Wanting a bog for natural filtration

[pugle1]

I like this ... also part of FrogWatch Ontario.

 

[pugle1]

So here, we're laying some cut limestone pieces around the bog. Just need to get some garden edging so that we can finish it off and fill the gaps with small river stone to tie it all together. Next year, I'm putting in a proper skimmer. I've left enough pond liner at the back end of the bog to do this. We got the limestone for free from a place in Burlington that makes natural stone patio stones. They give away the off-cuts and unusable pieces. Most of my cubic limestone came from there as well. All the river rock was from someone near-by that just bought a house. The original owner didn't want to cut grass, so they dumped about 20 tons of river rock all around their swimming pool. The new owner wants it all taken away as they want lawn. Free stuff is soooo good!

 

[pugle1]

Yesterday and today were both bad days. We noticed the water level dropped in the bog over Friday night into Saturday morning. Topped it up Saturday morning and it was down an inch and a half by noon. "Cripes! A leak!" is all I could think. Dammed the upper pond and pulled everything out of the bog. Drained it saving as much of the water as we could, and pumped the rest overboard through the back fence. Hmmmmm, no leaks to be found. Ah ha! ... there some soft ground under the brook. That must be where the leak is. Pull all the rock and stone out of the brook and lift the liner. It was wet underneath all the way to the top, then I knew it wasn't the brook. "Oh crap! Not the main pond!". So off with all the big cubic limestone around the main pond and "grrrrrr!" a stupid low spot on one bank of the main pond. Easy to fix but I wish I could have seen that at the start. I hated undoing all that hard work.

The water was seeping under the stones, and running down to the garden edging. It followed the garden edging and seeped under the liner at the top of the brook. I didn't plan on an underground stream... it just wasn't in the plans.Well, we lifted the liner at the low spot added some soil and re-laid the liner. Problem solved. So no more water loss, and now to put everything back into place. What a pain. Whew!, glad that's over! One good thing came of all of this though. Gave me a chance to add some stepped waterfalls the brook. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

 

[addy1]

Got to love leaks, they are sneaky.

 

[pugle1]

Got to love leaks, they are sneaky.

You have no idea! ... Well .... errrr.... considering the set-up you have addy I guess you probably do...lol. Second pic is my supervisor (Franklin). He was there to make sure I do the job right.
Third pic is where the leak / low bank was. I think what was happening was that I didn't allow for enough out-flow through the brook, so the top pond was over flowing. It's all fixed now as I added some soil under the liner at the low spot. Fourth pic is one of the new waterfall steps in the "re-done" brook.

 

[addy1]

Nice!

After this winter when the deer turned our yard into a snack bar, they walked the stream slope, pooped in the stream, walked in the stream, ate everything they could eat. But in that process they also knocked down some of the stream banks. When I turned in on for the summer, (after cleaning poop, plants, twigs, leaves out of it) I had around 5 low spots to fix. I just walked the stream looking for wet areas. Also monitored the pond level every day.

The ponds, after the first summer, have been stable, well all except on little preform that is now deleted and leaning on a fence. I replaced it with a liner pond.

 

[pugle1]

Just bird poop here addy...lol They steal my wild raspberries and leave little purple splats all over the place as a "thank-you". Oh... and squirrels. They drive my cat and dog nuts! We have deer in the area. They come onto the properties on the edge of town (pop 3200) but I don't have to deal with them. Now wild bunnies!... that's another story all-together!

 

[addy1]

Got that too.........bird poo.............and tons of rabbits, 5 little ones have picked 5 areas of the slope to call their own. They are always there, usually wait until you are within a few feet of them before they hop away.

 

[pugle1]

So, the edging is in and the stones laid, now for some extra pea gravel as a growing medium in the bog... next year PLANTS! Photo # 2 is my lovely wife Deb.Sorry about my big tan lined foot in photo# 9. Photo # 11 is my temporary weather resistant junction box. It's sitting where I'll put my real skimmer in next year. There's enough liner at that end (tucked under the rocks) to allow for the skimmer box.

 

[ZmanArt007]

That looks great It makes me want a bog, but I have no where to put one.

 

[pugle1]

Thanks Zman. It was a lot of work, but we're happy with the result. The water will be much more shallow one the gravel goes in, but a thick enough layer that's deep enough to protect hardy plant's roots come winter. Found some wild arrowheads, and I'm tempted to go get them, but I don't want to risk adding something bad (bacteria, pollution etc) to my system. Well, off to the greenhouse next spring to fill it all in with lots of plant. At least I'll have a good long time to pick and choose what to put in.

 

[michey1st]

Hi Pugle!

I just read through your thread, and I love the way your new bog and stream is evolving! I have to say, i'm intrigued by the idea of placing your pump in the bog! I'm now considering a similar setup with my pond upgrade =D Have you "buried" your filter box completely in gravel yet? Were you planning on filling your bog with gravel to the top? In my mind, i'm wondering if the gravel will somehow slow down the water from reaching the pump and may cause it to run dry...or is that a silly notion?

Also, can you elaborate on your impending skimmer install? I thought that skimmers were supposed to suck surface junk (like leaves and whatnot) in, but if your bog is filled with gravel, how will it actually be able to skim? Or, are you using it mainly as a housing for your pump outside the bog proper?

So sorry if these are silly questions, but I totally appreciate your advice!

Kindest regards,
Michele

 

[pugle1]

Hi Michele, All I did with my bog was dig a pit at the end of it and placed my pump inside of a container in that hole ( pond liner covers all of course). I left enough pond liner at the end of the bog that next season, I'll dig a hole outside of the perimeter of the bog so that I can install a proper skimmer box. That will reqire cutting the liner so that the water can flow into the skimmer as in a normal skimmer set up. I've not yet added all the pea gravel I need, and my "bog" is currently 1.5 to 2.0 feet deep, but once the gravel is added, the deepest point will be directly in front of the skimmer. The rest of the bog once filled with pea gravel will be between 0 and 10 inches of water depth ( gravel to surface). My build is backwards to most who have the bog before the pond.... mine is after the pond, so for me, dealing with sludge and junk on an annual basis will most likely be required. My bog was an afterthought. I already had my pond installed (uphill from where my bog now lies).

The skimmer will be a standard install (haven't decided on the brand yet) at the end of the bog with no gravel around it. Give me a few hours, and I'll post a pic and a diagram of what I'm talking about. I have no under-gravel plumbing because of my layout. Wish I could do that, but I can't sadly.

 

[pugle1]

Not a great diagram, but this is essentially what I have right now.... no gavel near the pump container. Once the skimmer is in ( picture it to the left of the diagram outside the bog liner) is where it will be.Again, going to leave the area directly in front of it gravel free.

Sorry for the crappy images (taken at night), but in the photo you can see the pond is at the upper right, the brook runs down to the left and the "bog" is at the lower left. At the moment, I just have a simple tote type container in a pit in the far left of the bog in which my pump sits. The filter is at the top right (you can't see it) in the sumac trees.When I install the skimmer it would at the far left of this image, dug on the outside of the bog liner. I have more than enough spare liner at that end to accommodate a skimmer. As I said, sadly with that set up (bog after the pond) I'll need to do a lot of cleaning each year.

 

[herzausstahl]

Hi pugle, is the skimmer to catch any debris that floats down from the pond above? Also I might have an idea for you if you want the water to flow from the stream opening under the gravel to the bottom, similar to what I plan on adding to the addition your working on. Let me know if your interested in more details.