Reinventing my pond

[Doctor mcboy]

OK, I will look into the Bamboo thing, thanks for the heads up. I thought it would give a good backdrop to Jurassic garden. No liner yet, just got it dug before the winter rains hit hard so it will be full now till May/June with runoff. I will have to see what happens through the summer and decide what to do with it then. I was going to see if I can find clay locally to truck in as we have none on site just rocky gravel, shale and hardpan. Love your pond Dr, does it hold water all year? Is it just rainwater runoff or do you have to top it up?

i built it as a runoff pond. i have a lot of clay here and it held water the first time it filled up. it is rainwater, i have 7 300 gallon totes i catch water in and i drain them in the pond also.

 

[Evguy1]

Its been a while since I posted but lots have been going on. The new pond that we dug in October was nice and full all winter and spring but went bone dry this month. Ordered a liner and decided to go a bit bigger on the whole thing. The pond is now 50 feet wide by 60 feet long and 5-6 feet deep. The adjoining bog area is about 25 X 25 and 3 feet deep and I hope I dug it right. I got a one piece liner and did not realize it weighs 1500 lbs! Have not figure out how I'm going to install it yet since I don't have a flat side to roll it out on. Berm on one side and trees on the other. May have to hold the roll with an excavator and unroll as it moves along.

 

[GBBUDD]

MOST COMPANIES SHIP THEM FOLDED NOT ROLLED BE SURE TO SPECIFY

 

[GBBUDD]

FOR A NATURAL POND WHICH IS WHAT YOU DUG ANGLEd sides works but for a liner steped sides is the norm unless your doing a baldy / no rock in the pond

 

[Evguy1]

I pick up the liner tomorrow and its on a roll. Good point on the shape. It will have rocks around the top edge which becomes a shelf around one side where the ground is higher. Its a long term project as I still need to do layer of sand and underlayment. Lots of sharp shale so I want to be extra cautious. I could add a bench at about mid height.

 

[reefsr]

Would personally indent those shelves better and remove the big rocks. Looks like that's some tricky soil to deal with. Best of luck!

 

[Evguy1]

I will have a couple of months now to shape and rake all the rocks and shale from the pond, then a good layer of sand followed by 6oz fabric before the liner. This was supposed to be a summer long project, it just got a kick in the pants when the excavator showed up a month early. Not in any hurry and the summer is usually dry, I need rain water to fill this sucker. We also cleared a spot for two 2000 gallon plastic tanks to store water from the winter rains and feed the pond all summer to account for evaporation. Also backup for irrigation as we get drier ever year.

 

[Evguy1]

Its been a while since I have posted anything mostly because there has been nothing happening with my ponds all winter. We had a few nice days this week so I thought I would start the bog on my stream. I figure its the easiest one to build as a starter and make all my mistakes on. The pond at the bottom of the stream is only about 12 feet round so not a lot of surface area. There are no fish in this pond but some frogs and salamanders. Will there be enough nutrient to feed the bog?
Here is the stream from last year before the bottom landscaping was finished. The bog is going at the very top of the stream.

This was at the start of the day and how it sat all winter. The water was pumped up from the lower pond into this upper basin when it then flowed down the stream which is to the right side of the pic.

Got the bog hole dug and mostly shored up with some old blocks that were on the property. It will be about 4 feet wide and 6 feet long with about 16" of gravel in it. It will spill into the existing basin from a lowered section in the wall along the left side of the pic. The wall sits about 6 inches higher than the basin and I will try to find a flat rock as a spillway.

The white pipe is the water coming up from the pond. I was going to run it to two 2" pipes with the slots cut in them in the bottom of the bog and cleanouts at the far side. Lots of people add various forms of water retention like Aquablocks and I wonder if that is of any help on a small bog like this? I was thinking of just adding some 3" pipe with slots cut in it and the ends caped laid between the two feed pipes. Not mechanically connected to the feed pipes just as storage to slow the water down?? Was going to do about 1/2 the fill with 3/4" drain rock and the rest with Pea gravel? I had hoped to finish this weekend but weather looks like it's going to get cold and rain or possibly a bit of snow for the next few days.
Sure would appreciate any help on the proposed layout so I get this right the first time.

 

[GBBUDD]

THE MINIMUM DEPTH FOR A MATRIX BOG IS 30" DEEP plus 6" of containment above that and that's no water over the gravel which is ok

What you have done is coming along nicely

 

[Evguy1]

Thanks for the feedback but I'm not sure what it means.
Am I on the right track? any changes to my plan?

 

[GBBUDD]

your on the right track but be careful with the blocks the edges can get sharp and could easily rip the liner .. rounding the edge at the top there can help ease that problem

 

[Evguy1]

I have a lot of scrap offcuts from the ponds and stream liners so I was going to top the blocks with heavy landscape fabric and then a couple of layers of pond liner before the final liner. I may top them with some pressure treated 2X6 that I can round the corners on and then the layers on top of that. So I should not bother with the 3" pipe between the feed runs? Just put the 2" pipes down and fill with rock?

 

[poconojoe]

Looking good!

 

[addy1]

So I should not bother with the 3" pipe between the feed runs? Just put the 2" pipes down and fill with rock?

I would just do 2 inch pipes

 

[combatwombat]

Coming along nicely. Do my eyes deceive me or is that an absolutely massive bubbling rock in the pond? Looks like it’s a good 4’ wide.