Digging?

[pondlover]

We are in the design mode for our pond. Question for all you experienced ponders. The site we are putting the pond is fairly sloped. We were considering raising the low side with concrete blocks filled with dirt or is it better to just dig the high side deeper??

Pond size is going to be approximately 10'x18'x3'. I want a shelf around entire pond. My husband is going to use a gas powered post hole digger to dig center of pond and then we plan to dig shelf with shovels. Question is.... should we dig the center out first with the post hole digger and then do shelf or dig entire pond at shelf depth then continue digging center of pond out?

We are also considering using an old pool pump that we have as our external pump. Would love any and all advice, tips or suggestions.
Thanks in advance.

 

[addy1]

To make mine level, I dug the high side deeper, and raised the low side by 5 feet or so. If I had not done that the low side would have needed a 9-10 foot berm to make the pond level. The main issue with digging the high side deeper is hiding the dirt wall you will end up with. I sloped the dirt wall, dug some mini shelves in and stacked two pallets of rock to cover the dirt.

It is great to be able to look out the house and look down into the pond.

I would dig out the center first, make it easier to remove the dirt as you dig.

 

[sissy]

I used retaining wall block .The pool pump you may not want to use ,they are energy hogs .Check out a lowes if you have one they have new pondsmart pumps and run less than 300 dollars for the really large ones over 3500 gph and use 20% less energy.

 

[taherrmann4]

I would dig some from the high side and build up the low side with a good retaining wall structure, the more you dig out of the high side the more dirt you will have to somehow hide or disguise. You may have the same problem on the low side if it is visible, you will have a wall to hide or disguise too. You can also use a lot of the dirt you dig out as a berm on the low side but you still may need some sort of wall to help hold the pond from moving, just depends on how much higher your pond is than the lower side. I would dig starting in the center out, then once you get to your depth and basic shape you can use your shovel to fine tune it and cut in your shelves.

My advice to you is to lay the basic shape out with a hose and mark it then look at it from different angles and try to envision it with plants and the pump running. I tweaked mine several times before digging and have continued to tweak it after it was up and running. That never seems to end for me.

Not sure what sort of pump you will be using but be sure it is energy efficient or else the "free" pump may end up costing you quite a bit in electricity usage.

 

[sissy]

I did not hide my wall on the low side because it makes a great place to come up to the pond and sit on the wall and enjoy the fish when I'm out in the yard working .Great place to sit and rest after yard work and the fish seem to like that one on one time we spend when I'm sitting there .They see me easier than just standing up leaning over to look at them .Plus they compete to see who can get petted first while I'm sitting there .

 

[addy1]

Our slope is around a 25 degree drop. I made the stream do switchbacks with mini ponds at each turn to have the stream meander down the slope instead of roaring wall of water coming down. The stream ended up being 85 feet long with 8 mini ponds, of the 8 mini ponds 4 of those are 8ft x 8ft, but not real deep, 2 feet or so.

The stream was dug at least 10 inches plus deep 2-3 feet wide, with the liner, rocks, trying to get it level, the stream is from around 1- 2 foot wide, in a few places wider.

The biggest issue was hiding the up slope dirt banks that you end up when you dig it down to attempt to get level.

 

[Waterbug]

I dislike shelves immensely. But I think it's easier to dig the entire pond to the depth of the shelf then dig the center. If the center is dug first the digging of the shelf tends to collapse the sides of the deep part. And most of the dirt from the shelf ends up in the deep center. So you get to dig the center twice.

I used a two man gas auger once...or I should say it used us. Depends on the soil, but we gave up pretty fast. Hammer drill with a spade bit often works way better imo and way easier. You can rent them too.

 

[taherrmann4]

I used one of those small excavator with a 12" bucket to dig mine, worth every bit of the $150. I rented it saturday morning and did not have to be returned until monday morning so I got two days for the price of one since they are closed on sunday. Took me a few hours to dig it and sculpt it the way I wanted.

 

[fishin4cars]

Going to be nice, after shovel digging with my friend last week end forming his 7'x10'x3' upper pond. I am looking forward to digging my first pond with mechanical equipment. Going in with a Bob cat and start digging a HOLE! Thinking in the area of 6000-8000 gallons???

 

[taherrmann4]

Going to be nice, after shovel digging with my friend last week end forming his 7'x10'x3' upper pond. I am looking forward to digging my first pond with mechanical equipment. Going in with a Bob cat and start digging a HOLE! Thinking in the area of 6000-8000 gallons???

That will be quite large can't wait to see the pics of your construction progress.