- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
- Messages
- 15
- Reaction score
- 18
A lot has happened since I first posted out here. For as long as I can remember I've wanted a pond, I have always loved water and the outdoors. But being a family man, the backyard was always for our daughter. It was a jungle gym, an ice rink and then a pool with a deck. The last year the pool was only used a couple times, so I knew it was time to sell it and start my life long dream of building " Rollie's Wonder Garden " so construction started, or I should as destruction. And the pool was gone. I desided to start with a pondless water fall just to get my feet wet. After many, many hours of research I felt pretty confident in what I wanted. I found a great online source "Webbs water garden " for equipment and supplies. I have always been able to put to reality what I see in my head. I desided on a waterfall with a 25' stream to start with and than next year dig out the pond. After more research and thinking ahead I purchased a little giant 4800 gpm pump, an Atlantic waterfall spillway and a 10' x 35' epdm firestone liner. After trenching the stream and pit, I used a blue tarp just to check the flow rate. After some tweaking to get the right flow it was time to put down the liner and start hauling rocks. When it was time to fill the pit and plug in the pump I was a bit nervous. But it turned out just as I envisioned. Some landscaping to finish the edges and it was time to sit and enjoy the sounds and the nature that it quickly was attracting
THE BIG DIG...
I spent the winter doing more research and checking out a lot of garden ponds. I was surprised to find that what I had in mind, 3500 to 4000 gallons is considered to be on the larger size. The one regret that most pond owners seamed to have was that wish they had gone bigger. I was pretty confident I wouldn't fall into that. While I'm very much a diy kind of guy, I wasn't about to grab a shovel and wheel borrow and start digging. I hired a landscape company to do the dig. After trying a number of shapes it was time to pick one and get it done. On June 4th of last year they started and 5 hours later the hole was dug and the soil was trucked out. Money well spent. Now that I had the actual size I could order the liner and the skimmer. A week later my 25 x 35 arrived and was rolled out. While waiting I started on the cedar picket fence to keep the dogs out. With the liner in place, the real bull work began, hauling rocks. I'm fortunate to have a landscape company a couple miles away that specializes in rock. Having always being a rock hound I knew I wanted to line it with granite cobblers. Day after day I would hand pick around 1500 pounds, load them in my pickup and start setting them like a jigsaw puzzle. Between the waterfall, stream and pond, this is what 33000 pounds of rock looks like. On July 14th I put a meter on the garden hose and turned it on. Again I was nervous to see where the water level would be when it reached the high line on the skimmer. July 15th and 3400 gallons later it was perfect and I plugged in the pump. The waterfall came to life and the water rushed down the stream pouring into the pond. The flow and sound is just as I hoped. If you didn't know better you would think that you were in the woods by a natural pond. A little landscaping to hide the liner and finished the fence and it was time to relax and enjoy the rest of the summer.
Summer 2016.
Over the winter it was more research on fish and plants. I desided on Shubunkins. They're very hardy, the multiple colors are incredible and I hope to winter them in the pond. I found a great water garden company "Steinies" in two rivers that has fish and aquatic plants of every kind. Not to mention a wealth of information. I also purchased a 3000 gpm pump, a bio filter, uv light and a spill way. In early May I opened up the pond and started up the falls. I put in the bio filter and pump to get ready for the fish. The water warned up quickly and the third week in May we brought home 9 Shubunkins and a plethora of water plants. It took a few days for the fish to come out of hiding, but within a week they were taking food from my hand. I have the plants set and started on some more landscaping. The fish have multiplied and are growing. The lilies are blooming along with the other plants.
I'm sorry that this turned into such a long read. Now that the history is done I'll try and update on a more regular basis. The beauty of water gardening is that it's always evolving and changing. I still want to enclose the back and side with a cedar privacy fence and a bridge across the stream. That's for next year.
Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to your comments and any questions.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
THE BIG DIG...
I spent the winter doing more research and checking out a lot of garden ponds. I was surprised to find that what I had in mind, 3500 to 4000 gallons is considered to be on the larger size. The one regret that most pond owners seamed to have was that wish they had gone bigger. I was pretty confident I wouldn't fall into that. While I'm very much a diy kind of guy, I wasn't about to grab a shovel and wheel borrow and start digging. I hired a landscape company to do the dig. After trying a number of shapes it was time to pick one and get it done. On June 4th of last year they started and 5 hours later the hole was dug and the soil was trucked out. Money well spent. Now that I had the actual size I could order the liner and the skimmer. A week later my 25 x 35 arrived and was rolled out. While waiting I started on the cedar picket fence to keep the dogs out. With the liner in place, the real bull work began, hauling rocks. I'm fortunate to have a landscape company a couple miles away that specializes in rock. Having always being a rock hound I knew I wanted to line it with granite cobblers. Day after day I would hand pick around 1500 pounds, load them in my pickup and start setting them like a jigsaw puzzle. Between the waterfall, stream and pond, this is what 33000 pounds of rock looks like. On July 14th I put a meter on the garden hose and turned it on. Again I was nervous to see where the water level would be when it reached the high line on the skimmer. July 15th and 3400 gallons later it was perfect and I plugged in the pump. The waterfall came to life and the water rushed down the stream pouring into the pond. The flow and sound is just as I hoped. If you didn't know better you would think that you were in the woods by a natural pond. A little landscaping to hide the liner and finished the fence and it was time to relax and enjoy the rest of the summer.
Summer 2016.
Over the winter it was more research on fish and plants. I desided on Shubunkins. They're very hardy, the multiple colors are incredible and I hope to winter them in the pond. I found a great water garden company "Steinies" in two rivers that has fish and aquatic plants of every kind. Not to mention a wealth of information. I also purchased a 3000 gpm pump, a bio filter, uv light and a spill way. In early May I opened up the pond and started up the falls. I put in the bio filter and pump to get ready for the fish. The water warned up quickly and the third week in May we brought home 9 Shubunkins and a plethora of water plants. It took a few days for the fish to come out of hiding, but within a week they were taking food from my hand. I have the plants set and started on some more landscaping. The fish have multiplied and are growing. The lilies are blooming along with the other plants.
I'm sorry that this turned into such a long read. Now that the history is done I'll try and update on a more regular basis. The beauty of water gardening is that it's always evolving and changing. I still want to enclose the back and side with a cedar privacy fence and a bridge across the stream. That's for next year.
Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to your comments and any questions.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
