My wife & daugfhter are on my hide to build a pond - all because some lady found an adult, male red-eared slider in the street one day & gave it to my science teacher wife and the critter is in my back yard now & has been since May. I said, "No" at first and insisted, we turn the turtle loose at the nearest lake. I have since agreed to at least look into it. So I bought a book at the hardware store on ponds and then looked at sites on the web. It looks WAY too complicated for me. I know nothing about plumbing, or electrical work and am not handy with construction. Is it as hard as it looks, or am I just overwhelmed with too much information up front?
I love this website that shows you just how easy it is to build a wildlife pond WT. You don't need anything fancy at all. http://www.derby.gov.uk/Environment/Wil ... dspond.htm If you introduce fish to a pond it's a whole different story and far more complicated so the natural way, I think, is best.
I think it all depends on how big the pond it. Places like Lowes and Homedepot have the pond kits and it doesn't seem to hard. I think the harest part would be the digging of the hole that the moulded pond liner goes into. We may be doing a pond next summer. I would love one in the yard. Good luck and have fun!
Well, I admit that I have fantasized about making my own little stream-fed pond, but I envisioned living in the country to do it. I figured, I'd sink a well & have a windmill draw the water up, have it follow a stream bed I made and feed a pond. Here in the little town we live in, there's hardly room in my yard for such a creek. I don't dread the digging of a hole, but rather what I'm going to do with the dirt I remove. I also dread maintenance and monitoring of a tiny ecosystem under my care. My experience with Lowe's & Home Depot in the gardening domain has been that the people there don't know very much about gardening, so I assume they're just as ignorant in pond matters too. I'm suspicious of folks, whose main motivation is to get money from me.
I don't necessarily think it's hard, but will be time consuming if you're going to do it right. How difficult it will be may depend on where you live. It was easy for me to dig 3' down here, but some places require a back hoe, or even a jackhammer to get through the rock to dig that far down. Things NOT to skimp on are: 1. Adding the layer of protection between the soil and the liner. If you have moles, and don't add carpet, you'll not a have a pond very long. I used carpet, and no holes or leaks after 8 years in my liner. 2. Liners: the big box lumberyard "kits" have cheap plastic liners, and aren't well-known to last long. The pumps are also electricity hogs. You're better off paying a little more for a quality pump (pondmaster is pretty good in the US) and quality liner. I think Home Depot does sell edpm liner, but it's overpriced. Our local nursery is cheaper. I find the pumps are usually cheaper online, as we don't have a lot of local retailers here. You can also buy the liner online, but shipping would be high due to the weight. 3. Leveling the pond. Take the time to do this, or your liner is going to show all around the edge. 4. Plan your pond before you dig. Do you want plant shelves? Will you have fish? Do you want koi fish (which have requirements of their own)? 5. Dirt: You can use the dirt you dig out to build up a waterfall or stream. You can also use it for a berm somewhere if you dig out a lot. Having said all that, I've also built ponds on the cheap, as I tend to change things often due to the easy-to-dig dirt I have here. I've had several little watering holes come and go over the years. You can get the liner from a roofing contractor, although many complain there are chemicals on it that will kill fish. I used mine for a drainage drybed, so this wasn't a concern for me. You can also get pumps at Harbor Freight. The ones I've used from them tend to last a season or two, but also cost very little. They are electricity hogs compared to a pondmaster pump though, but are inexpensive.
There are some good internet sites on building ponds. There is a good garden site but I forget the name of it. I will have to look it up. I did have it bookmarked but it's not there now. dooley
Hi, WTx Pianolady has some good tips there. If you want to support wildlife in your pond, it can take a little more effort. The easiest type of pond to start with is the plastic molded ponds because you'll have a lot less to worry about regarding moles and such putting holes in it. The down-side is that you're stuck with the shapes and styles that are available and they don't look quite as natural as a liner pond. The liner pond takes more planning, but can look very natural. To support wildlife in your pond, you'll want to get the right plants in there: marginal, submerged, and lily-like aquatics. I've got an article on the plants here. http://www.the-art-of-landscape-design. ... arden.html Just a note: If you've got a turtle or fish, they may eat the plants, too. Keep an eye on it! The plants can be kept in baskets, if you like, too. Regarding pumps -- these can be an investment. We bought our last one at www.apondplace.com It was an Oase. Know ahead of time if your pump will run without being submerged. This is something to know -- if you don't refill your pond when it gets low, will your pump be ruined? IMO, pumps are nice for water aeration. Build your pond correctly and get some plants to balance so you won't have as many algae problems. Good luck!
Building pond is easier as compared to its ongoing maintenance. I suggest you should also discuss this with some pond owner and have his feed back on the maintenance. If you think you can demonstrate such commitment than build one.
What to do with the dirt Hi WTX. You mentioned that one of your biggest questions is what to do with the excess dirt after digging your pond. Not sure if this is relevant to your situation or not, but I noticed that certain spots around the foundation of my home were in much need of a better slope to carry the runoff rainwater away. The extra dirt from my pond is used to fill in these areas. If you have low or flat spots along the side of your house where water puddles and pools after a good rain, this is one idea. Much healthier for the foundation of your home as well.
pond installation If you're looking for a quick-and-easy pond installation, you can start with a preformed pond shell. Just dig the hole to size, insert the preformed pond, and backfill around it. Many homeowners "try out" a preformed pond before moving on to a more challenging liner pond installation.
Once you build a pond how do you keep the algae and yucky stuff out of it? I know you pump water into it but don't you have algae formation in those like you do in a pool? I have seen some that are gorgeous and thought about putting one in my yard but don't want to do a lot of maintenance.
When we put a pond in my mom's place (to give her something to look at), we used the pond liner type, and we used the excess dirt to build up the banks and fill in places around the yard that had become low for one reason or another. On the "keeping it clean" issue, we use a pump to keep a fountain flowing to keep the water fresh. Still water equals gross water.
oh yeah i get it now :-? thanks cheryl. i have a friend who used carpet and i was thinking . . oh dear.
