Renovating the pond

[wuftytufty]

Hiya, thanks Fishylove, it is weirdly good fun, although possibly bordering on the masochistic!! Even hubby, who is not a practical hands on kind of man is happy doing it with me, which is a big surprise! He is turning out to be quite handy, which I think has surprised him too!

Re the little stones, around the edge, basically, I will have a ledge about 10 inches wide and about 6in under the water level. The pond liner will come up 6in above the water level, so the rocks will be hiding it, between them and the larger rocks that are already there. I will also have the small stone wall to the boggy bit and then I think that will be good enough for the critters. I have planned for the rest of the way around, there will be a plant shelf, 18in under the water level, which will be about 12inches wide. We will see how we go. It's not the sort of pond that is an exact science! But it's getting to the bit which interests me!

Will defo get a rogues-gallery of the critters and fish and newts before we put them back in....

Can't believe that tomorrow we will be filling it up with water. One question: I was going to put in the Chlorine remover liquid, and also wait for 48 hours, for the normal tap water chemicals to seep off. What do you think? Could I get away with just 24 hours? I know that before, the old owners were topping it up with tap water a lot, without adding anything for the chlorine... Although, just reading a paper on Chlorination in German water, which says that the system is specifically designed for the chlorine to come off in 2 hours....they use other methods to decontaminate water, and then a tiny dose of Chorine. Interesting stuff! But it takes about 12 hours to leave the system, it's quicker in direct sunlight, but varies, obviously.... So 12 hours, is what it needs, then! Cool! Fishies will be in new home quicker, and this is good!!

 

[addy1]

WOOHOO about getting water in tomorrow, That is fantastic, I didn't think you were that far along, you have been cranking! Ponds are never an exact science, each one is so individual they are all made slightly different. The only thing constantly the same is a hole filled with water!

Get a simple test kit and test the level of chlorine, you should be fine. The other thing that helps get rid of chlorine is aerating the water, if you have a bubbler, or something that will shoot the water into the air that helps wipe it out fast.

Great about the rocks around the edge under water, makes it look great and the critters love it. It looked like you had it set up like that in your photos, was just hard to tell.
Hubbies can surprise you, so neat he is helping and gaining confidence on what he is capable of doing.

 

[wuftytufty]

Oh my! We have had to take a break today, as it is really hot and we are melting. Today we hired a benzine/petrol Earth Auger, to drill out the earth - too much stone to dig by hand. And quite clay. After a few false starts, including nearly taking off my own leg, I have figured it out and been drilling, so today, we are mainly lifting out the soil. It is a LOT! Glad we aren't going deeper. I think that by tomorrow evening, we really will be putting in the water.

I have a small fountain thing, which has a bio filter on it, and also we have the pump for the waterfall, so will be turning those on as soon as we have the water in. Will leave the bog until after we have filled the pond, because then, I can build it properly according to the water level. Although will prob turn off the waterfall whilst doing that. But so long as the critters and the fish and lilies are back in, I will consider that a big success. LAndscaping around that will take some time...

So, we are counting down the last 36 hours (it Thursday lunchtime now).....will we make it? I can't bear the suspense!!

Luckily, I have already got the full raft of chemical testing, since trying to figure out the problem of the algae in the pond. So quite confident that it will all be fine. I am soo excited. I wonder if I can dig by moonlight?!?

Right, back to my book, hiding in the shade and bringing down my temperature, whilst conserving energy, until the next spurt of activity!

Thanks so much for the moral support through this! I really appreciate that a lot!

 

[addy1]

Go go go ! lol, So excited for you! 36 hours will pass fast! Your pond critters will be so happy!

Watch the heat, it makes me miserably sick. I have to come in once the temp climbs over 85.

