Building pond in Israel by a Granny!

[GBBUDD]

Add 130 degrees f and you two can have a tropical paradise in under a years time. I'll take snow over temps that high.

When are you going to build the bog. ?
Or are you waiting to see how the pond does without it for now.

 

[YShahar]

You have to be very happy with your efforts, the pond looks fantastic. Love the two recliners for that afternoon snooze at the waters edge, like a reflecting pool

Oh yeah! Those two deck chairs were our big extravagance this summer. They're teak deck chairs from Indonesia, and are seriously comfy. Sadly, they don't recline all the way back, but that doesn't stop us from snoozing in them on a Shabbat afternoon. No complaints here!

 

[YShahar]

Beautiful! Come redo mine!

Only if I get to play with your cool backhoe! Oh, and there's the small matter of the air fare...

 

[rubyduby]

Only if I get to play with your cool backhoe! Oh, and there's the small matter of the air fare...

You write beautifully YShahar...I just love to read your posts. Your koi is really pretty and unusual. I can't say I have ever seen one like it (not that I have seen a lot of them As for your pond, it is such a peaceful setting...You really have created a masterpiece there!

 

[YShahar]

You write beautifully YShahar...I just love to read your posts. Your koi is really pretty and unusual. I can't say I have ever seen one like it (not that I have seen a lot of them As for your pond, it is such a peaceful setting...You really have created a masterpiece there!

Wow! Thank you so much! I do love writing, though with all the pond and garden work, I haven't had a lot of time to work on books (other than editing other people's books). Looking forward to getting back to it!

The pond has really been so incredibly additive -- not to mention addictive! Even without it, I tend to spend every available moment out in the garden. But now even His Honor the Chef -- a city boy more at home on Park Avenue than a park -- is spending more time sitting out and enjoying the garden.

 

[YShahar]

When are you going to build the bog. ?

I've already started! In fact, earlier today I sent an email off to the roofing fellow from whom I bought the pond liner to order a 6 x 4 meter piece of 60 mil liner, plus some underlayment. Hopefully, he'll have it in stock.

I've begun digging the hole for the bog, and will need to figure out how to create the walls. I had originally thought to use cinderblocks, but then I had a rather diabolical idea...there's an old electrical pole from the early 1980s sitting just adjacent to our property in the vacant lot next door. Once upon a time, the pole held the security lighting for the perimeter road around our town, but the security road has long since been moved down the hill, and the pole hasn't been connected to anything in over 20 years. It will eventually just be left to decay on its own, as the municipality isn't going to invest resources into tearing it down.

But then there's this crazy old grandma with a chain saw... I figure that pole would furnish me with about a dozen sturdy wooden cylinders that would make a great surround to a bog filter! See anything wrong with this plot (er, plan)?

Or are you waiting to see how the pond does without it for now.

So far, it's stayed beautifully clear and free of algae without the bog. But since we've just inherited this rescue koi, I think the time has come to get the bog done.

 

[GBBUDD]

Only if I get to play with your cool backhoe! Oh, and there's the small matter of the air fare...

Don't for get strick Dr rules on the diet of blue crabs and lobster with Dom and beluga caviar

 

[GBBUDD]

You write beautifully YShahar...I just love to read your posts. Your koi is really pretty and unusual. I can't say I have ever seen one like it (not that I have seen a lot of them As for your pond, it is such a peaceful setting...You really have created a masterpiece there!

You must skip right over my post. I love to build build novels not so much.

 

[YShahar]

Don't for get strick Dr rules on the diet of blue crabs and lobster with Dom and beluga caviar

Alas, none of that is kosher. I'll have to stick to a diet of grilled salmon with cream sauce and white wine. A tough job, but someone's got to do it!

 

[combatwombat]

See anything wrong with this plot (er, plan)?

Main concern would be that once you cut that pile, the exposed cut will be very susceptible to decay, so you’d need some pretty gnarly stuff to treat it before using it as a retaining wall.

 

[addy1]

Only if I get to play with your cool backhoe! Oh, and there's the small matter of the air fare...

Lol it would be tough to change it. Had to build a flat area for it, no real flat area to do any changes.

 

[GBBUDD]

Even though you are in a desert and I imagine wood lasts that much longer you can't beat cinderblocks filled with concrete and a few pieces of rebar stuffed down every other bay. One trick for you if you want to do less work is just dry stacking the blocks stagering the joints and then just pouring in the concrete between them . no mortar needed but it does require more finesse.

 

[YShahar]

Even though you are in a desert and I imagine wood lasts that much longer you can't beat cinderblocks filled with concrete and a few pieces of rebar stuffed down every other bay. One trick for you if you want to do less work is just dry stacking the blocks stagering the joints and then just pouring in the concrete between them . no mortar needed but it does require more finesse.

Good advice! On the other hand, the electric pole would make a nice aesthetic touch, and would be in keeping with the Asian theme. But as @combatwombat pointed out, I'll need to seal the cut ends. Ideally, I could make part of the wall out of cinderblocks and use five or so of the wooden cylinders for the part that won't be rocked in. But first, I've got to get the bloody thing down!

Plus I've also still got six large rock slabs still awaiting transport from the vacant lot next door. These are from the bunch that someone in a town about an hour's drive away was giving away. They're heavy enough that it took three trips to get them all here. Then we got them--three rocks at a time--into my little 4X4 Vitara and I drove them down the cliff into the vacant lot, then rolled them out of the car and onto the ground. Each of those rocks weighs more than I do, so getting them onto my sack trolley is going to be challenging, much less getting them up over the garden wall and into our yard. Some of those will be used to terrace out the grade from the bog filter.

 

[cas]

Wow did your pond turn out beautiful! It looks very established for just being built. What a great job you did.
I bet that koi can't believe his luck finding his new home!

 

[GBBUDD]

The reason I'd shy from thr poles is because I know what the utilities do to them with chemicals. Especialy at the bottom if you look you will probably find the end of a small cylinder in the wood make sure you don't. CUT that with the chain saw they are usuay 4 to 6 inches long . And make sure any run off. Can not make its way into the water