A duck pond in your backyard can add a sense of serenity and calm. Watching the ducks swim in circles, give birth to young, and feed is a peaceful experience that’s great for meditation and introspection.
Just ask Tony Soprano, the famous fictional mafia boss emotionally moved by the ducks in his backyard. However, without the proper budget, getting a duck pond installed in your garden can be costly. The best option for a backyard on a budget is to build your own.
In this article, we’ll describe everything you need to know about designing your duck pond. Then we’ll offer ten unique ideas so you can build the perfect duck pond for your backyard.
What to Know About Building Your Duck Pond
Before you start construction, there are a few parameters and requirements you should be aware of. We’ve listed them below so you can determine if a duck pond is suitable for your backyard.
Planning Your Duck Pond
Before you start digging holes in your lawn, you should have a clear plan. Starting without one is a quick way to end up over budget and out of time. A project like this requires you to have a specific objective and set aside time and money to get it done correctly.
You’ll need at least 70+ hours to build and dig a 1,000-gallon pond. If you have more than two or three, it can take less time. For the best pond, you’ll also need about $1,000 and some brute strength coupled with amateur building know-how.
Find a Suitable Location
You can build a duck pond just about anywhere, but it helps to have an idea of your backyard’s layout. Getting a blueprint of all your electrical wires and sewage lines will help avoid catastrophe, and picking an area that is primarily level will save you some time and effort.
Once you’ve chosen a location, you can surround it with mulch or wood chips, preventing the ducks from making the surrounding area muddy.
Sketch, Outline, Level
Once you have a plan and location, you can begin the actual building process. The first thing you should do is sketch the pond (if you’re not a great artist, then you can use a picture). Try to get the critical dimensions and features so they can help guide you while building.
Next, take some string and outline the area you want the pond to cover. Then it’s time to start digging. You’ll need two tiers of the pond, so it’s easier for the ducks to enter and exit. Once you’ve done that, you can take your shovel and tamp down the dirt so everything is level.
Underlayment, Biofilter, and Decoration
The underlayment will be the material that keeps your pond from drying out or soaking into the soil below. Ensure there is no dirt or lump underneath when laying it down. After the underlayment is down, you can build the walls of your pond by stacking rocks along its edges.
Leave a small section of the pond clear so you can install your biofilter. These systems come with their direction on installation. Just make sure it isn’t covered. Otherwise, it won’t function properly.
Once you build the walls and the biofilter is in, you can place your decorations and fill the pond with water. Choose plants and insects that attract ducks, so they move to your pond right away!
8 DIY Duck Pond Ideas
Now that you know more about building duck ponds, take a look at these fantastic ideas:
Waterfall Duck Pond
Usually, people like to include some movement of water in their duck pond. While ost sprinkler/fountain systems are a little bit complicated and expensive, you can build an easy waterfall for half the budget.
Take a couple of large plastic containers (at least 50 gallons) and place them above your pond in a tiered system. Then, set up a hose from the bottom to the top so you have an endless water flow. The ducks will love this type of pond because they can clean their wings in the waterfall.
Bathtub Duck Pond
If you don’t want to get down and dirty, then a bathtub could be the perfect duck pond design for you. It requires very little maintenance and only takes a couple of hours to set up.
You can find bathtubs for cheap in junkyards or even buy an aluminum feeding/bathing trough for farm animals.
You can fit many ducks inside the tub. Just be careful about how they will get in and out. You don’t want to track them inside.
The best way is to build a wooden ramp next to the pond for entry and exit. We also recommend buying some kind of biofilter for the tub or changing the water frequently.
Duck Island Pond
For large backyards, you have the opportunity for more complex duck pond designs. You can build a larger pond and put an island inside, so the ducks have a private space to sunbathe and relax. The internal island might also become a popular place for the ducks to lay their eggs.
You can make the duck island pond you own by decorating the external area and the island differently. Maybe the outside of your duck pond looks like a normal lawn, while the island inside has sand and plastic palm trees—like a slice of paradise. The options are limitless.
Fish-Filled Duck Pond
Can you put fish in a duck pond? It’s perfectly safe, and some can even help keep it clean. Certain types of herbivore fish will eat unwanted aquatic plants and algae from the pond, keeping the water clear and smelling nice.
There are no types of fish that will hurt your ducks, but some may compete with them for insects and other food sources. The best types are typical pond fish like goldfish and koi, while bottom feeders like catfish and minnows are also helpful.
Ducks also eat small fish, so keeping a healthy stock of them will have your ducks bellies satisfied. So, if you’re wondering, “should I put minnows in my duck pond?” The answer is yes.
Recycled Duck Pond
Got a big water jug or a couple of old tires lying around? The great thing about ducks is that they’re not picky with where they live. It doesn’t matter if the pond is a little rusty or dilapidated as long as it holds water well and you’re satisfied with its appearance.
You can even use recycled materials as a way to build more elaborate designs. Some of the best duck ponds are built from materials at a local junkyard. You’ll just want to be careful with the material you choose. Make sure you don’t take anything with chemical components or sharp edges.
Duck Pond + Coop
If you keep ducks as pets or for their eggs/meat, then a pond is the perfect addition to your coop. Ducks are aquatic birds, and they will become depressed if they don’t have anywhere to swim and play. You can section off a part of your backyard and build the pond with a coop around it.
Inside the coop, you’ll also want to put some kind of shelter where the ducks can lay their eggs and hide from the rain. If the ducks’ wings aren’t clipped, then you’ll want to build a roof on the coop as well.
Duck Pond Garden
Building a duck pond near your garden will help the plants grow faster and add valuable nutrients to the soil. There are many types of plants that grow well around ponds and lakes, from cardinal flowers to duck potatoes. You can also try lovely swamp milkweed to match the aquatic setting.
You can kill two birds with one stone by planting foods your ducks like near the pond. Ducks love to eat duckweed, coontail, wild rice, pondweeds, and many other wild lake/pond flora types.
If you have limited space and want some small duck pond ideas, then try placing plants on the top of your duck coop. You can even build a second ramp up to the top so the ducks can eat the plants as they grow.
Above Ground Duck Pond Ideas
For people who hate digging (or just have very rocky backyards), you might be better off with an above-ground duck pond. We’ve already mentioned multiple ways to do this (see: bathtub duck pond and recycled duck pond), but there are many other ways as well.
You can take a trip to your local hardware store and find several containers (either plastic or metal) which will make great duck ponds.
If you want to recycle, then try using a large truck tire. Dig out a small space for the tire, then cover it with an underlayment. Afterward, you can fill it with water and invite the ducks.
Conclusion
We hope this article was informative and helpful. We’d love to see your duck pond ideas as well, so feel free to reach out to us in the comments or by email. Good luck building! Quack Quack!