New Mexico Wildlife Pond

[GBBUDD]

One thing to note with your waterfall when the seams all line up one on top of the other it always looks man made never a natural look

 

[Rashad]

One thing to note with your waterfall when the seams all line up one on top of the other it always looks man made never a natural look

Oh, you mean the horizontal lines, good point I totally did that on accident but I guess the rocks I chose just happened to be about the same sizes. Can adjust that.

 

[Rashad]

Thank you for your help everyone! The pond got the wife sign off and approval so I'm going to call it pretty much complete other than finishing the edging and more plants and fish.

Since the last update I added a bunch of plants and moved the final big rocks into place. Going to add some goldfish next week after a road trip this weekend and then just gradually work on the edging. Hopefully not too many mosquitoes will get established before I add fish...

And as always I have questions. So I know white pvc isn't made to be exposed to sunlight. Does it need to be completely sealed off from light or will surrounding it with rocks like in this picture work? Maybe I should just paint it.

2nd question: How deep to plant bog plants? So at the aquatic store I got my plants from the pots are usually sitting completely submerged in water. So should I have the water line under the gravel go that far? It will cover up some of the lower leaves though. I just made sure the roots are all covered in water but now I'm worried too much is exposed? This is for cardinal flower, water plantain, and thalia.

3rd question: I made some plant pockets out of weed fabric and just nestled them between some rocks with the very bottom of the fabric wicking up some water for the plants. Is that going to be too much water for sedums and speedwell that are low lying ground covers?

Thanks everyone, I really mean it! I couldn't have done it without you all.

 

[combatwombat]

Looks awesome. Great job with your build! If the water is moving, mosquitoes shouldn't want to lay eggs on it. The fish will help, too, though. As for the PVC, I would spray paint it. That will take care of the UV issues and planting around it will make it pretty.

Keep us updated as you make little updates. Love to see it!

 

[cas]

Your pond is looking great!

 

[GBBUDD]

Hopefully not too many mosquitoes will get established before I add fish..

Don't need fish to keep bloodsucking away . Just keep the water moving is all it takes. They need total still water even a dew drop is enough . Moving pond water and there done for

 

[Laaf]

Looking awesome! Enjoy when you add fish and the toads and frogs come and lay their eggs too.

 

[combatwombat]

Don't need fish to keep bloodsucking away . Just keep the water moving is all it takes. They need total still water even a dew drop is enough . Moving pond water and there done for

Just found about a million larvae today in the rain water puddle at the bottom of my excavation. Smothered them with an oil slick of vegetable oil. Will see tomorrow if it worked. Caught one in the middle of morphing to an adult.

Watched some youtube videos on mosquitos this evening—there are species of them that actually float down streams and rivers, grabbing onto plants to find still water. Yikes. Making me think twice about some of the marsh areas I'm planning at the edge of the pond.

 

[addy1]

We have lots of water, mosquitoes can be bad here in Maryland. But in our yard area we have none. Too many bug eating critters, I have over 50 bird houses, frogs, dragon flies, bats, toads once we built the pond the biters all but disappeared. Go one street over and they complain about the biters.

The black crickets, flies have also reduced greatly.

 

[GBBUDD]

Making me think twice about some of the marsh areas I'm planning at the edge of the pond.

You better be prepared to deal with the roots of any trees planted close to the pond yes I have a weeping red bud but I also have two layers of fiberglass sheeting between the redbud and the liner.

 

[GBBUDD]

Smothered them with an oil slick of vegetable oil.

I have dumped gasoline in bird baths loaded with the little buggers it did nothing. Best answer pump the water.

 

[combatwombat]

You better be prepared to deal with the roots of any trees planted close to the pond yes I have a weeping red bud but I also have two layers of fiberglass sheeting between the redbud and the liner.

I meant very shallow pockets between the boulders and the liner at the top edge of the pond for marginal plantings. Inside the pond, but would be pretty stagnant since the boulders will block circulation.

 

[GBBUDD]

That's still not so much stagnant as it is lack of circulation the water will still get dispersed slowly but surely

 

[Rashad]

One more lesson that hopefully helps others. I thought I was smart putting an extra layer of underlayment under the rocks at the edge of the pond to protect the liner, but as I work on the edging I realized that it was wicking water up and out of the pond, so I had to cut it back to just under the rocks and then I'm going to foam it before finalizing the edge treatment to reduce wicking and evaporation.

 

[combatwombat]

One more lesson that hopefully helps others. I thought I was smart putting an extra layer of underlayment under the rocks at the edge of the pond to protect the liner, but as I work on the edging I realized that it was wicking water up and out of the pond, so I had to cut it back to just under the rocks and then I'm going to foam it before finalizing the edge treatment to reduce wicking and evaporation.

Ah, good catch. I wonder if that is unique to non-woven fabric as it holds moisture in it vs. woven seems to shed water.