Pond Construction Update!

It's been a while since I've talked about the construction of the pond in our backyard.   This picture was taken early in the construction phase. (If you want to follow its progress it is in August archives.)


After finishing it's construction, we discovered there was a leak somewhere in the waterfall itself. For 2 months of shuffling rocks around and filling in every nook and cranny with a special pond foam filler, we finally fixed it!! It was a definite stumbling block, one I wasn't prepared for, since our small pond in the front yard has been no trouble at all for years.                                                                                       

For those of you who have been following this construction, I thought I would show you the progress we made so far!  I'm glad the waterfall is finally flowing with no problems. Just in time for the winter!

Because it got so late in the fall before I could plant, I just used plants I had around my property so it wouldn't be so muddy.  I also wanted to make it a little more interesting to look at since we can see it from most of our back windows.  But I can't wait until the spring to add more plants and put all the finishing touches to it.

As you can see, it's never the best spot to place a pond beneath deciduous trees! I have my work cut out for me removing all the leaves from the waterfall and pond. But I anticipated that from the beginning and bought a plastic netting to go over the pond. The problem? I never had the time to do it!! Oh well, I'll wait until all the leaves are down and then tackle this job in the freezing cold!!

We are now putting up the sides of our ice rink (you can see the white boards behind the pond)   Each year since the kids were little, my husband builds a huge ice rink. I will write about that at some point. Once the temperatures dip below freezing its time to lay the liner, fill the rink with water, and hope for a cold winter! :)

There's always something going on at our house! 

Pond Comes to A Temporary Halt!

We ran into a few problems with the waterfall!

It's been leaking somewhere!

This has not been an easy project compared to the installation of our pond in the front yard! However, when it's finally completed, it will be well worth it!

This weekend my husband and I decided to dismantle the waterfall and try to fix the problem. We think the liner was not laid high enough in several areas, allowing water to escape!

Meanwhile, the wildlife in our yard have been busy investigating this new addition to our yard! Birds are stopping by to bathe and drink and a little toad has been hopping around, a bit curious too! I haven't seen the chipmunks or squirrels visit yet, but I'm sure they've been there!

We now have three frogs living in the pond! They all seem to love floating around on the water lettuce or sitting on the water hyacinth roots! (Too cute!) They have become accustomed to having us around, and just happily sit there as we work around them, patiently waiting for us to finish their little paradise! :-))

The kids purchased 3 goldfish that quickly acclimated themselves to the pond. Once this project is completed, we will buy Koi fish to join our family! Unfortunately, the Koi from our front pond grew to 2' and then were eaten by a passing hungry blue heron! I was so upset! Since then, I created a safe area under water by using an old plastic crate. I cut out some of the cross bars on each side of the crate so the fish can swim in and out easily. It is topped with a flat stone and a wire frog. I don't think a heron or raccoon can reach them----- so far they have been safe! We did the same thing in our new pond. The crate sits on the bottom of the pond 3' below the surface of the water.

Our pretty goldfish seem quite happy swimming around in their new surroundings. They have been a bit shy, staying towards the bottom of the pond and close to the crate! However, they will soon learn that I am the source of their food and greet me with open mouths!! :-0

I'm really hoping we can finish up this project shortly. My husband is anxiously waiting to start putting up our annual ice rink!!

Pond Construction -Part Three

Over the past week we have been busy collecting rocks, digging the trench for the electric wire, and working on creating the waterfall. This part is quite time consuming! I'm soooo glad the kids are doing this!!

We can't thank enough, the parents of my son's girlfriend for so generously allowing us to collect the rocks we needed for the waterfall from their old farm stone wall. The stone is natural rock from our area and aged to perfection! This turned out to be a real treasure since many of the rocks were covered with moss, which I just love!! The boys worked hard to carefully sort through the stones on the wall to make sure they picked out an assortment of sizes without disturbing the integrity of the wall. We decided to name the waterfall after this wonderful family!

We had to make several trips to get the stone because of their weight. During one trip the boys worked in a heavy down pour, determined to finish the job! Looking like two drowned rats, I just had to bake them some warm chocolate chip cookies when we got home!

Once we had all the stone laid out' we decided it would be easier to work on the waterfall with some of the water emptied from the pond. The next morning, we found a little frog sitting on a flat rock in the pond looking like he was ready to move in- but wondering what happened to the water! For now, we had to move him away from the pond so the boys didn't accidentally step on him while working! Hopefully he'll stick around until the pond is completed ---- I think he'll be very happy!

