My first garden pond...

[JDaigle]

Alright, so here we go...

I'm a beginner to the pond enthusiast hobby, although I have been interested in it for a while it wasn't until recently that I finally got the ok to begin constructing a very small garden pond. I'm hoping that if this one turns out nicely I might just be able to begin increasing the amount of trust put into me for the construction of a larger pond on my property. :icon_smile: Possibly this may be a small step for me into the business of landscape architecture...

Here's the issue...

I recently began working on my garden in the front of my house and although normal plants are beautiful, I just feel that a water component to this garden would really be the icing on the cake. My idea was to have a very small "stream" that would look like it was appearing out of nowhere, snake its way through some of my garden plants and eventually empty into a pond approximately 4'x3' at it's largest point with a max depth of about 2'. My hope is that I can use cement to make the form of this whole thing and use small white rocks to create a certain amount of randomness in the flow of the water. What I would need is a pump, and I've researched many different kinds but I'm really not sure on what to expect from a pump that I purchase. The measurements for this stream will be about 5 to 6 inches across with a depth of about 4 inches. I want to stream to appear to be running continuously and I know I will need a pump with a sufficient amount of power to pull this off.

The species that I am planning on incorporating in this pond will include a form of dwarf cattail at the shallower edges and a species of water lily for the center deeper areas. With mosquito fish as the only form of movement and hopefully they will act as the custodial crew for this undertaking.

I guess what I'm really asking is for anyone who has any experience working with this sort of design to give me as many pointers as possible before I get knee deep in an impossible design.

-Any information on pump size.
-Any information on the behavior of the concrete once it's set.
-Any serious reasons why I should not even attempt this.

Thank you so much for anyone who takes the time to read this. And more so for any advice that is given.

Also any questions about this design are welcome.

Justin.

 

[Ph1ngering]

It will be easier on the wallet if you get a 45mm liner and use that.. IMO..

Concrete is great, but i think you have to treat it / cover it to be fish safe? But not sure..

Sounds like a fun project, draw a picture might spark more conversation.

 

[kirscp]

If you are planning on fish, you will need to paint the cement with some type of pool paint or something similar. If you don't, it will kill the fish, and possible plants.

Liners are a lot easier to work with and don't have to worry about cracking. If your cement pond cracks, it will be very difficult to patch it.

Pump size will depend on the total volume of water. You should cycle your pond at least once an hour, so a 1000 pond would need a 1000 gph pump plus filter.

There are a lot of answers, but there are different types of ponds. If you just want plants and don't care about water quality, that would be completely different than you wanting clear water and fish.

It is always easiest to do it correct the first time.

You should be able to find most of your answers here and get a lot of good advice.

 

[DrCase]

JDaigle i dont want to rub you wrong..think at least two foot wide on the stream..make the eadges ,with concreet or morter,,,lay down your 45 mil linner as suggested. you will end up wanting it wider...

 

[JDaigle]

Haha oh I know I'll want it wider, and I'll always want the pond bigger, and I'll want more fish and more plants... I went through it all with my aquarium hobby... Hahaha. But I've got very limited space, I'm hoping to get a picture on here soon with my garden and also the dimensions of the garden. I just have to get a camera first.

As far as the amount of money that I will spend, I'm thinking the 8 dollars for a bag of quikrete, is better than 100 something for a liner, I would love to go all out but I don't have the money at this point... I'm in college and I just want my mom to have a nice garden to look at while I'm gone and I love the white color that a concrete stream bed and pond would add to the garden.

I don't want too many fish, just mosquito fish because I've heard they benefit by eating algae and harmful insects.

Thank you. :icon_smile:

 

[kirscp]

As far as the amount of money that I will spend, I'm thinking the 8 dollars for a bag of quikrete, is better than 100 something for a liner, I would love to go all out but I don't have the money at this point... I'm in college and I just want my mom to have a nice garden to look at while I'm gone and I love the white color that a concrete stream bed and pond would add to the garden.

I would think that you'd be making your pond 4" thick. At that rate, you'd need 29 80# bags of quickrite. That is just the 4x3x2 area. That will cost more than the liner and be a lot more work. That would be a 10x10 liner.

I thought about doing my pond in concrete also, until I determined it would cost me a lot more. You don't realize how much concrete you will really need.

You can get a 10x10 45mil liner for under $80 on eBay, including shipping.

 

[boogies1952]

The problem with concrete is that over time it will crack and leak. The liner won't. Depending on where you live, the seasonal temperature change, amount of rain etc.the likelyhood of cracking will vary. Phoenix...not so much...Minnesota...pretty much.

 

[kirscp]

One point, a cement pond will increase the value of your home, more so then a linered pond. I guess a cement pond is looked at more like a pool.

 

[JDaigle]

Good news!!! I acquired a pond liner... FOR FREE!!!!!:icon_smile::icon_smile::icon_smile: So I'm going to go with that for the main section of the pond... As for the proposed stream... I believe I'm going to stick with the idea of the concrete, far less concrete will be used than if I had done concrete for the whole thing.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

Does anyone have any idea as to what sort of pump I should use?

Thank you again. :icon_smile:

 

[kirscp]

Make sure you do some reading on using the concrete and what needed to be used to condition it.

You should be able to get by with a 750 gph pump, if you are sticking with your current dimensions. You may want larger though for your stream. I use a 2900gph pump for my waterfalls and there isn't a lot of flow.

Make sure you look at the amps used by pumps. There are a lot of cheap pumps, but they will cost you $15-20 a month to run.

 

[ElijahTurtle]

You could always use bricks to make the edges of your stream & some for ledges & drop offs, then cover it all with leftover liner from the edges. Then you could re-route the stream in the future by moving the brick if you ever wanted to change it. You can find free leftover bricks at just about any building site.

 

[DrDave]

kirscp
I don't know where you live, but in Southern California pools add very little to the value of a home. The return on investment over the past 30 years is like $10 for every $100 spent if you are lucky.

In fact, after having a pool for 13 years, I specified to the RE: NO POOL when I shopped 15 years ago.

People shopping for homes won't value the pond much (regardless of construction) unless they are really into it before hand. I personally will never have another concrete pond. I have had 3 already. All my friends with them have had trouble with leaks.

A liner is a 1 day repair or replacement for a few hundred dollars.

 

[kirscp]

Living in a local where most homes have a pool, there isn't much demand.

Good landscaping always adds value to your home. It is easier to get more money for a home that looks appealing then the same home with just a yard.

I would however, never build a concrete pond either. You can put a patch on a hole in your liner, without draining the entire pond. I see too many problems with concrete.

 

[JDaigle]

I've made huge advances in my pond since my last post. I will be putting up pictures starting Friday of my progress. Don't laugh though because it's my first one and it's quite small...

I have received a liner, a pump, sand, and stone from a friend who is also into gardening.

It will all be going in this summer and hopefully a few plants, including anacharis and hopefully a lily... but if not it will all go in next summer. I can't wait, things are finally starting to shape up.

My pump pumps out about 300 GPH and due to the small size of the pond I'm thinking this will be sufficient. My liner is about 7x7.. hopefully large enough, and if not the pond will have to be made smaller. The stones are going to be around the pond and there will be a few large ones inside, you will see it on the plans I will upload tomorrow.

Wish me luck.

 

[DrDave]

With a few large rocks and only one pump, I fear you will have dead spots. I advise your to add another 300GPH pump that just circulates the water.