My new goldfish pond build

[CometKeith]

Thanks Tula. We didn't start today because it was very stormy in the morning. I did finish getting the garage cleaned out so we are ready now for our storage stuff coming later this week. I did take down the green mesh construction fence that was dividing the pond. Hmmm... I won't tell my wife but the pond does look bigger now with the fence gone not smaller like I have told her in the past.
Thanks JW. There are 5 buildings that were all built at the same time 100 years ago. Each one has a side porch that is the main entrance and a sidewalk running outside of that. It turns out that more than half of everyone's sidewalk is actually on their neighbor's property. Her old fence ran on an angle so it wouldn't hit the sidewalk so there are no easy answers. I'm not going to spend a lot of time thinking about her. I'm just glad there is a solid fence and hopefully we won't have to deal with her.
Looking forward to making the yard look better in the next few days. We may just put in a lot of dirt, mark off where shrubs will go in the fall and cover most of it with sod for now.

 

[herzausstahl]

We we are finally getting ready to landscape our yard. I have someone starting Monday to work on the grading. Would love the help if the offer is still good... but maybe I'll just post some pictures of what we are doing and hopefully get some good input from you and other fellow ponders. Thanks CK

Sorry Keith but I barely have time to work on my pond. Otherwise I would love too so I'll have to offer advice remotely. So was the fence on your property that her lawyer called? Or inside hers so part of her property is on your side of the fence? Hopefully not a pain in the arse as it sounds but I'd just hope she builds the fence higher at this point!

 

[herzausstahl]

I like the architects thirds idea a lot! The question is how much do you want to mow grass? That will determine the outcome of the plantings/grass 3rd. I think if you don't want any in the back it could be done without & still look really good without grass. It could take 2-4 years for shrubs to fill in to make it look nice but could be great in the end. There was a house on the garden walk a few years ago that a guy killed off 80-90% of his grass to replace with gardens on a large corner lot. I'll have to dig for pics but driving by a week ago it looked a lot better as it had filled in more. If the sidewalk is level you could leave it & just lay decorative pavers over it to make it look nicer. You would need to raise the level of the ground around it to match then but possibly easier than ripping it out completely to replace with something else but with the level sidewalk as a base the new one would also be level.

 

[sissy]

they steal them here because there is no health laws so you don't need running water or septic tank and people just buy property and put sheds on them or campers or what ever and live in them with nothing .Porta johns are in high demand

 

[herzausstahl]

they steal them here because there is no health laws so you don't need running water or septic tank and people just buy property and put sheds on them or campers or what ever and live in them with nothing .Porta johns are in high demand

New age outhouse?????

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks Nathan for offering to help with ideas. The guy who is helping me with the labor knows a lot about plants but doesn't know that much about ponds. We were talking about how to get ideas about where the pavered area for seating will go and naturally i wanted to put it by the water. My wife wanted it close to the building but in my opinion it would be too far away. She wanted to have a nice path to carry groceries from the garage. The guy helping me wanted to get some spray paint and spray the layout. I said lets just get a garden hose from the garage and do a little layout. It actually worked out pretty well. I don't really want paint spraying by the pond. The fish have had enough stuff going in the water with all the construction. See picture below. It's not the greatest because the sun was setting and it was a very overcast afternoon. We picked up the garden hose because my wife wanted the area cleaned up first before we made any decisions.
Sissy, Well that's interesting. If someone tried doing that in Chicago they would get in big trouble. The unions actually have more say in the building codes than anyone else.

There is a stump with branches growing out in front of the pond. It looks like a Bradford pear. We are thinking of keeping it because it looks so interesting and it's actually a good spot for a tree.

 

[CometKeith]

Here is one idea I have been thinking about. The red outlines the paver area more or less. It might get a little wider in the middle so it can go to the stairs from the front or side. It would have more rounded edges. i couldn't really draw it that way. I drew the table and chairs in black. Also I drew black rocks for the waterfall on the raised area in the left hand corner. I drew a rectangular area for our barbecue grill. I'm thinking about grass where i drew green. It will start on the hill and slope down. The orange are perennials/schrubs and the blue are annuals. Still don't know exactly how I want to edge the pond. Comments are welcome!!

 

[Tula]

Looks good ! I'd put something with some height in the back right corner, to balance out the water fall. I'm partial to flowering shrubs, like an Annabelle, Oak Leaf or Lime Light hydrangea....not sure where the property line is though.

 

[addy1]

That will look great, the orange line of shrubs etc will soften the structure behind the pond.

 

[Lisak1]

I would build as much patio as I could - the less grass to mow the better, in my mind! Our backyard is either patio, pond, path around the pond, or gardens. The side yard is grass for the dogs.

Are you getting flooding today @CometKeith ?

 

[Tula]

I would build as much patio as I could - the less grass to mow the better, in my mind! Our backyard is either patio, pond, path around the pond, or gardens. The side yard is grass for the dogs.

Are you getting flooding today @CometKeith ?

You sound just like us! We have the side yard and another area , for our dogs, but the rest is paths, gardens and pond. I wonder when the time comes for us to sell, if our yard will be considered high maintenance? We love to garden and do it for ourselves

 

[Lisak1]

I wonder when the time comes for us to sell, if our yard will be considered high maintenance?

People who see our yard ALWAYS say "this must be SO MUCH WORK!" Well, it WAS, but not anymore. Yes, building the pond was work and planting all the plants was work, and building paths was work... but isn't mowing your lawn work? And when you love what you're doing, it doesn't feel like work - it's just fun! And we're to the point with our yard where everything is pretty much the way we like it, so it's really all fun now. When we take on a new project, it's because we want to, not because we have to. When you have a big old yard full of grass you HAVE to mow or your neighbors will come knocking!

 

[addy1]

lol as far as I am concerned just die while owning the house, let the executor of the will worry about selling.

Anybody with eyes will say this yard is tooooooo much work. They will probably plow everything under including the pond.

People who see our yard ALWAYS say "this must be SO MUCH WORK!"

people now want a zero maintenance yard, zero work, more time to sit on the computer, table, phone typing.

 

[herzausstahl]

How about the best of both Keith? Move the waterfall to the area in blue. It allows you to walk past while carrying in groceries & doesn't obstruct view of pond from patio & possibly is visible from the patio. It also allows the second small pond viewing/relaxing patio that's big enough for a bench or an aderondeck chair or two. Do perennials & shrubs all along the pond edge to avoid disturbing it over the years. I have annuals in yellow. Grill in same spot. Is the pear too close to the pond that in the future, leaves or shade will be an issue? For the green as your plant guy about low level ground covers or moss that will give you that grass/feel look without the need to lug the mower back there. Plus patio is close to the house to keep your wife happy & allow you free reign on the rest. lol unless you pulled a page out of my book & surrender the inside of the house completely for almost total control of the outside.

 

[CometKeith]

Nathan, great ideas thanks. we have two chairs that would go great in that spot too. Thanks for the revised drawing.
Lisak it rained like crazy here but no problems around us. How about you? This was the most filled I have ever seen my pond. What about you? Thanks Tula/Addy. When we sold our house last year the people who bought it liked the pond and got rid of it 3 months later!