New Pond Location

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I built a pond in the backyard of my other house a few years back. it turned out great till a great dane stood in it and put a huge hole in it.. oh well.. i'll fix it one day.. but now i have a new place to put a pond and thought i'd get some opinions.. its a 15 1/2' x 18 1/2' space.. its the courtyard between my garage and front entrance of my house.. so its the path all visitors walk.. i envision 2 ponds connected where a bridge goes over the connection. like a small connecting river. with a pond on each side of the path to the fence.. (see pic) also a nice waterfall in the right hand corner near fence.

what would be a good design in your opinion?

Straight path to gate or a curved path?. ( im open to moving gate if need be)

Can it be built with one single piece of liner.? including fountain? Concrete is also an option but i know its difficulties.

2 pics.. 1 of my old pond with my old puppy in front. Second pic is the courtyard.. waiting to be transformed . taken standing at my front door.
 

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I built a pond in the backyard of my other house a few years back. it turned out great till a great dane stood in it and put a huge hole in it.. oh well.. i'll fix it one day.. but now i have a new place to put a pond and thought i'd get some opinions.. its a 15 1/2' x 18 1/2' space.. its the courtyard between my garage and front entrance of my house.. so its the path all visitors walk.. i envision 2 ponds connected where a bridge goes over the connection. like a small connecting river. with a pond on each side of the path to the fence.. (see pic) also a nice waterfall in the right hand corner near fence.

what would be a good design in your opinion?

Straight path to gate or a curved path?. ( im open to moving gate if need be)

Can it be built with one single piece of liner.? including fountain? Concrete is also an option but i know its difficulties.

2 pics.. 1 of my old pond with my old puppy in front. Second pic is the courtyard.. waiting to be transformed . taken standing at my front door.
I think re the path, it's more an esthetic choice and both can work. Yes, you can do it with one liner; you'll have to manipulate any folds that occur as there'll be a lot in the narrow/shallow stream you want to create. I'd mock up what you want on paper/computer and then live with it for a bit to see if it's what you want. Could mock up a couple of scenarios to try out. IMO, the area is rather small for two ponds and a connecting river. Any bridge you put in might look over powering; hence the mockup to assess the idea. Do consider the landscape you want to put around the pond(s) as imo, it's an important part of the design. You want it to look like it was always there, not just plopped down because. Are there any pics of other ponds you want to model after? Modifying what you want and eliminating what you don't?

Around these parts, we're partial to natural bog/upflow wetland filtration and this takes some space. If interested, plan accordingly. If you're going to use mechanical barrel/filtration tanks etc, you need to know where these are going to go. There's also the plumbing/utilities to consider. Maybe a sitting area?

Just something to get you going; welcome to GPF!
 
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wwhhyy iiss mmyy kkeeyybbooaarrdd ddoouubbllee ttyyppiinngg ? HHEELLPP
 

Doctor mcboy

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you will have a lot going on for a smallish place. it could look muddled. i like brokens idea and make a mock up and step back look at it move it around a little. i put a whole days worth of large rocks around my pond and when i stepped back to look at it it looked like crap.
welcome!
 
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I too think you're trying to do too much in a small area. Two ponds, a stream, a bridge... you'd have a hard time seeing anything at all, and I think you'll create some issues for yourself trying to move around the pond for planting, maintenance, etc. I always lean toward one large anything as opposed to two smaller areas - you give yourself so much more flexibility.

I'd build one pond, as large as you can get it, and create a nice path alongside one side to walk to the gate/front door/patio. The spot where you indicated "fountain" is perfect - you can see it both from your patio and from the inside of the house. Just make sure you keep it far enough from your fence that you don't create a moisture problem.

Just my thoughts - feel free to ignore as needed! And welcome to the GPF! Your previous pond is gorgeous - you know what you're doing! And what a handsome pup!
 

j.w

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@Chad
I'd take a rope or a garden hose and lay it out and see what kind of form you like best for you pond and how much room you will need around the edges to walk and place rocks and plants etc. I used a separate piece of liner for under my waterfall as it is up higher than the pond and water can flow back into the pond w/o leaking as the liner overlaps down into the pond. I don't have a stream tho.
 
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Instead of two ponds, create one bog (filter) and one pond. You can still have a stream or waterfall between the two.

With a bog filter, you won't need any unsightly filters or external plumbing that may spring a leak. A bog is far superior in comparison to most store bought filters and there's no maintenance. No cleaning out filters every week.

A bog provides an area for lots of nutrient absorbing plants to grow. So, once it's established, it just looks like a garden.
 
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Thank you all for the replies.. and yes gbbudd i had issues posting.. and im a sys admin.. ha.. I layed a couple mock ups and the pics are below.. i can make the pond smaller in some spots if need be.. but this is what i was envisioning..

if i did a bog how or where could i effectively put it in such a small space..? That is also pleasing to the eye. The filter i was planning is the same as the old pond. bio filter with some filter pads. .. i dug a big hole on the side of the pond and dropped a wooden box in it, and ran plumbing and electric to it..and the filter was basically hidden.. i was thinking of doing the same here right behind the waterfall, behind the fence.. big hole, wooden box.. i did not like cleaning out filters all the time but it was a necessary evil.. So im open to a natural type filter if its feasible.
 

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j.w

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Just keep in mind that the tighter those curves are the harder is it to fold the liner in there.
 
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If you are satisfied with the water quality of your other pond, maybe use the same filter setup. You mention you did not like cleaning the filter though.
I got tired of doing that too and also having green water, so I added on a bog.
I love my no maintenance bog. I just had to say that!

If you do choose a bog, you could put it on the right, near the brick wall in the first photo. So, a pond on the left, bog on the right (instead of a second pond) and the bridge located near the transition between the two.
The bog will be smaller than the pond. It's surface area only needs to be 30% of the pond's surface area.

Just a thought...
I don't know if that is the only access to your backyard. If that's the case, make sure you leave enough room or wide enough path in case you need to get something big back there, maybe a table, kid's toys or for your lawn mower, snowblower, etc..
 

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