You can plant anything you want next to a fish pond so long as you pick plants that are likely to thrive in the spot given the conditions. Personally I like to see ponds that mimic a look that you might see in nature. To achieve this kind of look, it often takes a lot of fussing, trial and error, to get it to look just right. It's usually a good idea not to shade your pond too much with perimeter plantings because water lilies and an assortment of other exciting submergent aquatics require an abundance of sunlight to thrive and flower. While you want the pond to be in sunlight, you should compliment a full sun pond with water plants such as water lilies to shade the immediate surface of the pond which will in turn keep algae growth to a minimum.

Personal experience here: even if you do have a clear idea of what you want, and a drawing, if someone else is doing the rock placement you may not get away with only one single placement session. Make sure that whoever you tap to move the rocks understands what you want esthetically, year-round, from the area. That means you need to think through the minutia of each season in this specific area - use, your maintenance tolerance, investment tolerance, etc. It will be tricky to maintain water in this situation year-round because the volume of water will change so dramatically that you'll have a hard time determining the size and power of the pump you need to turn the water over at least once an hour to keep it from going stagnant; you'd have to accomodate the highest water level but unless you've got an adjustable flow pump (and you're meticulous enough to be out there adjusting it every few days) you'll be pushing the water too hard for most starter fish when the level is extremely low. My pond has water and fish year round and rocks stairstepping around the edge, down the sides and along the bottom because I, too, wanted the look to be as natural as possible. It's nearly impossible to prevent the collection of fallen leaves, muck and fish waste under and around the rocks at the bottom, which is just nasty as well as unhealthy, tho they do make organic products (not cheap) that I add at least twice a year which dissolve the yuck. In hindsight, especially in Zone 4, I would recommend going with the non-fish, non-pump method and use mosquito dunks religiously when you've got standing water. You can also utilize filtering plants whether or not you have fish. Keep in mind that all rock placement (not just 'dry stream beds') in nature are imperfect. The only person this project needs to please is you. It's not rocket science or brain surgery. Enjoy!

You are right about that, Lisa. I have lived here for 20 years since I was 22, and my gardens still aren't done. My backyard is still very plain, but with the pond, that's going to change. I had always wanted a pond, and when I stumbled into this forum, I REAALLY wanted one. I kicked it around for a year, and just decided "Go for it." Everyone on this forum has been super, super, super with all their help.

Sheri, its beautiful! I'm new to the site and to ponding. Loved the red old pump. I am just beginning to understand the concepts but I still did not get the idea of how to run a hose from a gph pump to the water pump. Can you take a few mins to explain please? Where did you set the gph pumps? Are they hidden? Loved the bridge too, my daughter wants a bridge and I was thinking abuot ways to incorporate it. Your pictures gave me a nice idea.