Swim Pond Adventure!

[btoby203]

Getting near the end of pond construction, and the beginning of establishing plants and enjoying the water gardening aspect of the project. We worked hard to make the edging as naturalistic as possible, and soon will have plants in the ground and in the water. My goal was to get plants in before winter hits - looks like we'll make it with room to spare. One of our local fire crews brought 13 trucks of water for a total of 39,000 gallons to get up to full - an inch below the overflow drain. Turned on the bubble pumps this past weekend, and added the first gallon of beneficial bacteria. Excited!

 

[j.w]

Getting near the end of pond construction, and the beginning of establishing plants and enjoying the water gardening aspect of the project. We worked hard to make the edging as naturalistic as possible, and soon will have plants in the ground and in the water. My goal was to get plants in before winter hits - looks like we'll make it with room to spare. One of our local fire crews brought 13 trucks of water for a total of 39,000 gallons to get up to full - an inch below the overflow drain. Turned on the bubble pumps this past weekend, and added the first gallon of beneficial bacteria. Excited!

View attachment 166510
View attachment 166511
View attachment 166512
View attachment 166513

Great, now you just need Summer!

 

[addy1]

Looking good!

 

[GBBUDD]

You have all that rock with zero plumbing under it. No baffles at all to get water down there and lift up through the rock?

I'd love to read the specs you are following. No offense but if there's no baffles no.pipes under all that stone it's a huge opportunity lost

 

[GaryMoz]

Looking great, I wish we had the space (and summers) to do something like that.

Do you have a network of pipes distributing the water under the rocks?

 

[btoby203]

You have all that rock with zero plumbing under it. No baffles at all to get water down there and lift up through the rock?

I'd love to read the specs you are following. No offense but if there's no baffles no.pipes under all that stone it's a huge opportunity lost

300 feet of perforated flexible piping attached to the PVC stand pipes. All of that is beneath expanded shale and above that gravel, and above that decorative river rock.

 

[btoby203]

 

[GBBUDD]

It will be interesting to see what the results are expandable shale is not a typical rock we see in bogs . But your bog is massive so time will tell

 

[GaryMoz]

View attachment 166553View attachment 166554View attachment 166555

It will be interesting to see what the results are expandable shale is not a typical rock we see in bogs . But your bog is massive so time will tell

I bet it's a lot cheaper than pebbles and with that much I can understand why

 

[btoby203]

A few last pictures before tucking in for the winter. I'll be seeding meadow grass and eco lawn this weekend. Can't wait for spring to see the greenery start to emerge. This was a great project which was very bonding for my son, son-in-law, and me. Really excited to take a dip, but not until it warms up next year! Happy Holidays all

 

[GBBUDD]

Congrats looks good

 

[hammer]

Fellow CT person as well, some nice ponds here. Hell of a build.

 

[TJeep_1999]

Any updates? If so please share! Thx!

 

[btoby203]

Hello all and Happy Spring! We've had a nice Spring so far here in CT, with ample rain and cool temps perfect for germinating new grass and establishing new plants around the pond edge. My friend Dan and his company Holmes Fine Gardens did an outstanding job landscaping around the pond in April, and things are setting up nicely for the growing season. I seeded the new grass areas with Eco-Grass from Prairie Moon, and Dan's team did the turf planting, added two trees and a whole lot of plugs, and built the grassy ramp to the single gate entry, which helped with a tricky too-steep slope. I'm happy with how it's turned out so far!

 

[btoby203]

This winter was pretty cold compared to the past five years or so in southern New England. We walked on the pond a few times in January and February and I'd say the ice was at least eight inches thick for much of that time. I knew I'd have a lot of attrition with the plants I added to the pond in mid November. Here's a summary of what I've planted so far and how it's done:

Placed in small sized plastic bags with soil mixture and two fertilizer pellets, surrounded by pea gravel, and enclosed in fabric planting bags before submerging one to two feet below water level:

• Nymphaea odorata (White Water Lily) qty 20. About 50% survival rate, slow to emerge but many of them seem happy and are coming along nicely.

Bareroot live plants, individually wrapped in burlap without soil and weighted with pea gravel, and carefully placed in the marginal zones from 2" to 6" deep:

• Onoclea sensibilis (Sensitive Fern) qty 20. About 50% survival rate so far
• Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower) qty 8. Does not like to be fully submerged. Leafy parts need to be above water level. About 50% survival rate so far
• Iris versicolor (Northern Blue Flag) qty 30. Doing great! About 90% still alive and growing nicely
• Scirpus validus (Softstem Bullrush) qty 10. Only about 20% survived over winter, but those that did are thriving
• Pontederia cordata (Pickerel Rush) qty 20. Only about 20% survived over winter, but those that did are thriving
• Caltha palustris (Marsh Marigold - 3" Pot), qty 8. These are doing great! All 8 survived and love where they are. Pretty yellow flowers in early spring!

Planted in dry sandy-clay soil along the pond edge, mulched with wood chip. All died during the winter:

• ground cover Irish Moss - live plant quad 4" x 4"
• ground cover White Star Creeper - live plant quad 4" x 4"
• ground cover Scotch Moss - live plant quad 4" x 4"
• Creeping Jenny BARE Root ‘Lysimachia nummularia’ qty 30