CW's Back Yard Water Garden Begins!

[brokensword]

@brokensword: What a gorgeous pond. Landscaping/plants really makes all the difference, doesn’t it?

I look forward to my install going as successfully as yours.

thank you for the compliment! You seem to be doing a lot of research and planning so I'm sure you'll be just like the rest of us and about a year or two later, think of how you'd do SOMETHING differently the next time you dig! Ha! It's really a learning experience when you're personally involved and I don't think you'd have it any other way. At least you're going big right away; should prolong your 'shoulda made it bigger' for a few years...

 

[combatwombat]

I believe that if it holds water, it is technically a pond.

Therefore, I have a pond.

 

[brokensword]

I believe that if it holds water, it is technically a pond.

Therefore, I have a pond.

View attachment 135321

um, I don't see any water...and too, a puddle holds water and isn't technically a pond. So, nope, I call fake news. Come on back when we can see your edge stones and the water line! j/k

ha, you'll get there--stop jumpin' the gun! For now, I say you have a puddle.

 

[GBBUDD]

Sorry to add to the popping of your bubble but if your rocking your pond thats when it's a pond . rock it in and see if it holds water not many can say they got all the rock in and no leaks ...... myslef included

 

[addy1]

Split hairs a beautiful pond to be! Our frogs moved in as soon as we had a liner laid, therefore mine was a pond even without water! lol

 

[GBBUDD]

@combatwombat must be busy setting all the stone work

 

[combatwombat]

Hi all. The pond journey continues. Took a few months off to do... other stuff... while hemming and hawing over how much rock to order and how to get it here. Will probably get back to it shortly. In the mean time, the pond almost filled itself completely with rain water. Here it is iced over this morning:

And this morning, I had a wild idea. What if I flipped the orientation of the pond and put the bog where the "small pond" currently is and then dug a smaller intake bay at the far end? This would shrink the overall size of the pond by about 150 sf, but I'm starting to think that would not be so bad for a few reasons:

1. The new bog would be more than big enough for the remaining area of the pond. Should be an extremely effective filter.
2. I have been a little hesitant to start digging again and taking up even more yard space for the bog I originally planned, and this would solve that problem.

What I would lose is a waterfall between the bog and the pond. When the pond is full, water level will be equal across the top of the pond and the bog. You can see from the photo that there is a gradual grade change from background of pond to foreground. It looks like there is a separate small pond in the foreground, but that is an illusion because overall water level is still about 6" low.

I could add back a waterfall wherever I want using a simple waterfall weir. The more I think about it, the more I kind of like the idea of no waterfall, though. Just a still pond with lots of shrubs around the edge so you can't tell where the land ends and the water begins. Of course, that would mean coming up with another solution for aeration, but I think a few air stones could solve that problem.

Just an idea I'm tossing around in my head as I procrastinate on the rock work.

Oh, and here's a fun side note: I talked to a professional water gardener who lives in my neighborhood about hiring him to construct the bog and rock the pond. He estimated $40k. I guess that would have included the pump and plumbing, but that's the easy part!

As a former contractor myself, I think that's pretty clearly a, "I really don't want this job, but if you'll pay that much, I'll do it" kind of bid. For $40k, I'm much more motivated to get back on the DIY bus.

Hope you're all enjoying winter!

 

[Lisak1]

40. Thousand. Dollars. Oh my gosh.

We once had a guy give us a bid for 10K to dig out two window wells. I figured out the same thing - not a job he really wanted, so he was going to make it A. more than we would pay or B. REALLY worth his time.

 

[GBBUDD]

WELCOME BACK ,
No offense but talking as a ex contractor as well. When you get involved, having to work the home owners attempt it always cost you more time then if you did it from the start yourself.
For a pro to finish your job he has to take responsibility for your liner and and any other work you have done to this point so in order for a pro to do this he has to pull out what you did and start over or he /she has to roll the dice or tell you he's not responsible for leaks and whos going to pay 10 k for those words let alone 40k .
Not to mention i can't believe the prices they are getting for a pond and how simple the designs are for the money which is why i have thought about doing it full time.

 

[TheFishGuy]

It really is coming together! How are you planning on draining that to do rock work??

 

[combatwombat]

@GBBUDD: Totally. I talked to him about that beforehand so as not to waste time, but he said it was no big deal. I guess for $40k, I'd happily take that risk, too. Of course, I only once worked on a job where we picked up after another contractor that was fired (giant hospital remodel). Pretty sure everyone involved ended up suing each other for millions of dollars. Big quagmire.

@TheFishGuy: Will pick up a utility pump from harbor freight to drain. Have a couple options on where to send it—down my sanitary sewer through a cleanout in the backyard or into a storm drain at the street through my neighbor's yard. Thought it was funny reading all the articles I found online about how to drain your pond. "Water your flower beds with it." I don't think my flower beds can handle 10,000 gallons in January...

 

[addy1]

Which is the big vs small? What you could do, drain the small, raise the wall between the two, raise the edge a bit, have a flat area for a water fall rock. My water fall from the bog to the pond is only about 6ish inches. I do have two other water falls from other ponds.
The waterfall rock is about 36 inches long. Make sure your bog wall is higher than you think it needs to be, I added about 3 inches since the build as it matured the water level raised. The frogs love it, birds bath in it, deer drink it, turtles show up now and then.

 

[GBBUDD]

@addy1 Is that mares ail i see in the fore ground i got some last year .............love that stuff ....looks like parrots feather without the crazy invasiveness

 

[Lisak1]

@GBBUDD - I think you're seen obedient plant. I have some of @addy1 "babies" here in my pond. I love that stuff! But it's anything BUT obedient!

I am starting some mare's tail in my pond as well - it's a little tougher to get started than parrot's feather I'm finding, but they say once you get it going it'll be yours FOREVER! We can't find it to buy here but a nice lady at a pond place near here gave me some from one of their display ponds.

 

[addy1]

Obedient plant at the end of blooming @GBBUDD and like @Lisak1 says it is not obedient. It seeds and spreads. But very pretty! It is called obedient since you can bend it and it will stay that way, so they say.

I have some mares tail, it does not like our full sun and heat. Grows decent during the spring but dies back in the summer. Has not really taken off, about 3 years now.