You will end up making choices between a ‘natural’ pond and one that only looks natural. Your water source - will be municipal not natural? Something like a vernal pond - dry and dormant in summer, or is yours a winter frozen climate? If, you have water plants, they grow FAST - and you will have to corral them somehow … in a pot? We have a ‘spitting frog’ to circulate the water. Summer heat needs a deeper part for pond life to retreat to cool depths. A sloping beach so everyone can get a drink, and get out again.
Ours is 8 years old
and 2020 in winter