that my ducks would eat them. I read that the smallest fish that would probably be safe from the ducks would still need to be about 5 inches. But our pet store only had small ones, so I bought two dozen red minnows instead. I thought if any of them could survive the ducks I’d feel a lot better about investing $30-ish in koi fish.

I’m sure some did get eaten but there are probably more now than we originally put in. And after about a month of checking the pet store, they finally had some koi fish that were the closest to 5 inches I’d seen yet. So I got two. I’m happy to announce they’re both still happily swimming around the bottom of the pond and probably out of the danger zone for being a duck’s lunch.

I did originally have a fish cave in the pond that I made with some rocks. It really just gives the fish somewhere to hide out of sight of predators. But when I lined the inside of the pond with rocks it gave the minnows lots of places to hide so I did away with the fish cave.

I also tried to put some water plants in my pond but the ducks started eating them immediately. They’re currently growing in a bucket of water in the full sun far away from the ducks. It might seem a little ridiculous but I spent money on them so I definitely want them to grow. I may end up making a small water garden. You never know!

Easy Maintenance

I’ve already had to clean out my pump once but that’s just the hazard of having ducks. I sprayed it out with the water hose to de-gunk it and it worked like new. I’ve also used some sludge remover, pond clarifier, pond tint, and mosquito treatment to help maintain it. It’s really not as much work as I thought it would be so, of course, I’m pretty happy about that. And the kids love going out to feed the fish and using the net to scoop out all the leaves that fall into the pond.

When I tell you this DIY duck pond was my favorite thing so far this year I mean it. It was a lot of work with a big payoff and an addition to our home that everyone loves. It’s so relaxing to sit there with my morning (or afternoon) coffee and listen to the waterfall. It’s also really fun to just watch the ducks play.

It really is my favorite thing.

Click here to see some pics from when we first got our chicks and ducklings (and a few of us building the coop too).

Have a blessed week friends.

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Mark 1.35