I just put a pond in the ground and .....................

[extra_g]

I just put a pond in the ground and am now stumped on the landscaping.
I was looking for another aquarium in the house but was having a hard time finding some space and decided to put a pond in instead. Spur of the moment decision I bought a precast kidney pond 1800mm long, width of one side 800mm and the other 1200mm, next day put it in the ground.
Tucked into a corner outside the house with the walls facing the north and west in Perth Western Australia . The pond sits approximately half a metre from the west wall and a metre from the north wall. Looking at putting a water fall coming from the corner.
I am after recommendations of plants suited for my location, I am not looking for large bushes as I have windows along the west facing wall but rather smaller plants and shrubs that grow no more than 30mm tall maybe a little more. The garden has reticulation and has full sunlight in the afternoon.
Some plants I have in mind are maiden hair fern, syngonium, maybe a palour palm. I will have some rock on the edge of the pond but am really looking for plants that will creep or the canopy grow into or over the edge of the pond.

One more thing I need guidance on is my filter. My idea is to have a submersed pump, pump the water into a filter bucket then exiting to the waterfall. I would have the inlet and outlet toward the top of the bucket, the inlet entering the bucket to an elbow and pip to a manifold at the base of the bucket. Above the manifold place a mat, then fill with bio balls and another mat at the top. Would this idea work? Anything need changing?

Cheers in advance for your help.

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @extra_g ! Looks like you're well on your way there!

My recommendation for plants would be to check with a local greenhouse or nursery to see what's hardy to your area. Groundcovers would work great around the edges of your pond to soften the edge and, as you said, low growing shrubs along the back wall would be very pretty. I'm not familiar with most of those you mentioned, but ferns may struggle if you have afternoon sun. They love it where it's shady and cool most of the day.

Also look at some plants for IN the pond to aid in keeping your water healthy!

 

[sissy]

welcome and looks like you be having fun with your new project .Not sure what you have available in your area but here I like phlox .It is a nice spreading ground cover .You will need something sturdy for a filter .Having plants grow in the filter helps eat up nutrients from fish waste .You can't think of a pond like a fish tank because a pond is exposed to weather conditions

 

[Sparky]

Creeping Jenny will keep you busy but it’s quick and nice looking. You will want other star attractions but it fills in nicely.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

Go to a nursery near you and see what is available. I have phlox, creeping Jenny, low growing ever greens. A lot of stuff will work, not sure what you have in your country.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! What kind of year-round climate do you have there? Here in the US we have USDA agricultural zones that break the continent up into plant growing zones, based on climate patterns. The lower the number (like Zones 3,4,5) are more likely to have colder winters and possibly a shorter spring/summer/fall growing season. However, where I live (Southern US in Zone 8a-8b), we rarely see “winter” for more than a week or 2, and the other 3 seasons are really just one long hot spell. We have high heat, a lot of humidity, and a decent amount of rainfall (for the most part).

The others have given you good advice about checking with local nurseries to find plants suited to your area. Most of us have experimented at one time or another, and have found that even some plants that normally won’t do well in full or part-sun can actually thrive in a bog filter where the roots hav constant ax E.E. to water. You might want to consider a bog, which is basically an extension of the pond, where water fro the pond is pumped though a gravel bed filled with water-loving plants. The plants remove excess nutrients from the water, which is then cycled bask through the pond.

 

[extra_g]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Perth is much like LA climate I guess, nice hot sunny summers and winter can be wet but not frosty cold (maybe one or two days a year you may get frost). Today I have had a look around a nursery and a pond shop/yard. The nursery was little help, had a good variety of grasses but I need more than just grass. Something I have done in the past is see what people around the burbs plant in the same conditions I plan on and get an idea that way.

The pond yard had everything, fish, water plants, precast ponds, spill ponds and pumps..............
As for the bog filter, I they suggested to get a pump that will support a fountain and feed the spill pond/bog filter and that will be all i need for oxygenation and filtering the water.

The pump suggested was a 3600lph pump for my 800-900 litre pond. Is this an over kill do I need a pump that will turn over my pond 4 times an hour?

 

[extra_g]

Updates on progress. If you see photo attached I have decided to put back the corner how it was originally, rock wall and what I have been told is an asparagus fern. So no more water fall coming from the corner but rather a spill pond spilling into the smaller part of the kidney and having a fountain in the larger side, there will also be a lily in the smaller side.

Below is a spill pond I might buy. Still looking so nothing in concrete yet.

https://www.woodvalefishandlilyfarm.com.au/product/small-deep-spill/

 

[addy1]

I would buy some liner, dig a bigger hole for your spill pond, have the liner drape into your pond for the water flow.
The bigger your spill pond is the more plants you can put in it, the more filtration you will have. My bog type filter is about 1/4 to 1/3 the size of my pond. I have nothing but plants planted in pea gravel, filtering my pond. It waterfalls back into my pond.

You can buy a piece of liner that will make a decent size spill pond, for close to that price, maybe a bit more, but your spill pond will be a lot bigger.

 

[extra_g]

[

My bog type filter is about 1/4 to 1/3 the size of my pond.

And what is the water depth?

It waterfalls back into my pond.

From a height or does it just fall from the ponds edge. With the aquariums I was told that as long as the water causes turbulence in the water surface that is enough to oxygenate the water. I can only guess the same applies with a pond and this would eliminate my need for a fountain?

You can buy a piece of liner that will make a decent size spill pond

Liner cost me $15 per metre and that is a liner metre off the roll, roll being 2m wide.

 

[addy1]

[

And what is the water depth?


From a height or does it just fall from the ponds edge. With the aquariums I was told that as long as the water causes turbulence in the water surface that is enough to oxygenate the water. I can only guess the same applies with a pond and this would eliminate my need for a fountain?


Liner cost me $15 per metre and that is a liner metre off the roll, roll being 2m wide.

My pond is 1 foot deep to 5.5 feet deep.
The bog is around 2.5 feet deep.

I have multiple water falls, the bog waterfall is around foot drop.
The waterfall from one pond to another is around 3 feet of drop.
The stream waterfall is around 4 feet.
And two other tiny waterfalls, inches.

 

[j.w]

@extra_g

 

[extra_g]

HI all.
So since my original post the wife and I have done a bit of shopping. We bought a pump, a fibreglass stream, some fish and plants. Because of the stream I have decided to not bother with the fountain as it should give plenty of aeration. I have found a 50L tub in the shed which I have decided to place a manifold in and bury. Then I will fill it with expanded clay, place some aqua plants in it and put a bulk head in the wall so I can return the water back to the pond via a hose. The pump I bought moves 4000L p/h so I will have to work out whether I need a valve after my pump to reduce flow to either the stream or the filter.
I'm not 100% sure what the flow rate should be for the filter but I was thinking of moving the pond through at least once a day. The pond is about 500-600L, the tub is 50L and I was thinking of moving at least 20L an hour through the filter. I guess this will be trial and error for me but if anyone can give some tips it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[Lisak1]

It's standard recommendation to turn a pond over 1.5 to 2 times PER HOUR. Maybe that's what you meant -

 

[extra_g]

Hi Liska1
My pump can easily turn over my pond several times in an hour but because I am using the one pump to provide flow to the stream and filter I am wondering what I should have coming from my filter. I have read that slower is better but what is slow? Remembering the more I direct to the filter the less goes to the stream. If I can get any advice on what the minimum I should pass through my filter that would be great.