Ponds & water features · new

The sound of water, close to home.

Now booking our first water feature projects. Bubbling rocks, pondless waterfalls and small ponds, designed for our winters and your town’s rules.

705-300-9204
  • New: now booking first projects
  • By-law checked before design
  • Designed for Ontario winters
  • Jordan on every job
  • 1-year warranty on the build
Illustration: a small stone-edged garden pond with lily pads and a trickling waterfall at dusk
Illustration

How a pond is built

Five layers, then water.

01 Locate & dig

Shelves for plants, depth for winter.

Lines located first. Then the hole is dug in steps: shallow shelves for plants, and a deeper zone if fish will overwinter.

02 Underlay & liner

Soft below, rubber on top.

Protective underlayment, then a fish-safe rubber liner, 45 mil thick, folded neatly into the shape.

03 Stone edge

The liner disappears.

Stone and gravel hide every edge of the liner and make it look like it was always there.

04 Water & pump

Moving, filtered, quiet.

A skimmer and pump sized to turn the water over about once an hour, feeding a small waterfall that filters as it falls.

05 Plants & life

Then it fills with life.

Lilies, rushes and marginal plants. Within a season come birds, dragonflies, maybe frogs.

Book a walkthrough

Scope

What’s included

Not included: electrical work (a GFCI outdoor outlet must be installed by a licensed electrical contractor), pool-style fencing if your town requires it, large koi ponds, natural swimming ponds.

  • Site visit, by-law check with your town, and a simple plan
  • Ontario Dig Authority locate before digging
  • Excavation with plant shelves (machine arranged if needed)
  • Underlayment and a 45-mil rubber liner, or a basin for pondless systems
  • Skimmer, pump, plumbing and waterfall or bubbler
  • Stone and gravel edging that hides the liner
  • Aquatic and edge plants, as quoted
  • Start-up, and a walk-through on care and winter

A new offering

What yours could look like.

Water features are new for Heartmind Spaces, so there are no project photos yet. These illustrations show the kind of feature we design.

Illustration: stone-edged pond with lilies and a small waterfall
Illustration
Illustration: a raked gravel garden with a small pond at its edge in a pine forest
Illustration: pond beside a zen garden

Illustrations only, not past projects. Ask about stone and liner samples at the walkthrough.

Care & warranty

Keeping it clear.

1-year warranty on the build (liner, edging and plumbing we installed), plus a care guide to keep it looking right. Plants, gravel settling and water upkeep are maintenance, not warranty items. Your written quote spells out exactly what’s covered.

  • Empty the skimmer basket weekly, more often in leaf season.
  • Some green on the stones is healthy. Let the plants and filter find their balance in the first month.
  • Fall: net or skim leaves, trim plants, and for pondless systems, shut down and drain the pump.
  • Winter: if fish stay in, keep a de-icer and aerator running so there’s always an opening in the ice.
  • Spring: a light clean-out, check the pump, top up the water.

Questions

Ponds & water FAQ.

All FAQs

How much does a pond or water feature cost?

Every yard is different, so pricing comes after a free walkthrough. Size, plants and equipment shape it. Electrical work and any required fencing are extra.

Do I need a fence or permit for a pond?

It depends on your town. In some towns, a man-made water garden deeper than 0.6 m or holding more than 500 litres is treated as a pool and needs an enclosure permit. Other towns differ. We check before designing, and a pondless feature avoids the question entirely.

Will it attract mosquitoes?

Not if the water moves. Mosquitoes need still water, and a pump, waterfall or fish keep them from breeding.

What happens in winter?

Pondless features and bubblers are shut down and drained in fall. Ponds with fish need enough depth, about 75 cm at least and more is safer, plus a de-icer and aerator to keep an opening in the ice.

Is it safe with small children?

A bubbling rock or pondless waterfall has no open water to fall into, which is why families often choose them.

Do I need an electrician?

Yes, if there’s no GFCI outdoor outlet nearby. In Ontario that must be installed by a licensed electrical contractor, and we can work alongside yours.

Can I have fish?

Yes, in a pond designed for them, with depth, filtration and winter care. Goldfish and shubunkin are easiest. Large koi ponds are a specialist build.

How much upkeep is there?

Mostly emptying the skimmer basket, trimming plants, a spring clean-out and a fall shut-down. A pondless feature is the least work.

Can it go with a zen garden?

Yes. A bubbling rock beside raked gravel is a lovely pairing. See the zenscaping page.

Have you built ponds before?

Water features are a new service for Heartmind Spaces, and we’re now booking our first projects. Each design is checked against your town’s by-law and Ontario winters before anything is dug, and you get a written plan and quote.

Is there a warranty?

Yes, a 1-year warranty on the build: liner, edging and plumbing we installed. If something we built fails within a year of completion, we come back and fix it. You also get a care guide. Plants, gravel settling and water upkeep are maintenance, not warranty items. Your written quote spells out exactly what’s covered.

New: now booking first projects

Plan your project for next season

Tell us what you’d like to hear and see.

Book a walkthrough

Add it if you’d like Jordan to reply by email.

Street and town.

Which space, and roughly when.

We only use your details to reply about your project, and to send updates only if you tick the box. Privacy · Prefer to talk? Call or text 705-300-9204.

Choosing a feature

Three ways to have water.

Start with what you want to hear and see, and who uses the yard.

  1. Smallest, safest

    Bubbling rock

    Water wells up over a drilled stone and disappears into hidden gravel. No open water.

  2. Sound without a pond

    Pondless waterfall

    A stream and falls that drain into a buried basin. Good with kids and pets.

  3. Plants, maybe fish

    Garden pond

    Open water with shelves for plants. Fish need extra depth for winter.

By-laws differ by town. In some, a man-made water garden deeper than 0.6 m or holding over 500 litres counts as a pool and needs an enclosure permit. We check before designing.

How the space helps

What you may notice afterwards.

A sound to settle into

Moving water at the edge of the yard softens traffic and neighbours.

Something alive

Birds come to drink. Dragonflies arrive. There’s always something to watch.

A place to pause

A spot you walk to on purpose, coffee in hand.

Ties the garden together

Water beside stone and planting makes a yard feel finished.

While we work, we practice Dissolve: nothing carried into the space but care. About the practice

Glossary

What the terms mean

The words you may see in your quote.

Pondless waterfall

A stream and falls that drain into a buried, gravel-filled basin, so there’s no open pond.

Bubbling rock

A drilled stone with water welling up over it and draining into a hidden basin.

EPDM liner (45 mil)

A flexible, fish-safe rubber liner that holds the water.

Underlayment

A felt-like layer under the liner that protects it from stones and roots.

Plant shelves

Shallow steps around the edge, about 20–30 cm deep, for marginal plants.

Skimmer

A box at the water’s edge that pulls in floating debris and houses the pump.

Biofalls

A filter box at the top of the waterfall where good bacteria clean the water.

Turnover

How often the pump moves the pond’s full volume. About once an hour is the usual target.

Head height

How high the pump has to lift water, plus friction in the pipe. Pumps are chosen for it.

De-icer / aerator

Winter equipment that keeps a hole in the ice and adds oxygen for fish.