Replacement Pond Build

[johnnyi]

Hi,

It's been awhile since I've posted. You can see on the link below that I've built a 1,200 gal pond in 2011 and have enjoyed it up until our recent remodel required it to be moved 10 feet further out into the yard. That required it to be disassembled and filled in. Our goldfish are in the 130 gal stock tank that we used has a gravity filter in the previous build, awaiting the construction of our new pond.

The new pond's dimensions extend further than the original. I'm estimating that it will be 5,000 gallons. The contractor who did our remodel used his Bobcat to rough dig the pond and I'm in the process of doing the finish dig by hand. I'll have more details in the coming days and weeks - as indicated by the title of my original build, I do things at a relatively slow pace.

Look forward to describing what I'll be doing the same and what I will be doing differently in this new build.

John

 

[j.w]

@johnnyi
Neat you will have a whole new pond to play with now.
Looking forward to seeing and hearing more about it.

 

[addy1]

Welcome back!

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome back! Can’t wait to see pictures and progress!

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

I'm looking forward to following your pond build @johnnyi I checked out your previous one and you did a good job so I'm sure this one will be just as good or better!

 

[Becky]

Welcome back to the forum

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome back! This will be fun!

 

[johnnyi]

Just as a background to this project. We built our first pond in 2011/12 that turned out to be 1,200 gal and included 2 modest bogs that were just a shallow extension of the pond itself. That extension was lined with a weed guard type fabric and filled with dirt. The bogs had areas that were above the waterline and below by an inch or so.

Fast forward to the recent past - we decided to do a house remodel that included new windows, stucco replacing combed cedar shake siding and most significant to our pond, a new concrete deck that was to be built just an inch or so below floor grade. The deck spans the entire back of the house and extends out 10 feet to 17 feet from the house. Our original pond would be directly impacted by this expansion, so it had to be moved.

I made several design and build mistakes on the original pond that I would fix in the new pond's design. They include making the entry end of the pond the deepest as opposed to the shallowest part. The entry steps had too much rise. The pumps required too much piping because of where they needed to be placed versus their outlets. The pipes weren't able to be hidden. I created some holes in the rubber for the stream bed which led to a small but continuous leaking and, of course, I cut the rubber too close which also led to occasional leakage.

Other issues that I wanted to address this time around was to create better sight lines for photography around the pond. I had planted too many tall things in the foreground that blocked pictures of birds bathing in the stream for instance. The bogs were hard for us to maintain.

There were a great many good things about the original but we want to make this one better (for us). The next installment will describe the new design.

John

 

[johnnyi]

View from approximately the north end of our old pond looking south. You can see the new concrete patio that is near floor grade ( about 14" above ground). It comes out 10' from the west wall of the house. I'm standing on the 17' projection that extends along the house to the north end. The center of the photo is about the center of the old pond. The concrete covers about 3' of the old pond hence the need to fill it in and build a new pond.

I've turned to the right about 45 degrees. The ropes represent the longest and widest dimensions from the projected top of the surrounding berm. The water level would be about an inch lower than the ropes. You can see the shelf going around the perimeter. It is approximately 10 to 12 inches deep and will end up being about 9 to 12 inches wide. It is much wider on the near side currently, but I'll be fixing that as I progress.

Pivoted to the right again. The left-right rope is about 29', berm top to berm top, and the other is about 16'. The greatest depth will be on the left, south end, and should be 34". The right end, north end, should be about 28" deep. There will be steps into the pond from the north end to hopefully make it easier to get in and out for maintenance.

The 130 gal stock tank in the background will serve as a gravity filter (as it did in the previous build). Notice that there is a roughly shaped mound going north from the stock tank and paralleling the western shore of the pond. That will be the path of the stream bed that will then curve back to the northwest corner of the pond via a waterfall. The stream's purpose is both aesthetic and to serve as a horizontal trickle tower type filter. To that end it will have lots of 1 to 2 inch diameter river rock in it. It worked extremely well in the last build.

 

[johnnyi]

This is about the same series except these were taken just now and show that northern part of the patio. The structure that is just visible on the right side of the last picture is our catio. It isn't functional yet but will be in the next month or so. You can see in the third and forth pictures a pile of rocks that came out of the old build. I'm likely to need more.

 

[cas]

Looking good!

 

[addy1]

Nice build!

 

[Mmathis]

That’s awesome!

 

[johnnyi]

I'm looking forward to following your pond build @johnnyi I checked out your previous one and you did a good job so I'm sure this one will be just as good or better!

I sure hope so. Thanks!

 

[j.w]

You are on your way to a lovely spot to someday relax and enjoy all your efforts. As for now "Get back to work"!

 

[johnnyi]

You are on your way to a lovely spot to someday relax and enjoy all your efforts. As for now "Get back to work"!

The task mistress, JW. Being a 63 year old desk-jocky (in IT), I have to take it slow and steady. My guess is this will take about 6 or 7 half day sessions to be ready for liner. Then it could take weeks and weeks to place the rocks. I'm likely going to fill the pond before rock placement due to my fish being stuck in that stock tank. They need to have a pond sooner than later. My guess is that it will take about 3 to 4 weeks in elapsed time to get to the fill point.

On a larger note, the new pond will have more hardy water lilies and less tall material. We are intending the yard as a whole be planted in natives with the purpose being to attract insects and birds. We want to have no lawn by the end of the project. That project will not complete until next year most likely. We are doing the front yard landscaping this year with the same goal.

The smaller plant material in the foreground will lead to better sight lines for viewing and photography from the patio. The bogs we had in our old pond were hard to care for and control in terms of the plant material growing there. This time more of the plant material will be outside the pond with the exception of hardy water lilies.

We will see soon.

John

 

[j.w]

@johnnyi Ok slow and steady will win the race then. I know what you mean about being aged to perfection as I am in that mode somewhat also. I need to try and behave myself and not try to get one huge project done in one day w/o water, food or resting. Then i find myself crawling into the house at the end of the day and collapsing on the couch where no one can even speak to me,lol!

Neat on you not going to have any grass to mow in the end. I would love that but to get there I would have to perform the above actions that I should not be doing to accomplish that task. We have over an acre of grass, plus a common area adding another maybe 1/2 acre to mow. It would take a lot of landscaping to get rid of all that grass and then think of the weeding!

Don't forget to post us more pictures as you go along w/your new pond and landscaping project.

 

[RobAmy]

Coming along nicely, keep up the good work

 

[GBBUDD]

Smart people keep it simple and learning from there mistakes.. < JEALOUS

 

[johnnyi]

I only got an hour and a half in Sunday morning but made progress. Have the far side bottom finished to the right of those concrete blocks.

Here and the next picture you can see the area above the shadow of my hat that I've dug out where the stream will enter the pond. I've made the side there flush, no shelf. That area is now at the correct depth. The lighter soil to the left of the tip of the shovel handle all the way to the concrete bricks in the picture needs to be at the same depth, so that's the next big (for me) digging job.

Here is the long view. It shows the foot or so of soil that has to come out of the middle bottom and the right wall, midway down has to be cut back. Still think I have a two or three weeks before liner goes in. As it stands now, I'll need a piece 25' x 35' to handle the hole. The bricks in all these shots are there for when the ground is wet to prevent me from sinking in the mud up to my knees.