Pond without liner

[Stephen T.]

On my first pond, about 15 years ago, I used 12 mil silver tarp for a 9x12x3' deep pond. I had sandy soil with no roots and put down old blankets/carpet, etc., some worn but still decent thin blue tarps, then the silver. It worked fine for 4 years, when we sold the place. I used a 600 gpm, cheap pump bought off ebay and a barrel/volcanic rock filter. I probably had $80 in materials and some scrounging into the whole thing.

My present pond was also done on a slim budget and lots of scrounging and garage sales. I found an EPDM rubber pond line that was left over from a large home pond project and got a 16x25 chunk for $100 including a 6x8 scrap and about 1/2 enough pond liner. I did buy geotex from a local pond shop to go under it.

I suspect I have more "elbow grease" than anything else into my present pond/stream. Good luck, where there's a will, there's a way!

 

[Waterbug]

@Waterbug
I don't know why you would say that I am not looking down at anyone nor do I think I am better then any one.
Since we don't really know each other I would appreciate you not judge me or,be disrespetful.

Ruben

When a statement starts out "I don't mean to be rude"...pretty much know what's going follow. You may not think you were looking down your nose by telling someone they don't have enough money, but kind of seems a bit rude to me. And if you chose to be rude to people I have no problems being rude to you.

That should get me booted off this forum.

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Well now I am pretty pissed so I won't say any more.
The fact is you are not worth it.

Ruben Miranda

 

[Lisak1]

That should get me booted off this forum.

ha! Are you done with us @Waterbug? NO ONE BOOT WATERBUG! I LIKE HIM!

"Not to be rude" is a pet peeve of mine, too - similar to "nothing personal" or "no offense". If you don't want to be rude, then avoid saying the thing that you fear might be rude!

$500 wouldn't get me a pond that I would want either, so if that was all I had I probably wouldn't attempt a pond. Nor would $1000 or $2000 for that matter. But some people are extremely good at bargain shopping and scavenging and pulling together things out of nothing. I'm just not one of them. A lot of people might find it a challenge to try to build a pond with as little actual cash as possible. I'd be curious to see how far he could get on 100 bucks! (Just no one tell my husband... haha!)

 

[Stephen T.]

I guess I'm on a real budget and still managed. My first pond, as I mentioned, used a heavy silver tarp about 12x16. I used pond foam to spread across the top 13" or so with a plastic tool, then spread sand on it to hide the tarp. There was a waterfall about 20" tall, then a stream along the left side. This was done about 1998 or so and cost a total under $80.

Next pond was probably cheaper, 2 scrounged preforms and a cheap liner in the middle pond, about 6x9. There was a waterfall and 25' of stream, the first preform, the larger pond, then a 10' stream and the other preform. The "stump" was actually a very heavy pipe set in concrete that had an old style satellite dish. I used 3 slabs of cedar to disguise it. You can't see all 3 ponds in this photo.

This one was still functional after 8 years when we moved to our present location. So, to me, it seems a decent water feature can be built on a budget.

 

[Lisak1]

You've proved that point @Stephen T. - in fact, you went WAY beyond decent!

I think it all depends how skilled you are at salvaging, scrounging, and making something out of "nothing". It's almost a lost art.

 

[Lisak1]

I was searching and searching for your faked out stump... I was like "all I see is that dead tree in the middle there..." WOW! It looks great!

 

[cas]

Some great ideas @Stephen T. !

 

[Mucky_Waters]

One person's puddle is another person's pond.
I built my first turtle ponds when I was about 5 or 6 years old when I dug a hole in the back yard and filled it up with the garden hose for my my pet red eared slider. Even at that early age I knew keeping my turtle in one of those clear plastic bowls with the little island in the middle and the stupid little fake plastic palm tree was just wrong, so I use to dig holes in the yard and run water from the hose into them, often with elaborate meandering streams and waterfalls. I'd try and adjust the flow of the hose to perfectly match how fast the water would drain into the ground to maintain a constant water level, and even had an island with some kind of transplanted weed I found that resembled a tiny palm tree. Of course it all cost nothin and was probably less than 2 ft in diameter but to the 6 year old me it was all pretty exciting and a great way to spend time with my pet turtle on a warm summer day.

 

[sissy]

My first pond was on a budget ,got roofing liner real cheap .Pump was harbor freight one for less than 30 dollars and in the pond bucket filter .There are places like freestyle and even ads in local papers and craigslist .House auctions are a great place .I go on www.auctionzip.com and look up my state and most times they include pics of what is for sale at the house .I have gotten great bargains

 

[Usman]

just for motivation ... my 1st liner pond was when i was teen was made from a used table plastic cover lol it was very thin and transparent , thats how i know how much it will survive and how roots behave , i raised goldfishes and they spawned too , so it will prolly survive 1 or 2 years without any issue if u take care of it and good inner below it . im sure ur plastic will b better then what i used . unti then u can save money and upgrade as soon as possible .

i remember when iw as 5 years i used to buy small fry from fish shops and raise them in glass jar so i dont think thers any need for money if u have passion , u can do as u cann in smaller scale

 

[sissy]

I have seen those pvc liners here survive for 12 years .We don't get a lot of cold .But have had owners at the garden center that ask about when they should replace the old pvc liner .I am amazed at the answer they give me when I ask how old it is .They said when they built the pond that was all that was available to them here at the time .I guess things can survive like pvc under certain circumstances .Most were smaller ponds and they wanted to go bigger

 

[cas]

clear plastic bowls with the little island in the middle and the stupid little fake plastic palm tree

I had one of those too!