Wisconsin Pond Build

[herzausstahl]

Looks nice and would be neat to be able to see a video and hear it also........hint,hint

LOL will get to that once I get my new pump for the gorge. Now that I have the stream set, I will get to that in the next month. Thinking of getting the same pump I have for my filter as I got to see how small it is for my mother-in-laws feature. Curious to try a laguna, but this one has held up well so far and uses less electricity than the laguna 1500, but might think of the laguna 2000 gph one so it is a rushing torrent anyone know how many gph a 1" tube can effectively handle before the difference in pumps is negated by the size of the tubing?

stream looks like it is running great .You will loose some what from evaporation on the really hot days with the sun beating on the rocks ,i know i loose at least an inch a week

Last summer wasn't too bad, but was cooler and the stream didn't have as many falls, but it had the bubbler going 24/7 and just gonna run the stream for 12-14hrs a day, so will be interesting to see what it does. Did add about three 5-gallon buckets of river rock to it so will be interested to see what effect on filtration that has.

 

[herzausstahl]

So today the pond was fairly cloudy so I decided to do a water change. Dropped it a foot and a half and readded the rocks to the upper pool.

Here is the cave that is by the deck, now you can see it better with the water level so low:



Here is the pond with the water low:



Here is what I did along the right side of the pond where a dead Hinoki Cypress was sitting (died over winter, still under warranty tho):



Today I noticed that someone else moved in to the yard:



And here is the upper pool rocked out:



So the next step is to get some river rock and fill in any gaps in the pond, stream, and upper pool. Also I will take out any of the cattails I put in last fall that did not come up this spring. Also on Tuesday going to get some horsetail to put in the pond. I also need to check the edges of the pond under the deck to see if I need to raise them for the higher water level for when the stream shuts down, gonna do that before I add a timer to it. My other projects, redo some of the rock ridges in the landscaping, add more outlets and then some underwater lights, possibly add some flowers, some inground bird baths using excess liner, a pump for the gorge, and of course whatever else pops into my head in the meantime. Probably mostly gonna be limited by my budget, but it wouldn't be any fun if I could do it all at once, right?

 

[j.w]

Things are really progressing and all looks great Herz and love how your new tenant made a nest on top of the bird house instead of inside,lol!

Your fish are gonna love that hide out cave for sure!

 

[sissy]

maybe the hole was to small for the bird to get into .I make all my holes 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches .

 

[CountryEscape]

Looks like a robin nest on top of a bluebird house. Very creative of the Robin!
My barn swallows are back, at least 2 pairs now. Love listening to them chirp.
Your pond and stream and falls are fantastic, Herz! I can picture your items you plan to do in the coming months. Lots of work, and lots of fun and will be great to see the finished product ... well if the product is ever really finished, which I highly doubt.
You're lucky they warrant the cypress tree. Around here, no more warranties after 60 days. So, that is pretty much after you drive off the lot, it's yours!

 

[herzausstahl]

maybe the hole was to small for the bird to get into .I make all my holes 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches .

that one is a wren house so it has a smaller hole, I have 2 others that they call "bluebird houses" that have a bigger opening

Looks like a robin nest on top of a bluebird house. Very creative of the Robin!
My barn swallows are back, at least 2 pairs now. Love listening to them chirp.
Your pond and stream and falls are fantastic, Herz! I can picture your items you plan to do in the coming months. Lots of work, and lots of fun and will be great to see the finished product ... well if the product is ever really finished, which I highly doubt.
You're lucky they warrant the cypress tree. Around here, no more warranties after 60 days. So, that is pretty much after you drive off the lot, it's yours!

thanks patti, but they are all smaller projects so could easily be done by june if not sooner, but you are right, will probably always keep tweeking things until I run out of ideas or space, but then will move to other parts of the yard. i got it at home depot so it had a 1 year warranty, a lot of places here give you at least a year so it is nice, unless it is a clearance item at one of the garden centers, they don't warranty those, but this was clearanced at home depot and they do!

 

[CometKeith]

Herz, Your stream looks great. Nice job!

 

[addy1]

It all looks great! good job Herz

 

[sissy]

really do it all at once and your done hmmmm wonder how that works .never been there never done that lol

 

[herzausstahl]

So I began doing some of the projects I mentioned, and a few more.

So first off I happened to be driving home last night and saw some people in the neighborhood redid some landscaping and had 2 shrubs on the curb. Circled around and they turned out to be 2 blue alberta spruce's freshly dug up that day. So I grabbed them and planted them right away in the dark using the yard lights and a headlamp. Wanted to get them in the ground and water them to see if I could save them. So I used one to replace the hinoki cypress I dug up.



I paired it with the driftwood I had earlier placed in that spot. There is a ground feeder behind it (plastic plant drip saucer). These were fairly big and probably would have been in 5 gallon pots at the store, so probably $50-70 a piece, easily best curb side pick up I've ever found. Now just hope they take hold, both had some decent roots left, one more so than the other, so expecting some die back in the leaves, but just gonna water and not fertilize them and be glad that it is still early in spring so that will be huge.

I also got the idea from seeing pictures of "fishin4cars" posts of his bog of his rock stacking and decided to use some of my river rock to do something similiar. So thanks fishin for the idea, tried to make it in the shape of an oriental lantern at the top, see if it makes sense to you.



I also found this next rock in the dirt when searching for rocks in the dirt pile from the house they built next door. Not sure what this type of rock is called, but I have found some round rocks like this kind and they tend to be fairly brittle. This one seems to be in the shape of a spear head (too big for arrow). I found it covered in dirt like this and washed it off and then placed it next to my rock tower.



