Pond Services in Lake Oswego

Lake Oswego gardens have history — mature Japanese maples, stonework that's settled into the hillside, plantings chosen decades ago. A pond here shouldn't announce itself; it should look like it was always there. That's the kind of water we build: naturally filtered, framed by real stone, settled into the garden rather than dropped onto it.

A fair number of the ponds we see around Lake Oswego came with the house — built years ago and showing it. Those we'd usually rather renovate than replace: keep the good bones, rebuild what's tired, and bring the water back to clear.

New ponds & renovations for established gardens

Building in a mature garden takes restraint. We work carefully around root zones, old stonework, and drainage that took years to settle — the same way we approach any renovation in an established Lake Oswego landscape. New builds lean natural: biological filtration, plants doing the cleaning, koi if you want life in the water.

For an aging pond, renovation often beats replacement: a new liner within the existing footprint, rebuilt edges, modern filtration behind the original stone. We'll tell you honestly which side of that line your pond is on.

Leak detection & repair

Older ponds develop predictable problems — settled edges that let water slip out, liners past their prime, plumbing that's quietly failed underground. If your pond is losing water overnight, or only when the pump runs, those point in different directions, and we sort out which before proposing anything. A slow drop in August heat, on the other hand, is usually just evaporation.

Cleanouts & steady care

Spring cleanout season runs February through June: full drain-down, sludge out, plants edited, filters and pumps serviced, and a leak inspection while the water's down. Fall is netting and winter prep — and yes, koi overwinter fine outdoors here in a properly built pond with adequate depth and a little water movement.

Questions we hear from Lake Oswego

Can you renovate an older pond instead of replacing it?

Often, yes. If the structure and placement are sound, a new liner, rebuilt edges, and updated filtration can transform a decades-old pond while keeping the mature plantings and stone that make it belong in the garden. When a rebuild really is the better answer, we'll say so and explain why.

Do koi survive Lake Oswego winters outside?

Yes — our winters are mild enough that fish generally overwinter fine in a properly built pond with adequate depth and some water movement to keep a gas-exchange opening in any ice. Fall prep is the key: net before the leaves drop and make sure the system is ready for cold weather.

Do you service ponds you didn't build?

Yes — most of the Lake Oswego ponds we care for were built by someone else. Cleanouts, leak troubleshooting, pump replacement, and seasonal maintenance, no matter whose name is on the original build.