Determine pond placement - suggestions needed

[krazyrabbit]

Hi all,

Here’s the run down of my backyard situation.

My house is on a half acre lot and is surrounded by oaks, some red maples and long leaf pine, the pines are at the back and don’t drop needles near the house. The oaks are closer and leaves go everywhere in the fall when the wind blows – the area where there is the least tree litter is near the house and backyard deck. The large deck off the living room prevents views of the ground; all we can see from inside is the deck and trees.

My master bedroom has a very nice view of the yard. I spend a lot of my time in the morning sitting in my bird watching chair looking out the window. As I’m an avid gardener I also spend endless hours in the back yard working and time on the deck relaxing.

I am hoping to have a 7’ x 10’ pond with a small waterfall. Please take a look at the attached pictures to see the area where I am thinking about placing the pond. The waterfall area will be near the deck, probably on a small concrete slab. The shape of the pond is in the works, not exactly sure about that right now.

I’m looking for suggestions, comments and any tips from those who have experience so please fire away! Thanks!

 

[DrDave]

I deliberatly planted coral trees next to my ponds for the shade and protection from overhead predators. I get a lot of leaves but with daily removal, not many sink during the part of the year when they are shedding. I would do it again.
As for your layout, it looks good to me. You have the perfect hiding place for the filtration, water source and electrical.

 

[addy1]

I think that would look really nice, nice having the deck near it also, a great place to hide your equipment.

 

[j.w]

Looks fine to me also and for those days when you want to be right next to the pond up close and personal, and you will, you could leave yourself a spot for a nice bench :fish:

 

[addy1]

Since mine could not be up close and personal, at least I can look down on it and watch the fish swim, well when they feel like showing themselves.

 

[j.w]

Addy are you going to put a place for a bench or something for when you just want to sit and look down into the water and drift into la la land for awhile :fish:

 

[fishin4cars]

Your asking for opinions, So I'm going to put my two cents worth in. You mentioned that your thinking of putting it outside your bedroom window. Personally, I will not do that again! I love your view and if you can sleep through the orchestra of frogs, looks great! If not, reconsider, The frogs were so loud last night I slept in my recliner!!! IN the living room... LOL just letting you know. It's not every night and hearing the water from the falls is very relaxing but the frogs do get extremely loud, even my neighbors have complained that live next door.
On your water fall, how high of a fall are you planning? If your going to have a 16"-24" fall where you have it presently set should be ok, going any higher I would consider moving a little closer to the house so that feet don't kick rocks and such off the top from the steps. Also if you did bring it a little closer the wall under the steps would be great as mentioned to hide electrical and filtering, PLUS, that lattice work would look great with a Clematis or similar flowering vine as a back drop.
Are you planning on plants in the pond? Gold fish? Koi? Are there considerations that need to be made about predators? Woods, streams, creeks, yard access, to consider?
I would highly recommend in a GOOD pre-filter skimmer. You need one that is easy to clean, and can handle your leaf load. Easily accessible, For the size pond you are talking the one I use would be a good choice, But by far not the only good choice, others may have good ones to recommend also) maybe not the best but I like mine. I run the Savio Compact with the 15wt UV light. I would not recommend a pond of over 2000 gallons and a pump any larger that 2500 gallons per hour. (If bigger is needed they do make a bigger application). That's about the max that it can handle. But it does have a leaf catch basket that catches big stuff and if a fish swims in it can swim back out. then the water passes thru a matala pre filter. Then past the UV light and into the pump to your primary filter system. NO pump clogging! For the money this unit really preforms excellent. I was not happy with the seller I bought mine from as I had a pre filter handle that broke the first day I used it and they wouldn't replace or warranty that piece. I had to end up buying a replacement myself and no problems since that. It should be placed at the opposite side of where the water enters so it draws water across the pond and sucks all the debris in. That's about enough for now, watching nascar and reading posts. Going to take a break. Looks like a good spot and will enjoy reading as your projects takes shape! Good Luck and welcome to the enjoyable world of ponding!!