Understand about the digging, we would not have plants or ponds if honey had not bought me the tractor to use. Miserable rock/clay dirt. So is that machine a auger like you use to dig fence posts? Post a picture of your potential leg eating machinery! Since I am babysitting my lil missy (she had surgery yesterday) I have time to play on the computer.........or yuck clean house lol. She is snuggled up on a pillow wrapped in a soft baby blanket right now, sound asleep right next to me.

Keep your fountain running while the waterfall is turned off, water movement is always good.

 

[wuftytufty]

Hope Missy is better soon. Sounds so cute!

Will post pics of the BEAST later, when we collapse for the day! It is exaclty the post hole digger thingy, with a really big corkscrew thing on it....like this: http://www.getabo-werkzeuge.de/images/produkte/i10/10003051-art-73-581-1-0.jpg with a corkscrew like this: http://ernst-hacklaender.de/index.php?rex_resize=1000w__1.heiss_pflanzfuchs_pf400_slider.jpg. Hubby is mildly terrified of it!!

Really hope we get it all done!!

 

[wuftytufty]

We will prevail!!! Muhahahha! Ok, I think it is starting to get to me!!

 

[addy1]

whoa! that would terrify me, that auger thing is too close to the legs! Wear good boots, steel toed, good soles so you don't slip..........lol I have chaps that I wear when I use a chain saw, stops the chain saw from cutting off your leg.......you need them too! (being a mother here lol)

This is my baby, use it for everything...........




pond digging!

 

[wuftytufty]

Wow! That is awesome!!! How cool is that!! That is a PROPER toy!! I don't think my garden is quite that big!!

Here's hoping that we can get that liner in tomorrow. Just watered it, to try to soften the clay, overnight. I hope we can finish drilling the soil tomorrow morning.... Eeep! (I am being really careful with the auger, and standing well back, so it can't kick out at me.

Everything crossed!

 

[addy1]

I use it to haul prunings to dump into the woods, we have undeveloped critter woods, our own, the stuff makes a nice critter dead fall, then just goes away. A nice little 10 foot cliff. I haul mulch with it, dirt, use it to till our gardens, veg and wildflower when needed.

Yeah waiting for liner pictures! go go go lol

 

[wuftytufty]

So we are up literally at the crack of dawn, to try to get this done. It's another scorcher today, so we need to work fast. It is raining a lot over the weekend, so we do need to get this done...

Watered the earth last night, in a bid to soften it for this morning....here's hoping!

This will make you laugh, I was showing hubby your pics of the garden and your "little toy" and telling him where you are from. Out came google maps, as I wan't sure where it is! So it starts on the smallest scale, and we're like "oh, that's helpful!", then zooming out, we see Baltimore, then further out, Washington DC and New Jersey Zoomed out a bit more, and we're like "Oh, that's not far from New York then!!" Ignorant foreigners!!! Realised that all our American geography, is from films, and largely incorrect!!

 

[addy1]

Laughing, I have to do the same for countries over there, google maps, ow sometimes no clue. The states are small on the east coast, I think it is around a 3 hour drive to new york from here, I have only been there once. On the west coast to get out of arizona we would have to drive 6 hours to just change states.

We are around 45 minutes from DC and Baltimore, to the west of both, sort of mid state if you look at maryland as a east west state.

One thing to keep in mind, I recall you mentioning the water table, you would not want your pond lower than that. The water coming in below the liner will float it.

 

[wuftytufty]

Woohoo, back to work...it's dropped from 30°c to 27! Hurrah!

Heavier rain expected tomorrow...boooh...

 

[addy1]

We are at a beautiful 72 outside! woohoo! then back into 80's tomorrow again. Messed around in my bog made the pond a murky mess, but it clears up in just a few hours. Had to yank a bunch of overgrowing plants. The green frogs came hopping out and sat by the bog wall until I was done.

No breaks for you lol............back to the pond slavery!

 

[wuftytufty]

Wow, bad news: Rain is coming in tonight. . Oh pooh.

 

[addy1]

boooooooooooo (good time to take a rain break!)