I dug it by hand, carving out a shelf around the interior for water-plants. It's half below the ground and half above the ground. The liner came later, with the flat-stone, and the fountain. Lilypads, pond-grass, fish, and snails were all added in the spring of 1999. Below are some pictures I've taken over the past 3-4 years.
Life abounds in the pond.
The fish hiding under the lilypads on a hot summer day in July '00. Lilypads in bloom. They close up at nighttime but open during rains or hot summer days. Feeding the fish, I have about 8 different varieties of goldfish and 3 kinds of frogs. The small screened area is for the baby fish, which have just hatched in this picture.