 

[sissy]

do you have access to electric there or to get it there and if thats a heat pump are you going to be able to hear waterfall and enjoy it .I have a small fountain in my back yard not far from my heat pump and it is a york supposed to be less noise coming from it but has that heat pump on and off noise no matter what .I had my son put in 3 double gfi protected boxes on there own breaker and I know that being closer to the circuit breaker box or at least an easy install will make cost less.He put the boxes on 2 20amp breakers .I like where you decided on because at least you can hear and see the pond if you look down from the deck .My pond is down below my front porch

 

[krazyrabbit]

Your asking for opinions, So I'm going to put my two cents worth in. You mentioned that your thinking of putting it outside your bedroom window. Personally, I will not do that again! I love your view and if you can sleep through the orchestra of frogs, looks great! If not, reconsider, The frogs were so loud last night I slept in my recliner!!! IN the living room... LOL just letting you know. It's not every night and hearing the water from the falls is very relaxing but the frogs do get extremely loud, even my neighbors have complained that live next door. On your water fall, how high of a fall are you planning? If your going to have a 16"-24" fall where you have it presently set should be ok, going any higher I would consider moving a little closer to the house so that feet don't kick rocks and such off the top from the steps. Also if you did bring it a little closer the wall under the steps would be great as mentioned to hide electrical and filtering, PLUS, that lattice work would look great with a Clematis or similar flowering vine as a back drop.
Are you planning on plants in the pond? Gold fish? Koi? Are there considerations that need to be made about predators? Woods, streams, creeks, yard access, to consider?
I would highly recommend in a GOOD pre-filter skimmer. You need one that is easy to clean, and can handle your leaf load. Easily accessible, For the size pond you are talking the one I use would be a good choice, But by far not the only good choice, others may have good ones to recommend also) maybe not the best but I like mine. I run the Savio Compact with the 15wt UV light. I would not recommend a pond of over 2000 gallons and a pump any larger that 2500 gallons per hour. (If bigger is needed they do make a bigger application). That's about the max that it can handle. But it does have a leaf catch basket that catches big stuff and if a fish swims in it can swim back out. then the water passes thru a matala pre filter. Then past the UV light and into the pump to your primary filter system. NO pump clogging! For the money this unit really preforms excellent. I was not happy with the seller I bought mine from as I had a pre filter handle that broke the first day I used it and they wouldn't replace or warranty that piece. I had to end up buying a replacement myself and no problems since that. It should be placed at the opposite side of where the water enters so it draws water across the pond and sucks all the debris in. That's about enough for now, watching nascar and reading posts. Going to take a break. Looks like a good spot and will enjoy reading as your projects takes shape! Good Luck and welcome to the enjoyable world of ponding!!

Thanks for the advice everyone!

fishin4cars: Hum, I didn't think about the frog situation. I already have a wonderful symphony of frogs that I listen to as I drift off to sleep every summer, when the air conditioner is not blasting. I'm lucky in that my house has nice windows and they shut most of the outside noise out. My neighbors on the other hand, maybe the frogs will drown out their annoying chihuahua yapping :fish:

re: water fall height, I was thinking about 2' or under as this is my first venture into constructing a water feature. I do like the sound of running water and it's a great way to oxygenate.

re: the lattice work on the deck - I grew moonflower vine, Ipomoea alba, plants from seed this year and plan on putting planting them there. The flowers open at night and smell wonderful.

re: plants in the pond - yes, please! In my freshwater fish tanks I went from plastic plants to live and never looked back. Which leads me to fish, for this pond I'll have goldfish not Koi.

re: natural predators. I've seen deer, possums, hawks but no raccoons. The noisy chihuahua drives away most living creatures with it's 100 decibel bark.

re: Woods, streams, creeks, yard access, to consider? I'm a bit concerned about pond depth because I don't have a fence and neither does the non-yappy-dog neighbor with the little girl (nor do most of the houses on my cul-de-sac). According to code, if I go over 2' in depth I'd have to put up a fence. I wish I had a natural steam on my property! I'm playing with the idea of creating a stream between the small waterfall and the pond.

re: pre-filter skimmer. I am planning on installing one, from everything I've read this seems to be a wise move. I have planted a river birch in this area that's hard to see in the photos, but when it matures there will be small leaves falling. I'm not so inclined to put in a bottom drain for my first pond effort though, and I can always add one of the retro drains if I change my mind.

