Guess who is out having fun? (It's ME!) Planning wildlife pond for backyard

[addy1]

Sounds like my hubby. The passenger is the navigator, well if he wants to listen. But when he is passenger, he never mentions that our turn is coming up.

 

[Lisak1]

My husband insists on having his phone navigation turned on... then he never listens to what it's saying. Constantly asks "what did she say?" I'm like "it's because it's a female voice, right? Can't take directions from a woman?" haha!

 

[addy1]

My hubby, if driving alone, turns on the phone navigation WITHOUT SOUND, then wonders why he missed his turn.

 

[bagsmom]

Good morning! Good RAINY morning! I thought I would show you pictures of what I woke up to today. I'm now pumping it out, but having the pond filled with rainwater was a GREAT way to test my shelf levels. It proved that I'm on the right track and that I'm going to have a nice, large wildlife pond -- eventually. (Or maybe I have one right now! ). Tons and tons of rain expected in the south in the next couple of weeks. I hope the pump keeps working! When it is all done, there will be an overflow point, but I haven't finished building up around the sides - especially around the intake bay. For now, I will have to keep on top of it!
PS -- that's not a real liner! Just a cheap piece of thin plastic to help keep the shelves and overall excavation from eroding.

 

[GBBUDD]

. For now, I will have to keep on top of it!
PS -- that's not a real liner! Just a cheap piece of thin plastic to help keep the shelves and overall excavation from eroding.

z
The rain is a great tattle tale it will show you areas that may be a problem down the road. In the finish product you will definitely want to stop the run off from the yard and driveway from getting into your pond. and to allow the water to sit in the pond is going to make compacting the soils impossible. if the plastic/ tarp was holding all the water that would be great as it would help[ keep things drier. i like your placement nice and close to the house and a hard wall the sound of the water fall will fill the area

 

[bagsmom]

I have a pump in there, pumping out the water as it refills - due to the continual rain! Yes, this is just the very rough excavation. The sides will be raised above ground level, just enough to keep runoff from going into the pond. You can't tell from the photos, but the yard has a bit of a slope downhill into the woods. That side is where I will have my overflow area. I have LOTS of work to do but I'm looking forward to it. If the rain ever stops!

 

[addy1]

Great pre build test! It is looking nice!

 

[sissy]

yep lots of rain made mess of everything .When everything settles to the bottom it will be even worse .That is the main reason I did half above and half below ground .The you never know .We got so much rain that it made streams all over my yard and walk areas looked like rivers .I had water sitting where I have never seen water sit .Big huge puddles around all my gardens

 

[bagsmom]

And tons more rain to come next week!!!

 

[GBBUDD]

I saw where you want and have already had wildlife to your pond. yes those tracks look like coon or possum. EITHER WAY YOU CAN SEE THE SHARP CLAWS!!!! i would lean toward putting a thick non woven underlayment IN the pond before you start rocking but be advised that a little higher sides would be recommended to keep the water from whicking out of the pond

 

[GBBUDD]

I saw where you want and have already had wildlife to your pond. yes those tracks look like coon or possum. EITHER WAY YOU CAN SEE THE SHARP CLAWS!!!! i would lean toward putting a thick non woven underlayment i would try to find some 8 oz . it is cheap insurance against claws. IN the pond before you start rocking but be advised that a little higher sides would be recommended to keep the water from whicking out of the pond. They also have concrete on a sheet " just add water but i doubt it is cheap.

The other thing i have seen alot of is to have small pockets OUTSIDE of the rocks along the edge of the pond where instead of rolling up extra liner to use it dig little planters where water seeps in to these spots from the pond and allows for more wetland plants to absorb nutrients from the pond. this also breaks up the string or pearls look and softens the edge of the pond, Great naturalizing effect

 

[bagsmom]

I saw where you want and have already had wildlife to your pond. yes those tracks look like coon or possum. EITHER WAY YOU CAN SEE THE SHARP CLAWS!!!! i would lean toward putting a thick non woven underlayment IN the pond before you start rocking but be advised that a little higher sides would be recommended to keep the water from whicking out of the pond

Yes, I'm going to do the "sandwich" method with underlay, liner, then thicker underlayment as "overlay." I will definitely build up the sides more in the finishing work!

 

[addy1]

I put extra liner just under a few big rocks. OW my liner had managed to survive raccoons, deer hooves, me

 

[GBBUDD]

One thing to remember when it comes time to rocking the pond A lot of times it's not so much how large the boulders are but how big they appear . case in point if you take a large flat rock and stand it on edge and have a second similar colored rock standing up or angled up is a better word. you can make the rock look like a boulder and hide the back side with dirt bushes or even a tree stump. Go for a walk along a stream and see how mother nature works around obstructions . and stump dumps heck you could get real lucky there people give stumps away or pay you to take them. and you can always use moss or plants to hide where the two rocks come together,

 

[bagsmom]

Here is the latest: Like so many others in the southeast, we are having RIDICULOUS amounts of rain. I think I'm growing moss on my head. It is crazy. Ever since we had an addition put on our house - 18 years ago - the grading of the ground out back has been wonky. We go through alternating periods of drought, though, so we will have years when rain is no problem. This year, though, we have it pooling up in inconvenient places and me digging the pond and building berms around the pond hasn't helped. The right thing to do is going to be a literal pain in the neck, back, arms, butt, etc. But the time to fix it is NOW, before I have everything all beautiful. I need to either dig a trench around the pond and put in perforated pipe directing the water to the back of the yard -- AND/OR dig a gravel well in the low spot, to give the water time to percolate out into the ground, rather than pooling up. Our lot is on high ground - we are up on a hill - so there's no danger of water coming up under the pond liner or anything, thank goodness. It's just a matter of giving the excess water somewhere to go till it seeps down into the soil and eventually ends up at the neighborhood creeks and low ground. But what a pain! I just want to be done with the grunt work and start doing the creative stuff!!!!!! But, since I haven't saved enough for rocks yet, I guess this will give me something to do in the meantime. Keeps me out of trouble!