No I am going to go East West so I can see it out of all the windows in my house.
Another Newbie Pond Build in the works
- Thread starter cbay
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So I started just digging today and thought it was going to be easy digging. Man was I wrong. It is so rocky. The rocks are really like pea gravel maybe. So what is the best way to sift through the dirt and get the rocks out so I can reuse them. Let me hear your thoughts on if someone has done it and what is the easiest way. I may have to build some type of sifter.
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I’ve done a lot of sitting in my property and I can tell you it’s not worth it. Pea gravel is exceptionally hard to separate from dirt and pretty cheap to buy. Would not bother.
Just getting to a head start on it since I am digging it by hand. If I do a little everyday weather permitting I won't kill my back.
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I'd not worry re separating, either; again as CW says, pea gravel is not expensive and you won't need that much anyhow. To save it like this will be just a lot more labor. You might even be tempted to 'wash' all your pea gravel when you get it and even that is an exercise in futility most of the time, let alone what you're proposing.
Now, all that said, IF you still want to do this, you can make yourself a screen box; use 1/4" hardware cloth and this is your bottom, with 2x6 sides. You'd put your mix into this, then using a hose, wash the smaller grit out. I'd suggest doing this over a wheel barrow so whatever sifts through, you can then easily move to it's designated spot. Then you'll make a pile of pea gravel near your washing spot, to be moved later as needed.
But really, it's a lot of work. When i dug, in v1, the ground was hard and the sun was hot. I had to pick axe my way the last 2 feet; it was all clay. So, we all have our digging stories; you just got yours!
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Hi and welcome. So I had to move one side of my pond in because my wife thought it was too close to the garage (she was right) so I actually stuck a piece of plywood in the ground and filled the cavity with dirt and wrap wrapped my liner over it to get a smaller pond. You can do the same thing with pallets to act as a retaining wall, but make sure there is nothing sharp to cut the liner. The water itself will push on the walls so just wondering if you really need it. Also agreed with above comments above about viewing position first and foremost. You can use some of the dirt you dig out to create berms so it doesn’t look so flat. Also remember the sides of your pond always has to be higher than the ground around it so rainwater doesn’t flow into your pond. Chemicals and fertilizer are really bad for it.