pond wont clear

[addy1]

We get that in our well water, about the same color,

Do you just filter it out? We get a bunch of it, have two filters on the water. Every now and then we get a poop load of dirt coming into the house water. Esp after a hard rain. I told hubby we might want to get a well person out here see if our pump is to low in the hole.

 

[Lisak1]

I like the gravel beach, it will make it easier for critters to climb out of the pond.

I like the gravel, too but agree... you need something to provide some anchor there. A few nice rocks would help. Or you could get some marginals growing in the shallows... that would be cool!

 

[Usman]

i agree with other friends here , you were upset for rite reasons , if you can hire others , do so , even if they fix cosmetic issues , i feel it can have design faults as well i will list few things i see

The type of rock , i have doubts , im not around your place to say accurately how they do in your environment but seems to be yellow clay rocks to me and if they are wet they will dissolve slowly , try to touch them if they feel like fragile & orange dust cumming out and not smooth solid feel .

in some places gravel is very thin that if any one walks on it or with time it will fall away , it will harm the liner and expose it , will look bad too

there are a lot of wrinkles all around , if water clears it will look worst

border lacks rocks , theres only one row of rocks thats not enough to hide liner , in some places shallow 1feet shelves are empty beside rocks that needs to be completely filled with gravel or plants or rocks to hide liner , to give natural look . if you dont have enough to hide it then it should not be left shallow , should be steeper to hide it

The gravel has no guideline/control, it will drop down inthe pond gradually from all sides , there seem to be no support or restriction , how will you clean

1st thing it needs is full cleaning again because all the rocks , gravel had this sand in it , its too much for a new pond , if it was old pond this would be managed by echo system and settled quick , but theres no algae or bacteria or plants , rocks to take care . i think waterfall is circulating the sand or its rain bringing it , if you have alot of rain the create borders to block easy flow in pond .

 

[Lisak1]

Agree on all counts @Usman - especially about those shallow shelves. They need rocks and gravel so they can be planted properly and conceal the liner. The rock border WILL look better, eventually, once it has plants growing between the rocks. But a pond should look presentable year round, even when there are no plants. Most every DIY pond that I've ever seen has looked better than this. Kind of reminds me of the carpenter who does poor finish work - if that's what your finish looks like, how can I trust the work I CAN'T see?

 

[moby]

I forgot to mention the filter, it's buried way too deeply in the ground. On looking closer maybe not a Hozelock, cant quite read the label....pondtec maybe? However, I'm sure no manufacturers instructions would ever say bury one that deep. We put mine only 1/2 or 2/3 way into the soil and my dog kennel style wooden housing fits over it and all the pond electrics, so no chance of flooding. You are almost certainly going to get issues with that, and sooner rather than later I suspect. I would advise you to phone them up immediately, and as noted above, don't pay till you're satisfied with their work.....however demanding they get. Others raise good points too. You need to make that list and phone them. Please keep in touch.

 

[moby]

@MitchM, sorry, you have already mentioned the buried filter...I missed that!

 

[pond1]

That's a pressurised pond filter there surely, seems like a Hozelock model from what I can see?
It looks like they've not washed the gravel before adding it. However 'washed' the supplier says it is, gravel always needs a good hoseing down before use IMHO. However, there does seem to be a lot of sediment collecting on the liner and it's not all settled out yet. Where is the pump placed, is it at the far end of the pond, it should draw water 'through' the pond and not just be close to the waterfall?
Can I ask, were they a professional pondscaping team? I can see a few probs at the mo. The soil will wash into the pond if the angle of the surrounding ground is flat or slopes towards the pond....is it sloping away?
The liner should have been pulled much tighter and flatter around the edge, that way it could have been disguised better by placing the edging rocks to slightly overlap the edge of it.
Some kinds of liners can actually degrade or go brittle and split if there's sufficient sun shining on them, despite the sun being sometimes elusive here in the U.K., plus being exposed they can suffer damage and get punctured more easily....and it doesn't look quite right as you said.
The water level should ideally come up to the underside of the surrounding rocks, both for protection and looks. They need to be turned so that their straight edges slightly overhang the pond edge, can easily be trimmed to fit together, jagged edges then protrude into the soil etc.
Was the waterfall and other rock work washed down in any way after it was jointed? The runoff from the new mortar could also be contributing to the cloudiness. It should ideally have been washed along with the gravel till everything run clear, the dirty water emptied so you start with everything clean.
If it were my pond, I would seriously consider getting them back to do some tweaks in order to get your pond looking better especially as you don't sound happy with it. I certainly wouldn't accept their work as it stands. Yes the water will clear given time, but I think there are some other issues that they should be made aware of. It's going to be a great natural pond for creatures though. Where are you situated, no need for exact location, just out of interest? I'm in Staffs Moorlands.

