Ponds

[charlie]

I have two that I have created over the years, both have been a success in the garden and achieved what was planned for them, however the first was made 35 years ago and last year I noticed that there is very little actual water in it, it is mostly a mass of plant which although doesnt look too bad does mean it has become more of a bog garden. I decided (probable after a glass or two ) that it needed thinning out so I bought myself a pair of waders so I could get properly stuck in and yesterday bit the bullet, 5 massive wheelbarrow loads later I am a broken man and it barely looks touched!

Anyone else want to share their pond woes!?

Pond in question

old pond by charliepridham, on Flickr

colonel welch2 by charliepridham, on Flickr

[kGarden]

Anyone else want to share their pond woes!?

At least yours looked nice! I'm always good for finger-pointing and rolling-around-laughing with my "How hard can it be" projects, so here goes ...

When we moved in there were two concrete lined ponds, both badly cracked. This one came right up to the terrace and the way it bisected the lawn was just all wrong.


March 2006, when we first looked round the place


November 2006 a few months after we moved in, the "round" pond in the distance.



So Summer 2007 I hired some Boy's Toys, smashed up the concrete, leaving a bit at the back as the "pond replacement pond", and dug a hole somewhere else to get material to fill it in





I also dug a new straight-pond to join the round-pond to the pond-replacement-pond.

Come 2009 and, as ever, slow progress, the ponds were lined and planted



but the fill-in had sunk, so had to lift all the turf, fill in top soil, and put turf back. Decided mid-Summer was the best time to do this!!



and the lifted turf didn't cover the whole area, so bought some in. Blimey they stick some Nitrogen on turf, it was a nightmare to get under control ("Don't cut for X weeks to let the roots establish" means its 9 feet tall by then ... not to mention the non matching colour of course)



By 2010 it looked quite good:



but then decided that the round pond at the far end needed sorting out - cracked concrete not the best pond-type





Converted that into an infinity-ish pond, so that from the terrace you get the benefit of the reflection of fields and sky beyond



Before:



After:



Before:



After:



Before:



After:



but sometimes like this!:



So the effort is worth it ... but you know that :) so if this gives you the nudge to be invigorated for your project then Go For It :)

For more side-splitting entertainment :lol: see the madness in the update to my Oriental Stroll Garden Project

[Paul S]

Your garden amazes me - it is more like a park! Oh, to be able to do things on such a grand scale! Great stuff.

I'll dig out some pics of my pond later.

[kGarden]

Your garden amazes me

Thanks ... however ... crafty camera angles and selective photos may have a lot to do with it:)

I long to complete Construction and move to Maintenance; spending all the Construction time on maintenance will, I hope, mean that it is in show-case-state all the time.

[Paul S]

Some ancient history here :) Part I - pond MkI

I started landscaping my garden in '97. At that point I had about 1/3rd acre that had been kind of terraced. You lways read that when making a pond you should give it as much room as you can, which in my case was the largest level (ish) terrace - I dug a hole for theliner that amounted to around 55ft x 35ft



Took me a month to wheelbarrow the spoil into 8yd skips. 12 of them.

Winter halted the fun:


'98 - Lined and filled - yet to cut out the island for the trachies:


Some views from 2002:




I loved this pond for many reasons. The wildlife it attracted was phenomenal and the way it made an open space that wasn't lawn. But it became a logistical nightmare trying to keep it nice. I have badgers and they punctured the liner several times, which meant the water level kept falling. And A friend gave me a small grassing looking plant to grow in the margin - Zizania aquatica. 'I don't know how this will grow' said James 'As no-one has grown it before'. Well inside of 3 years it had overrun about 2/3 of the pond and I couldn't get rid of it.

Something had to be done!

[Paul S]

Part II - pond MkII

I decided to remake the pond - make it smaller and 'modern formal' style - a circle to tie in with a circular theme I had employed in the other bits of the garden. Plans made for how exactly to construct the thing to make it badger-proof. Late summer 2008 I pumped out the water and drew the shape.



Started the build in '09. Cut out the shape to re-use the circular middle bit of liner, which I folded inwards and protected.








Here in 2012:



Here in 2016 - I added an external filter and water shoot to help clean up the water and also nowadays grow a lot more plants in there.



Nothing more recent - that makes any sense, anyway. :) A lot of blood sweat and tears.
Annoyingly, when I first made the circle it was dead-on level, a feat of which I was immensely proud as I am not a brickie. But the ensuing years have seen the ground move all over the place and it now leanes noticeably - of course the water level gives the game away!

[charlie]

Both of you make my pond issues look a mere inconvenience by comparison. Paul I have the same issues here with subsidence with pond number two, had it dead on level using a water filled plastic tube but over the years it has subsided on one side by about an inch. I plan to remove, jack and replace the coping bricks in a year or two when it will have hopefully decided the level it wants to be. As for yours Kgarden , you just like playing on your digger dont you :)

[kGarden]

Both of you make my pond issues look a mere inconvenience by comparison

Expecting to see photos of you stripped to the waist and shoulder to the shovel then :)

had it dead on level using a water filled plastic tube but over the years it has subsided on one side by about an inch

For my "infinity" Round Pond the surround slabs are laid at an angle and the outflow weir height set so that the water is a couple of inches up the bottom of the surround slabs. That takes care of some evaporation, things not being dead-level and (hadn't considered it but) will accommodate some heave

you just like playing on your digger dont you :)

Therapist already selected for when I run out of annual-digger-hire excuses :D

[Tony King]

Paul your original pond was the only place I had ever seen grass snakes.

I was amazed on a visit when we were sitting in the viewing hut and the snake just started swimming across the pond...wonderful and never seen one since anywhere else!!!

[Paul S]

Yes, we had loads. watched one catch and eat a frog one day.:) Not seen one since we changed it round. :(