New Mexico Wildlife Pond

This is my pond showcase. It will be about 10 x 14 with an 8 x 4 raised bog.

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
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How meticulous do I need to be about getting out rocks under the liner if I'm using a nice thick underlayment?
We have rocks with a bit of dirt, I used carpet pad under the liner no issues. Lots of rocks left
 
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Build it as big as you can with the liner you have......or you will be wanting to expand it later. Looking amazing!
 
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Liner in and the beginning of the rocks. As I’m putting them in I’m noticing the sandstone is a bit crumbly. Am I an idiot for not googling rock types before this? Is sandstone in the water just going to erode away? Maybe just keep it away from the waterfall?
 

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Sandstone is, I think, a really popular pond rock. Used all the time. It does erode over time, but probably not in a timescale of your lifetime.

It’s not native around here so it’s not really used where I am.
 
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More rocks, plumbing set to the in pond intake and output to the bog. Just need to build the slotted pvc network and then I can test the plumbing, finish the rocks, build the waterfall, bring like 20 wheelbarrows full of gravel over from the driveway, do the edging, plant some plants, fill it. Crap I thought I was getting close...
 

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I got frustrated with lack of progress and decided to move some rocks... please advise on waterfall improvements. I’m planning to fill some of the gaps near the top with foam and medium rocks to direct the water mostly over that top rock. It’s all one liner so not a problem if some is going back behind there. I might use some scrap liner to make it a bit more water proof.
 

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You got the idea but one thing you'll never see is each step equal distance from each other or that they all are square on to the viewer . Turn one to the right pull one side forward about 6 inches make the falls so you see more of the sid e of the falls then you do head on. And so on and so one
 
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Agree w/ @GBBUDD: Waterfall needs to twist and turn more to look natural. Different sized pools behind each falls, etc. Gonna look great once you adjust it a bit.
 
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More rocks, plumbing set to the in pond intake and output to the bog. Just need to build the slotted pvc network and then I can test the plumbing, finish the rocks, build the waterfall, bring like 20 wheelbarrows full of gravel over from the driveway, do the edging, plant some plants, fill it. Crap I thought I was getting close...
LOL!
 
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I got frustrated with lack of progress and decided to move some rocks... please advise on waterfall improvements. I’m planning to fill some of the gaps near the top with foam and medium rocks to direct the water mostly over that top rock. It’s all one liner so not a problem if some is going back behind there. I might use some scrap liner to make it a bit more water proof.
my experience was; build it, rebuild it, build it again, rebuild it again, rinse wash repeat; I redid my first waterfall each of it's first 7 years, slight mods and even large ones. When I finally got it where I liked it, 2 years later I'm taking it all down for my expansion! Thing is, in all that rebuilding, I got to figure out exactly how I wanted it. So, build it and realize, you may be on the same path I was. It's not a bad thing, it's just tweaks to your pond. We do them all the time!

One thing I did was to move the largest rocks to the bottom most level and cornerstone the fall. Then I'd add some flatness as a shelf/pool between. I was also doing this so I could put lights BEHIND the falls at each level. So basically, I have an open area behind for whatever. When I redid everything, I used solid slabs as my base for each level THEN covered with the deco rock. I knew eventually I'd have plants on either side and allow them to naturalize everything. Here's a last October pic of the waterfall(s);
201006 - pond bog, pond, wfall 7.jpg
 
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Plumbing almost done. Any suggested changes to this layout? I was thinking about connecting the bottom right legs to make a square, not sure it would make a difference. Cleanout will come up from the that elbow at the bottom middle. It's all 2 inch pvc, planning on making the slits every 6 inches at the beginning and then every 4 inches a little further down the network.
 

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I was thinking about connecting the bottom right legs to make a square, not sure it would make a difference.

Connecting the legs into a square/grid likely will make a difference, and for the better. You should receive a more even pressure throughout the system that way. I'd do it.

It will also improve your ability to clean out at the clean out stack. Without it, you will have no way to clear muck in the dead end branches.
 

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