New backyard pond

[barryian]

I had the tree removed on May 11, the hole dug on May 21. It was around the 1st of August when I put the water in for the 2nd time after re-shaping the pond. And I was doing land scoping into September, I think. I had about 3.5 weeks in there where I was traveling.

I metered it out at about 2500 gallons in the end. My calculations showed it should be over 3000, so shows you how much curves and planting shelves take away! The liner is a 20x25 for the pond and a 10x15 for the waterfall area.

Awesome job! Good luck. You're going to enjoy it! You'll be doing a lot of tweaking and learning! Been ponding 24 years!

 

[EricV]

Yeah, this years known tasks are to re-do the little retaining wall (so far its just dry stacked), replant some stuff, and finish off the landscaping around the pond. I'm trying to do all native plants and by the time I was ready for them, the selection at the nursery was pretty depleted. And do all the other stuff on the outside of the house that I neglected last summer.

 

[Lisak1]

I loved watching your video as we are stuck inside with our 18 inch snowpack and subzero temps! Brings back warm (make that BLAZING HOT) memories from our pond build! We built ours in the midst of a long, hot, dry summer. No rain for weeks. Water? What water!?!

I laughed watching the truck dump the boulders in your yard - that's when our neighbors all got REALLLLLY CURIOUS! It took my front yard three years to recover from the beating - of course we repeated that dump about four more times to get enough rock. You NEVER have enough rock! Great memories! And you did great work, by the way. It will only get better from here!

 

[EricV]

I loved watching your video as we are stuck inside with our 18 inch snowpack and subzero temps! Brings back warm (make that BLAZING HOT) memories from our pond build! We built ours in the midst of a long, hot, dry summer. No rain for weeks. Water? What water!?!

I laughed watching the truck dump the boulders in your yard - that's when our neighbors all got REALLLLLY CURIOUS! It took my front yard three years to recover from the beating - of course we repeated that dump about four more times to get enough rock. You NEVER have enough rock! Great memories! And you did great work, by the way. It will only get better from here!

Thanks! Yeah, I think my front yard is mostly recovered already. I got the rocks and boulders off the edges of that pile quickly enough that the grass came back OK. But in the center, it took me weeks to get all the rocks out of there and it had been compacted. So I brought in an inch or so of topsoil.

 

[Lisak1]

Thanks! Yeah, I think my front yard is mostly recovered already. I got the rocks and boulders off the edges of that pile quickly enough that the grass came back OK. But in the center, it took me weeks to get all the rocks out of there and it had been compacted. So I brought in an inch or so of topsoil.

After the fact we realized a tarp would have been a good idea... I guess I didn't anticipate the amount of gravel that would come with a load of mixed sized boulders. And we had a nice depression in the yard where they dumped (repeatedly) - to the point I started envisioning a nice little front yard pond... haha!

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Thanks! Yeah, I think my front yard is mostly recovered already. I got the rocks and boulders off the edges of that pile quickly enough that the grass came back OK. But in the center, it took me weeks to get all the rocks out of there and it had been compacted. So I brought in an inch or so of topsoil.

LOL The moment I saw that truck dump those rocks I said to myself "there goes that lawn".
Yes, a tarp and a few sheets of plywood (or OSB) would have saved your lawn.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

BTW, am I wrong? or do I see you already have a natural pond out behind your backyard there?

 

[EricV]

BTW, am I wrong? or do I see you already have a natural pond out behind your backyard there?

Yes and no. It's a retaining pond, so not natural (used to be a farmers field). But it has water (and a heron) all the time. For quite a while the heron flew over my yard every day and ignored my pond. Then I caught him two days out of three landing in my yard. I need to figure out what to do about this in the spring. I do not like the fine-weave net over my pond. Maybe I need to figure out where @addy1 got her 5" spacing net.

 

[EricV]

LOL The moment I saw that truck dump those rocks I said to myself "there goes that lawn".
Yes, a tarp and a few sheets of plywood (or OSB) would have saved your lawn.

