Planning your pond is by far the most important part of building your pond. Before any work is done, you want to make sure that your pond is serving its function, not being built over top of obstacles, is draining away from your home, and has the right filter setup. Before you go ahead and start digging out your pond, lay out the shape of your pond first using rope. This allows you to iron out any issues you may run into, get the shape correct and get a feeling of how much space the pond will take up in your garden without starting to dig and commit to a location or shape. Begin digging around the outer edge and work inwards making sure you create sloping sides rather than vertical.