After the fact pond shelf

[Big Lou]

Has anyone successfully added after the fact shelves to your pond? Back in the day I had cement for brains and did not design our pond with shelves. If you have please share all the details plus photos if possible.

Big Lou

 

[tbendl]

I'll see if I can get some pictures but for my pond and depth I use 2 mini plastic milk crates zip tied together with a rock in them. They are a nice height and hold a potted plant well. I've also put pavers on them which gave me room for 2 potted plants. They are lightweight and easy to move. I have a few of the larger milk crates for some deeper potted stuff.

 

[sissy]

If you cut out one end of the milk crate it makes a great place for fish to hide from predators .I actually used the top from a kitty litter box .It had this nice flat top with a handle .I may still have pics some where

 

[rodsboys]

I'll see if I can get some pictures but for my pond and depth I use 2 mini plastic milk crates zip tied together with a rock in them. They are a nice height and hold a potted plant well. I've also put pavers on them which gave me room for 2 potted plants. They are lightweight and easy to move. I have a few of the larger milk crates for some deeper potted stuff.

Black milk crates work great. They blend in, they offer fish a hiding place, and they don't reduce water volume.

 

[Mmathis]

What size shelf -- how deep/wide/whatever? Is your pond's bottom perfectly flat?

I like the milk crate idea as long as you can keep them from shifting. Don't get the cheapie crates, though, as they will eventually get brittle and break with exposure. I like the ones I got from Tractor Supply.

Crates will float -- frustrating when you're trying to settle your plants in, GRRRR! On the last one I put in, I had a terra cotta pot [it might be called an "azalea pot"] that has 3 holes around the bottom edge in addition to the drainage hole. I inverted the pot and zip-tied it to the crate [on what would be the floor] through those extra holes and it's perfect for weighing down the crate [plus it's on the inside/underside of the crate, so not visible]. When I get my lilies ready for winter, gonna fix all the crates up like this.

And if you have areas around the edge of the pond that aren't level, you could spray the edges of the crates with Great Stuff [or the black version] then carve it out to level the crates.

And BTW, Big Lou doesn't have fish, but yet, the crates do provide good hides for fish -- I stuff Hornwort inside mine.

 

[Big Lou]

I was looking for innovative ideas. Maggie, the bottom is sloped so your suggestion would solve that issue. Tried out a milk great a few weeks back but found it to be very visible. There is one place in the pond where it will work. I sure appreciate everyone's help. I've personally been trying to design a "hang over the pond side shelf". So many obstacles in making in unnoticeable.

 

[Mmathis]

I was looking for innovative ideas. Maggie, the bottom is sloped so your suggestion would solve that issue. Tried out a milk great a few weeks back but found it to be very visible. There is one place in the pond where it will work. I sure appreciate everyone's help. I've personally been trying to design a "hang over the pond side shelf". So many obstacles in making in unnoticeable.

I'm heading outside in a few minutes. I'll try to take a couple pics of my hang-over-the-side planter for a dwarf water lily. I thought about, but didn't take pics as I was constructing it. And in the first year of my pond I made a "shelf" out of PVC pipe. It was good, but never got it level, so everything ended up sliding off. I was in a hurry -- I could have done a better job.

And as far as visibility, I have found the use of landscape fabrics [or even fiberglass screening] invaluable! Have used the PL stuff to glue it on in sheets or strips for different projects. If you glued some to a black crate, not only would it hide the crate, but very soon you'll have an algae cover growing -- it will blend in.

 

[Mmathis]

Well, @Big Lou, it took me a few days to get back on this, but here goes.....

My most recent adventure was to convert a rectangular plastic planter into a planter for my dwarf Helvola lily. That's it in the top 2 pictures. The planter has a lip, so I cut PVC pipe and made a frame to fit just under the lip, drilled some holes, and tied it all together with zip-ties. (I drew in the outline of the planter just so you could see what it looks like, but the only "frame" is what sits under the lip -- it doesn't enclose the entire planter) I built 2 vertical pipes into the frame and have rope coming through them. I have the rope anchored over the other side of the berm. But, before I put it all together [except for the vertical pipes -- I got in a hurry and didn't want to take the time....] I cut strips of landscape fabric and wrapped those around the PVC to disguise it.

In the lower pic is something I did a couple years ago. It worked well, but I changed my pond around and no longer needed this shelf set-up. It does help to have somewhat vertical walls, though with some creativity in crafting with the PVC, you can adjust to acommodate any shape wall. My prototype was a fail 'cause I didn't factor in the shape of the wall and a rock overhang. The shelf didn't sit straight and stuff fell off -- could easily have been fixed, but I was [again] in a hurry. And this was a project that would have worked better if I'd had help, but, you guessed it, too much of a hurry to wait for Hubby to get home....

 

[johan]

I just bought a couple of these for a similar purpose - Velda Pond Over Growing Mat. Quite big, black, metal tent poles, lots of pockets. Waiting on some pondweed to emerge in a relative's lake then I'll fill them with pondweed under the water and creepery bushiness above.

 

[Big Lou]

Great Maggie, exactly what I was thinking about. A serious project to consider. Does look large Johan. Looks like it will be difficult to desquise.

 

[SuAnn]

I used heavy duty milk crates in a 100-gallon mini-pond and they worked great - not only fish hiding place but was able to hide the pump under one, with a flat rock on top for toad/frog climb-out place. But now that I'm putting in a 300-gal tub pond and want to get more I can't remember where I ordered them - sheesh. Also, want to let everyone know while we're discussing disguising unsightly stuff that Rock-on-a-Roll is really terrific! I used it around the edges of the little tub pond and the spillway from the bog filter - it looks crazy-natural - hard to tell where it ends and the real rocks begin. View attachment 150391

 

[Mmathis]

@SuAnn This is a very old thread.

 

[j.w]

Yep this is old and for a minute I thought Big Lou might be back.
@SuAnn you can start a new thread on this subject and let everyone know about your findings. More people will see it there and can comment as they might not see it in this old posting. I tried clicking on your attachment but it would not show up.

 

[SuAnn]

@SuAnn This is a very old thread.

Thanks for pointing this out!

 

[SuAnn]

Yep this is old and for a minute I thought Big Lou might be back.
@SuAnn you can start a new thread on this subject and let everyone know about your findings. More people will see it there and can comment as they might not see it in this old posting. I tried clicking on your attachment but it would not show up.

Well, I guess we can tell I'm not extremely tech-savvy, haha! Thanks for the info.