I also started on the inground bird baths. I am putting them against the back fence line.



Here is where I placed the other blue alberta spruce I picked. This one had more roots with it. I plan on putting 2 birdbaths in here on both of the X's. I picked up a small solar pump last year on line to see if they worked for cheap, so I will try putting that in the birdbath marked with the red X, so it has a deeper end 3-4" deep and slopes gently to that point. The one that will go where the yellow X will only be 2" deep. I plan to just flush out the water every few days with the hose to keep the mosquitos at bay, so I don't plan on putting rocks on the bottom of these.

I also decided to take my 450 gph pump and set it to run in the gorge to help decide if I want the 900 gph pump or the 1500 gph pump. Also I realized I never checked it for leaks assuming I had sealed it with the waterfall foam and that would work. Well the back area (back rock) where the hose would empty was lower than the area infront of it, so it was seeping out the back. So I raised the back rock. Here is the feature with the 450 gph pump running.



I did ridge the edges of the liner up so that the water would drain down to the upper pool, but had mulch on top of that so I think it was being soaked up by the mulch. So now I raised it up and will add more foam to make sure it guides the water in the right direction when the hose is running. So in the next photo is what I plan to do. The yellow arrow is pointing to the rock above the one that I had to raise. That is the location of the back rock I raised up to for a wall with the liner so that any water that would hit that will run back forward. I will need to add more foam under this rock just in case since I lifted it up. I plan to make sure the liner has time to dry before I do this so it will stick to the rock more and not pull away so easily due to moisture when applying the foam. The yellow X's are areas that I will add a little more foam in the joints and front of the rocks to make more of a wall to help guide the flow of water better since I want a stronger flow. The green arrows show where I have to reseal the joints between the back rock and the two upper rocks since I pulled those out today when I removed the back rock. The green lines (with the red arrows pointing at them) show the gaps between the side rocks and the liner that are present (there is foam running all the way under the rocks) where I want to add foam in the gap just to make sure the water is directed along the rocks and not under them to create a rapids looking effect (modeled this area after Witches Gulch in Wisconsin Dells). The purple arrow shows how the tubing is sitting now, but i plan to instead of letting it just spray water into the area, I will move it down into the stream area and face it forward (blue arrow). I might try it both ways before I add rocks to see if it leaks with the hose both ways, and if it doesn't then I will add rocks and decide which way I like the affect best.

Here are the arrows and X's again.



I am also deciding which pump I want. I really want it to be a torrent, but am not sure if that would lead to more leaking possiblities or not. if I get the 1500 gph and don't like it, I have a back up for my filter pump. If I get the 900 gph laguna pump and don't like it, I can use it on this until I get my wildlife pond built (got ok from my wife, but will not happen till next summer at earliest, want to get electric run this year though) and then get a stronger pump for it then. Only saw it leaking out the back, but figure if I need the can of foam for that, might as well add it in the other areas to shore them up some more. Don't need to waterproof this feature as it won't need to hold back water, just want to make sure it runs the way I want and doesn't leak out behind the rocks. So I will foam it up and then check for leaks (will also leave the stream pump off so I can see if the water level in the upper pool drops to check for leaks in case I don't see them at first).

So my next question, I want a raging gorge river (what witches gulch has in a narrow sandstone canyon, really cool to see), which pump should I try? Here it is running with the 450 gph pump from the top to the bottom (hose outlet to where it runs into upper pool):



So I am tempted to play it safe and get the laguna 900 gph hour since I would have a use for it in the future, but don't want to be disappointed if it flows too slow. Also don't want to get the other and be stuck with a back up I don't need right now (seeing as I have the stream pump to run if the filter one dies until i get a new one) if it flows to fast and leads to a leak from the excessive volume. They both will be run through 1" tubing. Both pumps cost the same and use the same electricity.

Here is the laguna:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAGUNA-PT-3...628?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415c5e816c

Here is the algreen 1500 gph one:

http://www.amazon.com/Max-Flo-5000-...?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1309219673&sr=1-58

http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Outdoor/Ponds/MaxFlo-5000-Waterfall-Pump

Better info on the 2nd site, thats why I added it. So ready to order, just have to decide which one to get.

 

[addy1]

My stream is run by a 650 gph pump, gives a nice fast water flow, the down hill drop helps too. If you want the raging look I would go with the 1500 gph, if it is too much you could split some flow off, back into the pond, or even ball valve down some of the flow after the pump.

 

[sissy]

save a rock save a tree day must have been a late earth day herz win win for you

 

[herzausstahl]

My stream is run by a 650 gph pump, gives a nice fast water flow, the down hill drop helps too. If you want the raging look I would go with the 1500 gph, if it is too much you could split some flow off, back into the pond, or even ball valve down some of the flow after the pump.

in the back of my mind, the 1500 is what I was thinking of getting, would definitely give it that torrent look I want. but as usual, will think and rethink it several times before I pick one

 

[addy1]

in the back of my mind, the 1500 is what I was thinking of getting, would definitely give it that torrent look I want. but as usual, will think and rethink it several times before I pick one

Always, have to rethink.........I do the same

 

[sissy]

I have a 2900 gph and if you get one higher remember you can just get a diverter to send the extra water right back into the pond to add more air to the pond and that will help it stay clearer .Remember also if you get to smaller pump you will be buying another one and kicking yourself for not going bigger .I guess you can say it is like building a pond ,bigger is better .I got the bigger pump and do not look back and happy I got it now .I let some of the water go right back in the pond and some go just to the waterfall and some to the filter and some will eventually be for spitters