The pond dig has begun!

[fishin4cars]

Oh, you have almost perfect water! you'll need the oyster shell as Addy suggested but that should get you right up in the correct range no problem, You may see a little ph increase which will be fine. what you will want to watch as your pond ages is that the KH doesn't get below that and that the PH stays above 7.0, going a liitle below won't hurt the fish but it is s sign that the OH could crash. water change and a little baking soda would fix that easy. And no added chlorine and such chemicals. NICE! Oh and as for the underlayment, the more bigger wrinkles that you get out the easier to do the liner, but by far they don't have to be all neat, I just suggest that to get practice for the liner. If you have been practicing with the tarp same principle. Your welcome to help me do my big one when your done!

 

[addy1]

Thanks for the kind words, Fishin. I'll work on the wrinkles tomorrow evening. Guess I figured since it was such a lightweight fabric, it didn't really matter. Or, maybe I was just being lazy. I have the hang of the tarp, though, so can slip under it and work on the underlayment, even if it's raining. LOL And, my sister made a good point, better get a pump purchased, as it will be much harder to place it after the water is in! I've put it off too long, and still have no pump. :-( If need be, I'll put on my wetsuit, mask and snorkel and get it done after the water is filled in.

I use external pumps, have on all of my ponds....lol ..............no getting this body wet in that cold water! I find them easier to take care of, turn off, clean leaf basket, turn back on lol
Made a home made bottom drain, working great! lol (el cheapo here)

 

[CountryEscape]

Addy, the pump for the skimmer will be in the skimmer, I think, or at least that's what I saw at the garden center, which I think is where I will get that part. I need to "suck up" to them so I have local people to ask questions when I need answers.
Thanks, Sissy, yes, the ground has been extremely easy to work with. I hesitate to say "easy digging" ...
Fishin, the KH is at 27 on one well, 35 on another well, and a different number with the softened water. Funny, but I think the "softened water" was the highest KH! Thanks for the pointers, though. I'm pretty sure I should not have any major problems with the water; however, since I am surrounded by farmed fields, I suspect there may be some chemicals and so forth that will leech into my wells at times. Not sure how I would check for that, but since my water tank for the horses gets green stuff on the sidewalls, I'm pretty sure the water is rich in fertilizer. LOL Maybe it would be anyhow, maybe most ground water creates algae.

 

[fishin4cars]

if you suspect there may be leeching of ground chemicals you can always put activated carbon somewhere in your filter system and allow the water to pass through it and it will remove most of those chemicals. they should be in very low amounts but could still cause some health issues, that would be a cheap way to prevent a lot of those problems and not expensive to do at all. as for the ferts. well going to have some healthy plants, algae, and may have to eventually turn to using a UV, but that too has ways to be cotrolled.

 

[sissy]

remember it is not only chemicals that will leech in you will have horse poo cow poo and if anyone nearby has chickens or geese .I built my pond above ground to keep that from happening because of all the farms here and also because of scrub pine making the soil acidic .I had the hardest time even getting grass and trees I planted to grow ,I had to add tons of lime and epsom salts and composted manure .This is the land as I bought it and put my house up 6 years ago.The developer of the land stripped all the lots .I have put back over 30 trees and about 15 shrubs .Alot of fruit trees also

 

[CountryEscape]

Sissy, shame on that developer for stripping the land! I have the only mature trees within a mile. I had to cut down 5 of them, because they were soft maples, and mostly rotten. Left 2 huge elms, which look like Halloween trees (very scary looking LOL) and a couple of the soft maples, but have since planted hard maples, pin oak, red oaks, flowering Red Buds and Crabapples, and spruce trees. All of these are not close to the pond, except the 2 burgandy leaf Red Buds and a Dogwood. My yard is lush with grass, so no problem there. And, I loved this place when I bought it 2.5 years ago because the previous owners had never landscaped it! Well, except for a few bushes and evergreen trees in front, all of which got moved around.
My pond is going to be at least 8" above ground level, too, to keep any ground water out of it. However, no way to keep other things from leeching into the well, which is about 30' from the pasture where the horses are. I assume most of that fills in from quite a ways down, though, so not too worried about it, although I know that things can and do leech into it.

