The OtherText Box: The Other Text Box: The Other So you have decided to build a pond, do you know what type of pond you will want? A koi pond where you will be able to breed the koi and cater to other fish as well. A pond with a water fall or a fountain with a lot of water movement. A pond with lots of water lilies, lotus and marginal plants. A pond where you can have all of the above. I have listed the four different types of ponds and once you have decided that you want a pond in your yard and before you hire a contractor or do the construction yourself you should decide which type of pond you would like to have. This is important because once you have built the pond it is very difficult to change; each type of pond has a different environment to consider before you start to build. Also keep in mind you may want to expand the pond at sometime in the future, which is something that happens often once people start getting into water gardening. Be aware of the expertise of the contractor you hire, most contractors are wonderful when it comes to creativity and style, placing the rocks in just the right formation, or building a masterpiece of a fountain, lining the walkways with the best flagstone patterns and so on. However seven days at a seminar on how to build a pond doesn’t cover some very important factors. I suggest you ask your contractor if he has ever bred koi, or if he has grown water lilies, lotus and marginal plants, floating plants, and oxygenators? Hopefully the answers you get will help you decided if you’re going to get the pond you had in mind.