HI

 

[pond1]

Thanks everyone

It is a professional company they are called greenfingers and based in the north east england im from washington it cost me just short of 3k i have spoken to the company as they had not been back for a week and said they are not finished they have more stone to put in and plants and will take out some of the water to elviate the water also they are going to cover the black liner more i did my homework and this company had good reviews they assured me all will be well the pump is to the top left behind a small tree i didant want fish but my stick a couple of goldfish unless they need loads of looking after i mainly want frogs newt etc and ive put three hedgehog houses at the bottom of my garden and left wild so they may want a swim but mainly in the hope they eat those blooming slugs and snails that hammered my plants and vegs etc

 

[addy1]

Glad to hear the company is not done and will be back!

Just remember a few gold fish will become more. They do enjoy making babies, rapidly.
I don't know your temperatures, you might want to check into the fan tail goldfish, they swim slower, breed less and still look neat in a pond.
I have some in one of my ponds, they handle our freezing icing over and cold water without issues.

Not one of mine picture off the net

 

[cas]

So glad the company is coming back. Please post more pictures when they are done.

 

[Lisak1]

Goldfish, as @addy1 said, do like to multiply, however they need little to no care. I know pond owners with goldfish ponds who never even feed their fish - they just eat whatever they find in the pond and they do great.

The plus side of fish in your pond is that they will help your plants grow - the fish eat, they poop, the plants eat, they help keep your pond clean... it's a wonderful cycle of pond life!

I know you said they are a professional company, but one concern that I have is that they left without finishing for over a week. I've never known a pond builder to leave a pond unfinished like that - most professionals can build a garden pond in a day or maybe two, depending on the size of the pond, size of the rocks, etc. Leaving you hanging without letting you know that the WOULD be back and WHEN they would be back, to me, is not the sign of a professional. You said they charged you $3000? If that's American dollars, I'm going to tell you that's no where near what you would pay for a professionally installed pond of that size here in the states. A "standard" garden pond would start around 9 or 10K. So maybe another sign that they lack professionalism. Maybe they realized they underbid the job and are now scrambling to figure out how to get any profit out of it.

Also, not to beat a dead horse, but the way they have done the job up to this point does NOT look professional. Adding more rocks won't fix the fact that they didn't finish that edge correctly in the first place.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you that they make good on their word and return to make things right. Make sure they address that filter issue - as someone before me said, that filter is buried way too far in the ground... which to me is another sign they don't know what they are doing.

Good luck! Keep up up to date as we want to see you get the beautiful pond you dream of! The idea of wild hedgehogs living in your garden is so fantastic!

 

[Lisak1]

I realize reading that it sounds very doom and gloom - I really don't mean to be a downer! I just look at that work and see "ponds gone wrong" all over it. (Go on YouTube and search for that - you'll see what I mean. The Ponddigger did a series of videos about "professionally" built ponds that ended up as disasters.)

I really do hope that this all turns out well for you!

 

[moby]

I would assume that the price is in GBP as the op is from the UK. and that price doesn't sound unreasonably cheap to me, which could indicate a less than professional company. On a side note, things are different here than the US. especially in the Midlands my own area, and the northern counties, the OP's location. It's what's known as our north-south divide! We would expect a lake for $9-10,000!
I'm also familiar with Greenfingers as one of my daughters employs them in a regular basis, no probs so far. They are a national company, not saying they can't make errors though. I too hope to follow this one through and that the OP will be able to get them to finish the job off properly as there are obviously some issues going on as we've noted.

 

[Lisak1]

I would assume that the price is in GBP as the op is from the UK

Yup - I only wondered about the denomination as the OP mentioned he was originally from Washington.

 

[moby]

So the pump isn't in the actual pond as you say it's to the left behind the small tree? Assuming to the left of the waterfall, correct? The buroed filter you showed is on the right of waterfall behind the yellow green variegated euonymus shrub. Just wanted to clarify if others need to comment, but I can't add further on this bit as I'm not familiar with external pond pumps. Mine sits on the base of my pond.