In ground and above ground on my patio?

[rrasco]

You could always do the bog on the patio and the pond below in the yard. If you are going with above ground you could use concrete blocks underneath for shelves and cover with carpet or underlayment.

So it's advisable to build the shelves under the liner inside the raised pond? Wasn't sure if I was supposed to avoid edges etc while building up.

I was thinking I'd just build the bogs above the water line and do little waterfalls or something.

 

[tbendl]

Yes, having the shelves under the liner make it much easier. You do want to avoid edges but that's where the underlayment comes in. I've used the concrete for my bog and had no issues with it. I would do a search on this site for raised ponds, I know we have a few members here who have them and they could give you a better idea of construction.

 

[rrasco]

I've been browsing around. I really like OntarioTodd's layout and am using it as inspiration for mine.

 

[johan]

I must be the only one who has his bog area lower than his pond. I have a 3000l fibregrass pond on a slight tilt and when I do a 10% water change the excess flows into the bog area to keep it moist. Hmmmmm

 

[rrasco]

If I were to use cinder blocks how do people wrap the liner under the capped edges?

Any recommendations, stone or wood?

 

[tbendl]

Well if you use cinder block for the construction you can cap it with whatever you like. I prefer the wood exterior for raised ponds, I like the more formal look for a raised pond, but truthfully it's whatever you like. Depends on the look you are going for I guess.

 

[rrasco]

Right and I tend to agree, leaning more towards wood. Cinder seems a bit cheaper but that won't be the final determination.

What I was specifically trying to figure out is if you do wood you can easily secure the liner between the trim and the walls. However, with cinder blocks I'm assuming you want to mortar it all together including the caps, so if you tuck the liner between the walls and the caps, how do you 1) secure the liner to the cinder and 2) how do you cement the caps in place?

 

[tbendl]

If you did cinder construction you could sheath it with wood and tuck the additional liner over the cinder and down the backside (which you could then cover with wood). For the tops, all you would need to do is put something wood or slate, over the top to hold it down. It doesn't necessarily need to be cemented since once the pond is full of water, it won't pull the liner into the pond. You are really covering the liner more for aesthetics rather than a necessity.

 

[rrasco]

Gotcha. That helps.

I keep digging through pictures and tutorials and can't decide what I want to do. I can guarantee I'll have about 3209849082349083 more questions.

 

[tbendl]

Well that's still about 7636489 than I had when I started! This site has the best people and information I've found and many have above ground in all different designs and build. Ask away for sure!!

 

[rrasco]

Want to hear a funny story? I found this site back in 2011 when I wanted to build a pond (I actually tried to buy a house with a bigger yard purposely for 2 ponds and a river but that didn't work out) and after doing all the research and some planning I decided it was too expensive at the time for me so I started a small reef tank. 4 years later, 3 reef tanks later and I've spent way more on the reefs than I ever imagined on the pond. And now, well, I still want a pond....so I'm gonna build one.

 

[tbendl]

I think reef tanks are the gateway drug for ponds... Lol

 

[rrasco]

Well if you use cinder block for the construction you can cap it with whatever you like. I prefer the wood exterior for raised ponds, I like the more formal look for a raised pond, but truthfully it's whatever you like. Depends on the look you are going for I guess.

Can you tell me what constitutes a "formal" pond?

 

[MitchM]

Ponds are cheaper, trust me, lol.

 

[tbendl]

I'm not the expert but for me a formal pond has a defined shape, I'd say straight edges versus curves and is finished versus made to look like it blends in. The cool thing about ponds is there is no absolute right or wrong way to design it, just what you like. The group here will help you make it work!