Well, as long as it took me to get the rocks up (weeks) it would not have saved the grass. It might have prevented some compaction, but that wasn't that bad in the first place. I actually think I made the minimally damaging choice. In fact, I don't think I re-seeded as soon as the rocks were up because it was in the middle of the summer heat. So I had a mosaic of good grass and dead grass that at least looked better than a big huge patch of dead.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Well, as long as it took me to get the rocks up (weeks) it would not have saved the grass. It might have prevented some compaction, but that wasn't that bad in the first place. I actually think I made the minimally damaging choice. In fact, I don't think I re-seeded as soon as the rocks were up because it was in the middle of the summer heat. So I had a mosaic of good grass and dead grass that at least looked better than a big huge patch of dead.

Well yeah, if it took you weeks to move the rocks your lawn most likely would have been toast anyway. But watching the video it looked like you were getting it done a lot faster than that.

Herons and nets,,,,, I'm glad I don't have to bother with either of them. My last pond I had a bit of a problem with raccoons and owls fishing in my pond, the herons never found it though. I think mainly because the pond was small enough to not be too obvious, and in the summer the water surface was 75% covered with vegetation which also helped hide it.
My new pond is about the same size as the old one but also has the advantage of being enclosed in a courtyard with tall 6-8 ft walls. We do have plenty of herons around, I see them flying by all the time following the creek that runs past our house about 200 ft away. They are just far enough away, and the pond is just small and well hidden enough that they can't seem to spot it. So no nets for me.
However, if the herons ever did find my pond I think I would just change the nature of my pond itself rather then put up nets. Rather than stock the pond with expensive fish that I might grow attached to, I'd just stock the pond with cheap live heron food and enjoy the herons. Gota work with nature sometimes, and watching a heron in your backyard doing it's thing seems more appealing to me then looking at a bunch of fish netting strung all over the place.
But that's just me. Opinions may vary.

 

[Lisak1]

@Mucky_Waters - I share your opinion on that one. If I had to keep a net up year round, I don't know if I would enjoy my pond half as much. We have herons that fly over head daily. But they are traversing from natural pond to natural pond, so my little puddle doesn't look like much from the air, I'm sure!

 

[EricV]

I had very little plant cover this year since everything was new. Maybe that and the occasional run through by my neighbors dogs will be sufficient. I've read that keeping the net up in the spring until the herons establish a pattern can help, so I may try that.

I did catch one chipmunk in the net, unfortunately, but I can't say I was too broken up about it. They burrow everywhere. But yes, in general I enjoy that my house has some nature around it and try to keep it as much a part of that nature, rather than apart from it, as I can.

The fish are $5 gold fish, so a few losses will not worry me.

 

[addy1]

Yes and no. It's a retaining pond, so not natural (used to be a farmers field). But it has water (and a heron) all the time. For quite a while the heron flew over my yard every day and ignored my pond. Then I caught him two days out of three landing in my yard. I need to figure out what to do about this in the spring. I do not like the fine-weave net over my pond. Maybe I need to figure out where @addy1 got her 5" spacing net.

I got it from here,
http://www.memphisnet.net/category/nets-gill-nets-multi

I had them coat the net in black uv retardant stuff. I picked out a heavy thread so it would manage being stretched over the pond without breaking. Mine has been installed 4ish years now, just now seeing some of the threads break. I leave it up year round.

@j.w picked out a lot finer thread, she sent me a bit for my small pond but it breaks a lot easier. She has a nice thread about it on here, I will see if I can find it, or she will chime in and direct you to it.

 

[j.w]

Here ya go and great job on your pond @EricV
I love the net in that it gives me great peace knowing my fish are heron free. That sucker still comes around now and then but all he can do is pace around and fly off angry, ha, ha!

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/heron-netting-101.13205/#post-195419

 

[Melina Nelson]

Excellent planning for your new backyard pond. Very professional way of planning new pond, hope to be successful.