Just spent the past few hours watching all 21 episodes of how to build a fish pond. Interesting stuff, and very helpful.Have you ever watched The Pond Digger on YouTube. He has a great series on pond building - I think you'd find it helpful if you haven't already seen it. I'm a very visual learner so being able to watch the process is so helpful. I can share the link if you want.
In basic terms though, when you rock a pond it is basically just a dry stacked wall. You want your walls to slope slightly backward to make it a bit easier to build a stable wall. It's way easier than it sounds. And while, yes, you will end up with a wall of stacked rock, once your pond is full you really don't see it that way. Algae grows and it all just kind of blends together.
That is a cute green fish!Welcome to our group!
This is what @Lisak1 is saying for the first shelf, it hides the liner wonderfully. The red is rocks
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Man, I wish I could find one of these! Sold out everywhere! There are a few other options on Amazon I may be stuck with but not as slick as this one.Oh, I'm so glad you took he time to watch - that's a great series he put together and the way he breaks it down makes the whole process so much simpler to understand. Plus he shares lots of pro tips to make a pond look natural rather than like a hole in the ground surrounded by a ring of rocks.
The big boulders can be challenging! But the idea is the same, whether you scale it up or scale it down. And when it comes to rocks (that you can see) less is always more. I've seen lots of pretty waterfalls made with three nice, manageable boulders.
I'll tell you how we managed the bigger boulders in our build (and by we, I mean mostly my boy - but sometimes Mom got into the rock hauling act when the brothers weren't all available) - we used a piece of underlayment as a sling. We'd lay out the underlayment and roll the boulder on to the center and use the four corners as "handles" to carry rocks that were way bigger than anything we would have managed by hand. Frequently we set the rock where we wanted it and then just cut around the underlayment and left what was under the rock in place. It was way easier than trying to get it out from underneath and it provided a bit of padding between the rock and the liner.
Late in the pond building game we discovered this tool:
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It's called a "pot lifter" or I've seen it sold as a "Pro Lifter". What a difference that thing made! We made quick work of our last dozen or so boulders once we bought this thing. It was designed for nurseries to lift and carry big planters, but we actually found it at a pond store.
I realize these are all "we" stories and not "me" stories, but maybe you can find that one special person to help you. Or maybe you can find a teenager who'd love to make a few bucks helping you haul some boulders. The boulders we moved were all what are considered "two man" or "three man" boulders. All were manageable with the right tools. And like I said, frequently it was me and my son moving the big rocks and, while I am a relatively strong over-50 year old woman, I am no match for my boys. But we managed without a whole lot of difficulty.
Just use some pieces of underlayment as a sling. They work great.Man, I wish I could find one of these! Sold out everywhere! There are a few other options on Amazon I may be stuck with but not as slick as this one.
I was planning on trying this method too. Not knowing how well it works has me looking for other back up options as well. Sounds like maybe I dont need a backup then. Some of these boulders are big and dreading having to move them.Just use some pieces of underlayment as a sling. They work great.
there are other alternatives .
forearm fork truck
forearm forklift - Google Search
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another indispensable is a hand truck fabric liner fabric cardboard and you can lower boulders strap them to the dolly and then roll the boulder to the side
using fabric on the ground like a slip and slide and then roll bolder onto card board and slip sliding away roll cardboard up boulder in the front and tape around the boulder to hold it up
Or do what we stuborn pollocks do Punt. rent an excavator WITH A THUMB to set the boulders.
As I'm thinking about it I do have a 12 inch wide sling I could sell for half price plus shipping if you'd like I'll never use it again.
Hey @GBBUDD not sure i am following this? I have been using a hand truck to move the around the yard and it works well. Are you saying slowly lower it down the shelf like you would stairs? I would be afraind of ruining the edge but maybe thats not a big deal?another indispensable is a hand truck fabric liner fabric cardboard and you can lower boulders strap them to the dolly and then roll the boulder to the side
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