What have you found during your pond digs?

[Ax01]

Hi, i thought it would be fun and interesting to share what we have found in the ground during our pond/water garden digs. were u surprised, maybe shocked by anything u dug up? i hope someone found dino fossils Lol. that would be really really awesome!

anyways i found so far:
-- an old inactive septic tank and pipe
-- 5 gallons of cobble/"river rock" that i will wash and reuse
-- found a deteriorated slipper last year while digging fence posts
-- and this chain. it wasn't bunch up, out seems to be stretched out over the yard. it was just below the "sod" as i was removing the sod and i only yanked/broke off and remove this amount. there's a but more of it buried.

Ok what have u found?

 

[addy1]

Our active septic tank and lines. Other than that just tons of shale.

 

[mrsclem]

Siding, bricks, electrical wiring, beer cans, shingles! Building crew just buried everything!

 

[Stephen Noble]

A cold water spring (really cold) just a little below the surface.

 

[Lin]

When I dug out the Bog, found a small fork with the name Elsie engraved on it. I researched the history of my house and found the family that owned it in the 1800s had a daughter named Elsie. The Bog turned out to be their ash pile and while hard to dig out, was perfect for drainage in the Bog.

 

[j.w]

Septic tank pipe under my first pond.

 

[Mmathis]

Nothing exciting, and I’m an archeologist-at-heart and a forensics buff, so was very disappointed! Was hoping to find clues that would solve some long ago cold case, or something to contribute to local history. But nothing but,

• a few soda bottles/cans
• lots of tree roots
• lots and lots of grub beetles — that was the Spring I became intimate with a family of robins

Who ever digs where our old house was (the above house) — they are going to find the remains of our old pond, and all the debris that the contractor used to fill the hole!

We are waiting to build in our current spot — hoping for cool stuff, as in, I get to yell out, “STOP THE DIGGING!”

 

[Ax01]

ok i am SO tired. spent like a full work day digging today. i got the shelves i want west of the pipe, just need to complete every west of it. i still need like 4more inches at the bottom tho. i think i need a break and will take tomorrow off to recharge, drink wine and watch the bachelorette re-run.

anyways i found this very neat igneous rock while digging today! its about the size of a very large orange/small grapefruit. i will clean it an use it as part of the pond.

 

[poconojoe]

The only things I usually find are roots and lots of rocks. Did I mention rocks? And lots of rocks too!!!! Oh, and rocks....

 

[AlyssaFish]

I found some marbles, a "fossilized" bouncy ball, a metric ton of plant roots (probably Virginia creeper), and bones. I think rib bones, probably from a previous owner's dinner. Of course I couldn't help myself speculating that the bones belonged to some poor murder victim!

 

[AlyssaFish]

OH. And I found the plastic packaging for the weed cloth. Apparently the landscapers who put our weed cloth down simply stuck all the plastic packaging underneath it rather than throwing it away. So that was a lovely surprise. -.-

 

[addy1]

Wait till you pull out old cabinets in your house, tons of worker debris sort of gross even, wrappers, bottles, etc etc

 

[Virginia Dee]

When I dug my pond in 2016 after moving from the city, I discovered pieces of glass and dishes and ceramics. I found out that there had been a house that burned down in 1971 on the land where my garden sits. Sadly, 5 women died in the fire so I have dedicated my entire garden and water garden to them. It will be 50 years next year so I am hoping to connect with the families and have a gathering at the pond to remember them.

 

[Mmathis]

@Virginia Dee What a nice story — well, sad, but nice at the same time!

I see this is your first time to visit us here at GPF. Why not go over to our “introductions“ topic and tell us something about yourself and your pond. Would love to see pics!

 

[Ax01]

The only things I usually find are roots and lots of rocks. Did I mention rocks? And lots of rocks too!!!! Oh, and rocks....

i've got like 13-15 gallons of cobble/river rock type rocks from my dig so far! i'm keeping them in planter pots and will rinse them and re-use in the pond. not too bad!

When I dug my pond in 2016 after moving from the city, I discovered pieces of glass and dishes and ceramics. I found out that there had been a house that burned down in 1971 on the land where my garden sits. Sadly, 5 women died in the fire so I have dedicated my entire garden and water garden to them. It will be 50 years next year so I am hoping to connect with the families and have a gathering at the pond to remember them.

nice tribute. it's really good and a consolation when something beautiful grow from a tragedy.