Building pond in Israel by a Granny!

[GBBUDD]

I can't get waterfall foam here, I'm using construction polyurethane foam. Seems to do the job

Have you discovered how to hide the foam by throwing pebbles and sand onto the foam while it's still wet it will hide the foam and it will be embedded for ever

 

[GBBUDD]

I have enough rock left over I could easy build a Normal pond

 

[YShahar]

I'm enjoying your saga so much! And wanted to say that I have beloved family members near Rehovet (on kibbutz na'an) who are totally pond-obsessed. They didn't plan out their pond like you did, but just keep adding to it and changing it over a great many years. The craziest thing is that whenever they travel, what do you suppose they bring home? ROCKS! It's wild; they'll travel overseas and bring back with them the heaviest souvenirs imaginable.

Oooh! Sounds like my kind of folks! I've been known to bring back rocks from lecture tours... Husband: "How did your lectures go?" Me: "Fine. But wait 'til you see this great rock I found!"

I'd love to meet your family from Kibbutz Na'an. That's about an hour away from me, but I often go by there when I visit friends. I used to live in the Weitzmann Institute campus in Rehovot, so I got to know the area pretty well.

 

[YShahar]

Have you discovered how to hide the foam by throwing pebbles and sand onto the foam while it's still wet it will hide the foam and it will be embedded for ever

Yep, I did that with the foam at the top of the falls. Sadly, I forgot to toss dust and pebbles on the foam near the base of the falls, so there's one bit of yellow foam that sticks out (to my eye, at least). Next time I turn off the pump and drain down the pond to do some edge work, I"ll probably take an Exacto knife to it and cut out some of the foam, then spray a bit more on and toss some pebbles on it. I'm still not sure how well this polyfoam is going to hold up over time.

 

[YShahar]

Wow....I just caught up on this post...Great job YShahar! So glad you were able to post a pic of "the rock" that had such a great story behind it...Can't wait to see it in it's final resting spot where the sun can showcase it's beauty

I'll hopefully be able to post a pic of that (and some more pond pics) later today. We're recovering from the last big holiday of the season, and it will be soooooo good to get back to pond work! No more holidays until Autumn... Yay!!!!

 

[addy1]

I'm still not sure how well this polyfoam is going to hold up over time.

I used it a few times to keep waterfall rocks where I wanted them to be. And to direct water. It is still sticking just fine 8 some years later. And it turns brown, grows algae, disappears ie color wise.

 

[GBBUDD]

Yep, I did that with the foam at the top of the falls. Sadly, I forgot to toss dust and pebbles on the foam near the base of the falls, so there's one bit of yellow foam that sticks out (to my eye, at least). Next time I turn off the pump and drain down the pond to do some edge work, I"ll probably take an Exacto knife to it and cut out some of the foam, then spray a bit more on and toss some pebbles on it. I'm still not sure how well this polyfoam is going to hold up over time.

No worse than the waterfall foam. You shouldn't need a exactly knife. I used a multitoll with the scraper blade it you knick the rubber there less chance of cutting the liner.

 

[Lynnski]

Oooh! Sounds like my kind of folks! I've been known to bring back rocks from lecture tours... Husband: "How did your lectures go?" Me: "Fine. But wait 'til you see this great rock I found!"

I'd love to meet your family from Kibbutz Na'an. That's about an hour away from me, but I often go by there when I visit friends. I used to live in the Weitzmann Institute campus in Rehovot, so I got to know the area pretty well.

They are wonderful people, and you obviously have a lot in common. If you message me directly I'll be delighted to put you in touch. My grandparents used to live near Weitzmann and I loved it there. But now that they've passed on, all three generations of my Israeli family live on Na'an. The pond people are the grandparent generation.

I had no idea that rocks as travel souvenirs were a shared hobby! But now that I'm starting my first pond I imagine this may be in my future as well. Uh oh...

 

[YShahar]

OK, finally getting a bit more work done on the pond. It's going slowly, as I'm still playing tour guide here. But I'll post a few recent pics below:

1. The western edge of the pond is almost finished. I did some research on the rules of planting during the fallow year, and it turns out that plants growing in a lined pond are exempt from all the rules! So to celebrate that discovery, I've put in a small planting zone behind the olive branch. So far, I've got some cannas and taro in there, plus a few tiny floating azollas (which may or may not do well). Here's a pic of that area in late afternoon.

2. I've started working on the northern edge, though I don't yet have the rocks I'll need to finish up the edging. For now, I've put down landscape fabric and covered it with white pebbles. As a placeholder for the larger paving stones that will eventually complete the edge, I've used some flagstone (which doesn't look great), but does keep the sun off the liner.

And, just for fun, I did some photoshopping to show how it will look once I finally have all the needed rocks in place! It probably would have taken less time just to place the rocks than it did to do the photoshopping, but I don't yet have all the rocks!

Here's the future view (hopefully!):

I do have enough rocks now to finish up the stream. I'll be working on that next week.

More anon!

 

[addy1]

Beautiful future look!

 

[GBBUDD]

Coming out so nice. But I have a question can you sit still long enough to enjoy what you have created?

 

[YShahar]

Coming out so nice. But I have a question can you sit still long enough to enjoy what you have created?

That's what Shabbat is for... 26 hours of complete peace and quiet with nothing to do but sit by the pond and take it all in. But I've been having a great time drinking my morning coffee by the pond and my evening glass of wine. So no worries there!

 

[YShahar]

Beautiful future look!

Thank you!

We had one unpleasant, but not unexpected development: the kingfishers have discovered the pond. I was sitting on the porch doing a class on Zoom on Tuesday morning, when I heard a splash and saw a flash of bright turquoise feathers. Not sure it caught a fish or not, but it's been hanging around the garden. I'll probably cut a piece of fencing and try floating it on wine corks just under the surface of the water as a kingfisher deterrent.

 

[combatwombat]

We have kingfishers here as well. I can sit and watch them fish for hours. Awesome birds.

 

[GBBUDD]

The kings around here are as ugly as a buzzad