After digging a trench for the waterfalls and stream, approximately 18" wide and 8-12" deep, it was lined with newspaper and a rubber liner like the pond. The boys began placing large stones for each of the four steps that drop into the pond. It's important to get the rocks in the proper position so they look as natural as possible.

Once the large stones were in, they built up the sides of the stream and waterfall using a variety of stones, always trying to face the moss side out so we can enjoy it! Large rounded river rock was used to line the bottom of the waterfall pools.

Now it was time to seal the sides of the stream and waterfalls with a foam sealant especially made for ponds. (non-toxic to fish and wildlife) This is to seal any water from going under the stones, forcing the water to run over the rock steps. (In the picture to the right, you can see how they sealed the cracks between rocks.) Use the foam sparingly, it seems to grow to twice its size! Luckily it can be shaved down once it's dry! Needless to say, the boys were a bit heavy handed and we went through several cans of this foam!

We bought Japanese Garden Stone to line the perimeter of the pond. They are a very similar color to our local rock and quite flat, which makes it easy to lay.

A level was used to help keep us on track as we moved along the pond. Soil and small stones helped us to adjust the stones where needed. My son transplanted some of the moss from the shady areas of our lawn, and put it in between the stones, this will be a work in progress as we search for moss!

We bought a pump that was powerful enough to pump the amount of the water we have in the pond up the slope to the waterfall filter and spillway. To figure this out you need to know how many gallons your pond has (length x width x depth) and the vertical height of the waterfall ( pond surface to top of waterfall)

Most of the pumps will say how many gallons and vertical height it will pump on the box.

We still have alot of fine tuning and little details to do on the pond. Plants need to be replanted around the pond once we know we've conquered leaks here and there! It's beginning to shape up!

We couldn't resist adding some water plants. Our frog came back and quickly became king of the pond as he floats around on the water lettuce!

The kids named him Kermit!

Today we had 10 crows trying to figure out how to drink from the pond! Six of them were bathing in the shallow end all together --wish I had my camera handy!! I can't wait to watch the wildlife beginning to discover this new found jewel in our backyard!

Check back soon for the completion of our pond!

Follow the Construction of My Pond! Part One

Ok, there could be more interesting things to follow, but, this is what I happen to be doing at this very untimely moment when I'm supposed to be resting! Sometimes when opportunity knocks you just have to grab it, even if it may seem like a bad time!

After building a small pond in our front yard 9 years ago, we have always wanted to build another one in the backyard. Between sports and other activities, we just could never find the time to ever make it become a reality. So, when my son came to me and said he and his good friend would build it, I jumped at the chance!..... All I had to do was guide them through the process!

Since we had talked about this for years, I already knew approximately where I wanted to build it. When planning a pond, the site is one of the most important things to decide on.

Here's a few things to consider:

1. Its best to locate a pond away from trees since they can cause alot of extra maintenance with falling leaves and other debris into the pond, and their roots can be a challenge to dig around.

2. Locate it away from areas that you spray pesticides or fertilize. Runoff can cause major problems for your fish and water quality.

3. Proximity to a power source. If you want to incorporate a waterfall, fountain or lighting, its important to think of where your power will be coming from and locate it accordingly.

4. Location to the house is important, it's easier to maintain and feed the fish when it's closer to the house! Remember, the fish like to eat even if its raining! My front yard pond is located just outside our front door - I can feed my fish while its raining without getting wet!

5. You may also want to enjoy it from inside your house too! A pond attracts lots of wildlife that you won't want to miss! This pond will be seen from my kitchen window and most of the rooms facing our backyard.

So, with all this in mind, I located our pond under a giant Tulip Tree that is constantly dropping sap, flowers, seeds and leaves! And it's downhill from our upper lawn area! Yeah, I'm crazy and didn't follow my own advice, but we have a very shady yard with lots of trees. There's just no other place to put it. The pond in our front yard is under a Downy Shadblow which drops leaves, flowers and berries, so I'm resigned to the fact that if I want a pond, I will have lots of maintenance! We also don't use pesticides as a general rule, and will grade the soil around the pond in a way that will divert runoff from the upper lawn away from the pond.

After the area was cleared of plants, I sprayed a line with orange paint to outline the pond and stream/waterfall location. A wheel barrel is helpful to haul away the soil from the pond. We will be relocating this extra soil to several low spots in other flower beds in the yard. If building a pond and waterfall on flat ground, you will need this soil to buildup the area of the waterfall, so its best to place this soil close to the area you want to buildup.

I've got to run, they're ready to start digging!

Look for more updates & tips until our pond is complete!