FountainMan
Dihydrogen Monoxide-scaping.
Lessons learned the hard way lead to a better version of my patio pond in the making.
Long post ahead.
It all began back in July when a mistake in filling the pond resulted in all my goldfish dying. My apartment was kind enough to let me tap into some of their sprinkler heads outside my patio using some riser adapters. The problem is, it’d rained a week prior and the sprinkler system’s rain sensor had kept the sprinklers off and my pond from being topped off.
The water in the pond had gotten low so I filled it from the kitchen sink not knowing the rain sensors had reset and the sprinklers would run that night. The next morning I found all my goldfish dead. A few days later my pond decided to spring a leak.
Faced with one catastrophe after another, I went in and gutted the whole pond which was built back in 2020 as a way to keep myself occupied when we were all sheltering in place during the pandemic.
Anyways, I completely redesigned the pond and went with a gravity feed design similar to what many koi ponds use. The liner I’d used before was the cheap stuff they sell at the hardware stores and I’d become accustomed to them leaking, buying another and just installing it in the old liner. This time I went for a Firestone PondGuard EPDM liner.
Being gravity fed, I installed 2 bulkheads in the liner that feed to a concealed tank underneath the garden. This tank now contains pump and most of the plumbing and other equipment.
I know some water gardeners may cringe at the idea of going through an expensive liner with bulkheads. I did extensive research on how to do it right. Along with the liner, I purchased Firestone’s liner repair patch kit and used the patches to reinforce the liner around the bulkheads and to add extra padding to create a better seal.
The patches were applied before cutting the holes with a hole cut saw being careful to tension the liner so the saw wouldn’t snag the liner and wrap it around the tool and ruining the liner. Once the holes were cut, the bulkheads were tightened using a chain vice grip.
Once everything was tightened, I did a preliminary fill to check for leaks and waited a week to see if any water appeared underneath the pond indicating a leak. Fortunately there were none. I extended the raised bed and water course to the other end of the patio installing more MacCourt preformed liners along the stream. The outgoing bulkhead in the pond is connected to a DIY skimmer to collect surface debris.
When the sprinklers run, the water coming from those goes into the tank and the pump turns off and an aerator runs for a few hours to try and release some of the chlorine before the pump runs again. Hoping this will safeguard against any future problems.
Over the months, other things added such as new lighting, potting soil around the outside of the water garden, some cat litter used as a planting substrate.
Still have some additional equipment to buy, as well as additional stonework.
The completed pond. New goldfish coming soon. Playing around with the Govee RGBIC lighting.
The finished garden except I still need to add a row of pavers along the top to conceal the black plastic.
Added this pool in the water course.
Curved waterfall.
A closeup of the skimmer in action. This connected to the bulkhead that feeds to the storage tank.
The newest garden area and some of the water gardening books I’ve consulted throughout this project.
Long post ahead.
It all began back in July when a mistake in filling the pond resulted in all my goldfish dying. My apartment was kind enough to let me tap into some of their sprinkler heads outside my patio using some riser adapters. The problem is, it’d rained a week prior and the sprinkler system’s rain sensor had kept the sprinklers off and my pond from being topped off.
The water in the pond had gotten low so I filled it from the kitchen sink not knowing the rain sensors had reset and the sprinklers would run that night. The next morning I found all my goldfish dead. A few days later my pond decided to spring a leak.
Faced with one catastrophe after another, I went in and gutted the whole pond which was built back in 2020 as a way to keep myself occupied when we were all sheltering in place during the pandemic.
Anyways, I completely redesigned the pond and went with a gravity feed design similar to what many koi ponds use. The liner I’d used before was the cheap stuff they sell at the hardware stores and I’d become accustomed to them leaking, buying another and just installing it in the old liner. This time I went for a Firestone PondGuard EPDM liner.
Being gravity fed, I installed 2 bulkheads in the liner that feed to a concealed tank underneath the garden. This tank now contains pump and most of the plumbing and other equipment.
I know some water gardeners may cringe at the idea of going through an expensive liner with bulkheads. I did extensive research on how to do it right. Along with the liner, I purchased Firestone’s liner repair patch kit and used the patches to reinforce the liner around the bulkheads and to add extra padding to create a better seal.
The patches were applied before cutting the holes with a hole cut saw being careful to tension the liner so the saw wouldn’t snag the liner and wrap it around the tool and ruining the liner. Once the holes were cut, the bulkheads were tightened using a chain vice grip.
Once everything was tightened, I did a preliminary fill to check for leaks and waited a week to see if any water appeared underneath the pond indicating a leak. Fortunately there were none. I extended the raised bed and water course to the other end of the patio installing more MacCourt preformed liners along the stream. The outgoing bulkhead in the pond is connected to a DIY skimmer to collect surface debris.
When the sprinklers run, the water coming from those goes into the tank and the pump turns off and an aerator runs for a few hours to try and release some of the chlorine before the pump runs again. Hoping this will safeguard against any future problems.
Over the months, other things added such as new lighting, potting soil around the outside of the water garden, some cat litter used as a planting substrate.
Still have some additional equipment to buy, as well as additional stonework.
The completed pond. New goldfish coming soon. Playing around with the Govee RGBIC lighting.
The finished garden except I still need to add a row of pavers along the top to conceal the black plastic.
Added this pool in the water course.
Curved waterfall.
A closeup of the skimmer in action. This connected to the bulkhead that feeds to the storage tank.
The newest garden area and some of the water gardening books I’ve consulted throughout this project.
