Building A Pond
I’ve started a new project a few days ago. Building a Pond. I would like to start off saying it’s a lot harder work than I originally thought. The cost also for any decently sized pond can increase quickly, without plants I have overshot my target of $250 by a hundred dollars. I may have overdone it a bit, but I felt that more was better than less. There were preset kits, either a mold or PVC for a free form design. However the kits seemed generally smaller than what I wanted. My design is a 3×6 foot pool slightly higher up that trickles into a 7×10 foot area. At the base is a bench. At the far side I’m only digging down 4 inches for an approximate 5 inch platform to allow for a place to put plants that root underwater. There is special soil for that. The final depth for the bottom pond area will be around 18 inches but curved slightly at the sides. The top holding pool will probably end up only a foot deep, I wanted to have a slight trickling effect leading to the bottom pool for soothing sounds. I’m not using it for fish/snails because there is too much wildlife around. Only plants which hopefully they won’t eat, I may need to put a small fence around the pond later.
My first step was to pick out a suitable area far enough away from tree roots, that gets a mixture of shade/sun during the day (for good plant growth), and a lower depressed area relative to the rest of the yard. I dug down a bit to make sure that I could, though the soil is VERY rocky so often I need to use a pick axe to turn the soil before using a shovel. I use an ordinary wheelburrow to move dirt a suitable distance away, but close enough to place around the edges of the pond later.
Second, I made a sketch of what type of pond I want. It doesn’t have to be exact. I used a tape measure (allowing for the fact that I need to have the PVC material along the edges a good 3-4′ inches out). I wrote on the sketch where I want fountains to be.
Finally I went to the store and bought all the parts I needed. I picked up a beckett medium sized pond water pump/filter. The pump is necessary to keep the water from being stagnant. The filter helps to keep the pond clean. Pumps can be purchased seperately to accompish various tasks, around $20-30. You can either attach a tube of a specific size (donated on the box) to run the water up a slight incline (a major incline/distance needs a stronger pump, you can usually tell on the boxes how many feet it can push water)-you can also simply attach a special head to the pump to make different fountain patterns. Each of these use a normal 3 pronged plug. I picked up a 75 ft outdoor extension and a outdoor 3 plug splitter to serve until I get around to calling an electrician out. I also made sure to get an extension water hose cord to make sure I could reach the pond, since in the summer time I occasionally will need to add water. I picked up 3 bags of sand to cover the bottom of the hole to prevent rocks from ripping into the pvc when it’s first settling (from being filled with water). I also picked up some colored rocks for decoration. There are underlying pads you can use also under the PVC water holding layer but I decided to go with sand. I went with a 12×12 foot PVC sheet, it’s not cheap and from home depot was sold approx $8.50 for 12×1 feet strips. The Beckette water pump/filter ran approx $120. A second pump to create a fountain was approx $20, various heads to create different water spray patterns were only maybe $5 and can always be changed later if you want to try a new look.
Once I finish digging the hole, which is progressing slowly. I will coat the bottom and sides with layer of sand. When filling in the pool it is important to go slowly while creasing out any edges to get a proper fit. The extra amount of PVC hanging over the edges can be held down with rocks and dirt or even nails. I’m going for a more natural look so will probably ring it with rocks on my yard. A general rule of thumb is to wait 7 days after filling the pond before adding any plants of fish. Tap water often contains a lot of additives such as chlorine which can be poisonous at first. 7 days allows much of these additives to evaporate.
I’ve still got a ways to go, I’m not used to this type of work so am taking it slow. I’m sure it will be rewarding and is a nice change of pass from heavy school work and finals. Ideally I will have the pond in the ground and filled before this coming Friday, about 5 days. I will post a picture when it is completed and again when I get some flowers and floating lillies in the pond.
