Wisconsin Pond Build

[j.w]

Oh boy liner on Friday, bet you are excited.....then the fill.........happy for you

 

[koiguy1969]

"two thumbs up with a snap!"....pardon the "In Living Color" reference..
everything is coming together nicely!

 

[herzausstahl]

Thanks everyone!
Fishin4cars,
I think I might be stretching the limits of my upper pool liner because it will go all the way down to the first step in the stream, but I did get the same size underlay with it so if I put that in and notice I have a lot extra, I will definitely make it wider. I was thinking with the water coming up from the bottom it should hopefully just overflow the first lip of the stepped falls. Worst case scenario if it is too violent a waterflow I would splice into the PVC and divert some of the water into a small feeder falls for the pool. But everything for me is speculation since I have only read about it all and not done anything yet.

Taherrman4,
I think I was just playing with the idea of fish in the upper pond for effect, but it would be just feeder goldfish or minnows. Nothing that would get too big. The PVC will probably just be buried 6" along its entire run (I dug 18" for my conduit and hit 6 rocks in the process and lots of clay), but it is Flex PVC so I think I should be ok. You can't really see it in the last 2 pics, but I dug into the side an inch or two so the liner will groove in making a small trench for the PVC to lay in and then be covered by rocks. Got the black PVC too so it wouldn't stand out as much.

Addy,
The upper pool will be at the high point of the garden with all the excess dirt sloping away from it. Soaked it really good so most of it should be settled by now.

Got a babysitter for Friday so my goal will be to get the liner in place and joined together by the upper pool and the lower pool. Then I will add rocks to keep it in place and see how far I get. The pump and PVC will be last I believe. Then after the stream pump is in place I will build the bio filter and get that up and running and then plan the small deck by the fence next to the pond. Deck won't be anything major, mostly a small patio for a couple chairs and hopefully some shade for the fish.

 

[digginponds]

Looking good my Northern neighbor

 

[sissy]

one comment about your dig ,glad your digging it and not me LOL .I like the fact you are going to do steps sections in your water fall because that should really add a lot of oxygen to the pond and a nice weeping pine or 2 would look great .

 

[herzausstahl]

Just a quick reply to all, have been busy putting in liner, sealing it, running pipe, and placing rocks. Will try to add some pics after work tonight. There will be a lot since I have not posted in a week or so.

 

[herzausstahl]

Here is the upper part of the stream. I dug steps out for it and then added a thin layer of sand to it to protect it.


Here is the upper pool. I added sand to the bottom of both pools.


This is the main pond. After digging it out and letting it sit, the clay cracked in the walls a little, so I rubbed some of the sand on the sides to help cover the sharp edges.


Here is the underlayment in place. Because it was so wide, it came in 2 pieces.


The liner in place.


The liner did reach pretty far into the stream entrance.


The stream entrance to the pond with rocks. Being prepped to join the 2 liners.


The stream entrance to the pond.


The stream liner in place and attached to the pond liner.


The upper pool liner in place.

 

[j.w]

Getting closer to the filling and looks nice

 

[addy1]

Looking good! Glad your pond liner went up into your stream, that helps with the seam.

 

[herzausstahl]

Here is the liner in the upper pool.



The seam for the upper pool into the stream.



The pond as a whole.



Adding rocks to the upper stepped stream. The liner looks loose, but that is cut pieces of excess liner I added to protect it from the sharp rocks.



The upper stepped falls in the stream. Waterfall foam, under and around everything so the water will flow over the top of the rocks and in front of the ones on the sides.



I created what will hopefully act as a little rapids at the bottom of the steps.

More pics to follow. Pretty far along in the construction, just a little behind in posting.

 

[herzausstahl]

I began adding the large boulders to the pond.



The stream.



Adding border rocks to the stream.



More and more rocks have been added. Sorry skipped a lot of the in between pictures, actually don't think I took that many because I got caught up in making progress! lol



The stream entrance and stream as a whole (my daughters toy wheelbarrow is the red thing at the top of the picture. she likes to help me.)



The upper part of the stream again.



Closer pic of the stream.



The upper pool before rocks.



Adding rocks again.



The upper pool with a few rocks around the edge and some in the bottom (cloud reflections blocking those)

 

[herzausstahl]

My Flex PVC line with the outlet for the upper pond.



The start of the upper pond.



Laying the Flex PVC. It runs up the side of the upper pond and is buried with rocks.



The PVC as it runs along the fence. It is only buried 6 inches down, but it hugs the fence line so I am not worried about hitting it.



The upper pond full of rocks. I put in a ball valve just behind the large boulder because otherwise it siphons all the water to the lower pond when the pump isn't running. I did turn on the pump to make sure it works and it does exceedingly well. I get a bubble fountain of water about 14" above the ponds surface (sorry no pictures). I am not running it now, because I want to get all the filler rocks in place before I turn it on. I am trying to cover the liner as much as possible, because I don't like the look of liner showing between rocks when it is above the water line.





Here are the footing posts for the small deck I want to put around the pond.



The pump in the bottom of the pond.



My first pond guest. Not sure how it found its way there, but I also have a water spider and a few other insects that have moved in. Saw a mourning dove drinking some of the standing water in the stream the other day, so already it is attracting the wildlife that I want.

Has anyone added an overflow drain to their pond? We got a lot of rain last night and it raised the level a lot, and i was wondering if I will need to add this and an easy way to do it.

 

[addy1]

wow nice!

 

[j.w]

Oh man it's coming together quickly now. Looks great and can't wait to see the stream flowing. Amazing how the critters find their way. Well they say if you build it they will come. Too bad some nice big fat beautiful fish don't find there way in there freely :goldfish:

 

[sissy]

I would insulate that pipe you have against heat and cold will make the hoses last longer and also protect the from any chewing animals that sense water and chew through things to get to the water and protect the hose from any punctures at all from outside sources