 

[sissy]

don't you love the burgandy leaf red buds and I have a pink dogwood and a white one 2 peach trees 2 pear trees 4 apple trees and 2 pink crab apple and 3 white crab apple birds and deer love them 3 cherry trees 1 is a sour cherry .6 different kinds magnolia's 12 double athena or rose of sharons ,5 black eldeberry and just added 2 blueberry to the 2 I already had and 3 raspberry .I have 4 bradford pears and 6 cleveland pears .7 maple trees and 3 curley willows . So safe to safe I have put a variety back and now that stupid forester cut down part of my woods behind my property 26 trees he cut down that were mine all over 50 feet tall and now I will have to take him to court .He already got tons of tickets .I had come in and cut down most of the scrub pines so the oaks and maples could have light and room to grow .I was not home when he did it but it was all clearly marked and also signs I had to buy from the county to post on the trees with address of owner .Dumb idiot

 

[sissy]

most wells are safe as long as they are tested had a neighbor who had problems with her well but thats because he did not dig it deep enough .mine is 500 feet so better be deep enough

 

[fishin4cars]

Sounds like I better leave the well topic alone to some of you that know more about it. LOL lot's of stuff to get in the water I haven't considered or dealt with. Only dealt with one well and If memory serves me right it was a 1500ft water well and it was way out in the woods ind country.

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, my wells are all 3 called "shallow" wells, since the water table is very close to the surface here. They have running springs in them, so not much worry about much leeching in, although there is stuff that leeches in, and usually they are fine, unless they are domant. When I moved in, my house well did not pass code, but now it does, and I have a UV light on it (but I don't use it). Never had the horse water well tested, but it should be good, too. I used it to water all new landscaping since I've moved here, and believe me, I've used it a LOT! That's the one I will use to fill my pond ..... WHICH HAS A LINER IN IT!!!! I will post pics on the next post! Sissy, your place must be gorgeous when all those trees are blooming! I have tried to do the spring flowering trees, and fall beautiful leaves, too. I only have 6 acres, though, and 4 of that is pasture for my 2 horses.

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, the liner is in, all done by yours truly! Well, me and my trusty Internation 574 utility tractor with loader!!! I'm soooo excited! Was supposed to have help, but he piddled around too long, and I got antsy, so this is the result! Amazing what you can do when you think things through! Just unfolded liner in my yard, then folded it side to side to the middle, then ends folded toward middle. Put in scoop, lowered as far as it would reach, rolled folded liner out, and unfolded it! Piece of cake! Well, doable anyhow. LOL
Now, when boyfriend gets here, I will give him the task of helping me make up a material list for the DIY Skippy filter, and we will get those parts, pipe leading to the pumps, skimmer and pump from local garden shop (going to cost more, but then I will have a local person to ask questions of when/if I need help quick!). Once I get the pump set for the skimmer and fountain, I will fill the pond! The pump for the waterfall can come later, and yes, I will have to go into the cold water, but that's ok. It will be fun. Probably put on a wetsuit. LOL
I want to thank each and every one of you who has helped me along the way, and will be my guides as I venture into this new dream! At age 53 and only 5' tall, always fighting with my weight, this was my "gym time" this past month, and my daughter and I are alike in that we love to be able to say "I did it myself". Not that I didn't want help, just that help didn't come soon enough, and I had planned and replanned it out in my head so many times, I just HAD to see if my idea would work .... and it DID!!!
Can't wait to hear the water flowing and fountain bubbling.

 

[j.w]

Very good accomplishing all that by yourself. Now when you add the water add it slowly and be in there smoothing it all out the best you can and it will look just fine when done :bouncycig:

 

[fishin4cars]

Looks really good! great job! looks like you have a good size piece of liner going toward the bog area, leave all that. Wait to trim that side as you may be able to put that liner to very good use for the bog. I'm impressed!

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks JW! I wondered if it would be ok to keep smoothing as it fills. I'll do that for sure.

 

[CountryEscape]

Yep, Fishin, there is plenty for the bog, planned it that way. And, Someone was watching out for me through this whole process! I think of all the things that would have caused major problems during the dig - water line might have been there, huge foundation stones to be removed, etc. and when that liner worked out so perfectly, I once again thanked Him for helping me and guiding me through the ordeal. I feel truly blessed to have accomplished this all by myself. I can't wait to sit and listen to the water. I'm eating lunch on the deck, just dreaming, a dream that will come true in the next coming hours, I hope!