Backyard water garden build begins!

[TheFishGuy]

I love the little streetlight style lamps you have on your porch, and great progress!

 

[Rabungalow]

Progress for today. Got the stream and waterfall foamed/rocked. Added more rock to the bog. Didn’t go to crazy because the aquablocks got delayed and arrive tomorrow. Buried the pipe from the skimmer to the bog. Tomorrow I hunt for more builders and begin concreting the retaining wall I need to build up to the skimmer.

 

[GBBUDD]

looking good ......... is there waterfal foam under all those rocks. The water will want to leak out under them and you will loose a lot of the volume for your stream and water falls

 

[Rabungalow]

@GBBUDD Yeah, it’s foamed up. I need to rinse down all that rock as it was filthy. I’ll get a good idea for where the water is wanting to go and if I missed any spots.

 

[GBBUDD]

Good deal . I am impressed with your rock work it looks natural.

 

[GBBUDD]

If I can make one mention to you , why are you building top down . Those rocks at the first drop should sit partly on the shelf and over hanging abutting or on top of the rocks from the below shelf. It's much easier working bottom up

 

[Rabungalow]

If I can make one mention to you , why are you building top down . Those rocks at the first drop should sit partly on the shelf and over hanging abutting or on top of the rocks from the below shelf. It's much easier working bottom up

Funny you say that. So I went to the stone center today and picked up another boulder pallet. Needless to say I overestimated my strength on this order. Im actually in the process of moving all the smaller boulders down to the main shelf. The top permitter is going to have some big boys on them next time You see it. I have all the large boulders in the backyard already staged (you don’t want to know how I made that happen lol) I just need to get bigger ball cart to move them into position. I started building my retaining wall around the skimmer and I installed the weir to the skimmer. Tomorrow I should make some good progress now that I have those boulders in the backyard. Mistakes were made today and life lessons were learned lol.

 

[GBBUDD]

Trust me very few building there first pond get away without mistakes. i'm certainly not one of them i should have kept the kiss theory

 

[Rabungalow]

So a lot of progress was made over the holiday weekend. I Wasn’t able to post as I had family over. I was able to Finish rocking the main pond which as you can see has changed a bit since I brought in some bigger boulder pieces. I Still need to finish filling the bog with rock and then rock the bog walls. I got close, but ran out of rock. Only one of the four aquablocks arrived from Amazon which was unfortunate so I decided I just wanted my refund from that and kept filling with all rock. I got all my plumbing done and tested the overflow and filled for a leak test and all appears well. Finished two landscape paths leading up each side of the pond, but still have lots to do in regards to planting and landscape lighting for the backyard and pond. I always want some more rocks for the waterfall splash zone. I don’t love how the water is hitting it at this time, but all easy changes.

 

[GBBUDD]

Score LOOKS GREAT SIR.... NICE JOB

 

[TheFishGuy]

So a lot of progress was made over the holiday weekend. I Wasn’t able to post as I had family over. I was able to Finish rocking the main pond which as you can see has changed a bit since I brought in some bigger boulder pieces. I Still need to finish filling the bog with rock and then rock the bog walls. I got close, but ran out of rock. Only one of the four aquablocks arrived from Amazon which was unfortunate so I decided I just wanted my refund from that and kept filling with all rock. I got all my plumbing done and tested the overflow and filled for a leak test and all appears well. Finished two landscape paths leading up each side of the pond, but still have lots to do in regards to planting and landscape lighting for the backyard and pond. I always want some more rocks for the waterfall splash zone. I don’t love how the water is hitting it at this time, but all easy changes.

Great progress! I love all of the different sizes of rocks you are using.

 

[combatwombat]

Wow! That really came together quick. Looks awesome. Waterfall looks great. Impressed.

You moved some big rocks by hand, too!

 

[addy1]

Great job!

 

[bagsmom]

Fantastic! When your post came up, I saw the first page and then skipped to the last. I don't know if anyone responded about the Big Frog pump. I have a Big Frog 3000 in my pond out front and it has been a real workhorse. It's been running about 5 years if my math is right. Your rock work is wonderful. I am going out back today to start on mine! I am spending some time looking on here for inspiration!

 

[Rabungalow]

Fantastic! When your post came up, I saw the first page and then skipped to the last. I don't know if anyone responded about the Big Frog pump. I have a Big Frog 3000 in my pond out front and it has been a real workhorse. It's been running about 5 years if my math is right. Your rock work is wonderful. I am going out back today to start on mine! I am spending some time looking on here for inspiration!

Thank you! that is great to hear about Big Frog as I was a bit concerned when Half-off Ponds decided to swap out the pump brand without telling me. I wish I got a pump with variable control for flow reduction. I would say not getting a pump with that feature is currently my main regret of my build, but I put a ball valve in so I can restrict flow when needed. This pump moves some serious water.