Thanks for the tips, back to reading other posts!

 

[krazyrabbit]

do you have access to electric there or to get it there and if thats a heat pump are you going to be able to hear waterfall and enjoy it .I have a small fountain in my back yard not far from my heat pump and it is a york supposed to be less noise coming from it but has that heat pump on and off noise no matter what .I had my son put in 3 double gfi protected boxes on there own breaker and I know that being closer to the circuit breaker box or at least an easy install will make cost less.He put the boxes on 2 20amp breakers .I like where you decided on because at least you can hear and see the pond if you look down from the deck .My pond is down below my front porch

Hi Sissy, yes, my HVAC unit is going to drown out the nice water fall with it's noise when it cycles in the summer. Of course here in Richmond when it's running I've usually got the windows closed because it's hot. Thanks for the info on your electric setup. Right now I've only got an outlet on my deck so one of the guys in our Buildings & Grounds electric shop does side work. When I decide where my setup is going to be he's going to come take a look. I know I'll have more questions later, like how many things am going to have to plug in!

 

[fishin4cars]

No less than four plugs six or even eight would be better if your considering lights, UV, secondary pump, and such later on. If you run two circuits, which I recommend if possible run one pump on one and one on the other,(If you happen to run two pumps) that way if one trips a second is till operating the pond some until you can find the problem. Even a small submersible pump on a simple spitter water feature will add oxygen and keep fish alive somewhat until the primary is back up and going. LOL I even have a back-up pump ready to drop in as I had a pump go out once and lost several very nice fish.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi krazyrabbit, Welcome to the forum and good luck with your pond. I didn't see anything about slope of your yard or drain water runoff for the location you picked. You will need to make sure that your pond does not flood when it rains because this will bring unwanted chemicals into your pond from your lawn/garden. You can either build it on the high side of your yard or build up the sides of the pond or both. Also as mentioned by others you may want to find a way to give it shade. Probably about 4-5 hours full sun is enough for most ponds, but more than that will make it harder to maintain.

 

[krazyrabbit]

Hi krazyrabbit, Welcome to the forum and good luck with your pond. I didn't see anything about slope of your yard or drain water runoff for the location you picked. You will need to make sure that your pond does not flood when it rains because this will bring unwanted chemicals into your pond from your lawn/garden. You can either build it on the high side of your yard or build up the sides of the pond or both. Also as mentioned by others you may want to find a way to give it shade. Probably about 4-5 hours full sun is enough for most ponds, but more than that will make it harder to maintain.

Hi CometKeith, forgot to mention it - there is a slight slope running down from the house to the bottom of the back yard. I've read that it's essential to make sure that the pond is level, something I have to figure out how to do when I start digging. I am also planning on installing a French drain and putting up some kind of edging to try to prevent runoff invasion. I'm lucky, in the afternoon the sun shifts over the top of the house and the back yard gets shade, so half day of sun. Thanks!

 

[addy1]

Sounds like you are doing some good planning, a stream would look really nice between the waterfall and the pond. They are not hard to build, you would want to make it at least 10 inches deep 16 or so wide, they shrink in size as you add the liner rocks etc. I used a laser level to get my pond level, but my slope is bad. A long level or one of those little ones that you hang on a string will help a lot. If your pond is not level that is one thing everybody will notice! lol Because water sure is level

JW yes we will have a bench once the main work of building it is done, we are adding some deck right above the top of the stream.

 

[sissy]

Thats always good to have around someone who knows electric and plumbing you never know when you have to call in a favor .lol I tell my son well all you put me through being born you owe me big ,never new when he was born that was my ace in the hole:lol::lol:I told I knew I had for a reason .I love VA but the summers can be a tad bit brutal .I have a yappy dog (chihuahua ) he loves to go out by the pond and bark at the fish and they swim after him as he walks along the side of the pond .Thats why he barks at them I think he thinks they are following him .But he does not bark usually funny just at the fish .