Creating a water feature

[SDB777]

The wife and I are very fond of anything that includes water. Fishing mostly, but watching fish is also quite fun.

To anyone that has gone through the pains of creating a water feature, what kind of advice would you give. Was thinking a waterfall as the main feature, flowing into a stream, and finally a shallow pond. I know I'll need a pump, liner, and some rocks(that breaks my heart-love some rocks). I just don't know where to get the 'right stuff', at the right price.



Oh yeah, don't have a large sloping yard.






Scott (can't make it easy) B

[jdkline]

My best advice is.......dont put it under a tree. And once you start making ponds....its very addicting too. Plus, theres all these new water plants you can buy and grow. Seriously, dont put it under a tree. We have 3 ponds, all connected and they are under trees and if I could do it all over again I would not put them under trees. In the fall its impossible to keep all the leaves out. The dead leaves rot in the water and contaminate the water until it kills the fish. I am thinking of trying to make some kind of cover this year for them. Maybe make it out of 2 x 2s and screen. Will have to see if I can fit it into my busy schedule. We over winter our fish in a large watering trough in the garage. But we are in zone
5, depending on what zone your in, you may not have to do something like that. Or if you make the pond deep enough, it wont freeze and you dont have to worry about it. You can throw those heaters in there also to help keep the water from freezing. The first one we made was a learning process. We figured out what we did wrong and what we did right. Then we made a channel to the second one, dug it, put the liner in and recirculated the water back to the first one.....Then we made a third one. Its mostly above ground surrounded by railroad ties. Made a small channel to a water fall, more channel, then waterfall into the third pond, now the water from that one recirculates back to a water fall going into the first pond. We used pvc pipe to pump the water through going back up to the waterfall. I absolutely love the ponds, fish, and plants. We put alot of effort into making these and they were worth every bit of it. We are also thinking about putting in more.
Deb

[ok_nurse]

I live in 7a and my fish would cook if mine wasn't under a maple tree. I use a pool skimmer to pull the leaves out in the fall. Like Deb said, you don't want to let them decay in the pond.
If your pond is over 30 inches deep, you can leave your fish out all winter-that's why mine is 36 inches.
I bought a load of dirt, and collected some huge rock (I went to Michigan cause we only have sandstone in Oklahoma) I placed my waterfall supporting rocks where I wanted them on the bottom of the waterfall which dumped into a lower basin that I made with poured concrete walls. (Lots of work for the poured walls-I wouldn't do it again unless I planned on staying in my residence permanently.) Then I moved the load of dirt up against the supporting rocks, carefully placing the plastic tarp between the rocks and the dirt hill. Gradually I built up the hill and the waterfall from the bottom up with tarp between the dirt and rock. The mound of dirt was about 15 foot around when I was done. The I put pond liner on the top of the mound and indented the top basin and used rock to secure. I planted my big plants around the top rocks to provide support. The filter is at the top under the palm and the pump is in the bottom basin pumping to the filter which dumps into the top basin. The top basin is for plants more than fish and I have iris, calla and eventually will have my sacred water lotus in there. The bottom is for the koi (and bluegill!)

[GARDEN GUY]

Hi
I didn't have a slope when I stared either and I wanted a Waterfall and stream too. I created a mound with the dirt from the hole creating the pond. I, too, wanted a natural look so I brought in 5 loads of small, medium and large field stone.
Here is the results:










Hope that this is of some help to you. Good luck with yours.
(Photos were taken while still under construction)
A second pond attached to this one is now being design and installed.

Take care
Gary

[Pyewacketcat]

I have serious pond envy now,that is gorgeous...

[bali]

MY neighbors add a rounded bridge for all to walk across the pond......Cute .

They get lots of folks taking wedding photos there, with a waterfall in back..

Very nice indeed.

[muggyruggy]

I made a cover for my pond out of screen, I used the sewing machine and just sewed pieces together to make it big enough. Then I secure it down with rocks. But my pond is small. Good luck making one.

[muggyruggy]

A problem with mine is I tore mine down after I found two snakes under some rocks near my pond. Maybe you can cement your rocks together so there will be no holes for snakes to get in. Also, if you put your pond in the sun, you have to have LOTS of plants to keep the algae out of the pond. Dont put cattails in your pond or it will take over!

[SDB777]

Garden Guy,

You've out done yourself!

What kind of pump are you using? Is it big enough, or if you had it to do over again would you have bought bigger? One more question, the shrub/tree to the right of the screen...what is it?(It's red-ish foliage is unique)





Was hoping not to have to use concrete anywhere on the property. But I certainly don't want snakes in my yard setting up home! We get some nasty ones down here, and I have two very curious dogs that wouldn't know better. Last thing I'd need is a snake bit dog...



Scott (or a snake bit Scott) B

[GARDEN GUY]

Thank you for your kind words.
The red tree is a Japanese Maple named Osakazuki. It is quite unusual as it changes color through out the entire season. It starts out a lime green and then goes through phases of pink, then finally a cherry red that is stunning.
The pump is a Beckett 3500 ( http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTP...kw=BEC-7114310)
It is larger than I would normally require but I knew at the time of purchase that I would be adding a additional pond attached to the existing one and would need more power. It is a fantastic pump but requires a filter. I purchased the Laguna 3500 external system with great success.( http://www.thepondoutlet.com/home/tp...al_filter.html )
Here is the Osakazuki taken today.











Hope that I have been of some help to you, do not hesitate if you have any future questions.
Take care
Gary

[GARDEN GUY]

Oh
Here is a photo of "the kids" as well

[gardeningmom]

I'm still working on this photobucket stuff-I know this picture is huge. This tree I have is very similar to the one you have Garden Guy although mine is verigated and does not get so red. It will get slightly pink in spots and that is it.

[GARDEN GUY]

Very interesting
Now I want to have that one too. I now have 5 Japanese Maples and wish to acquire more.
Your photo is fine......the bigger, the more detail. Good job

[SDB777]

Thanks for the pump info!
Does the Japanese Maple change so often due to the climate you live in? Or is it just the way the tree lives out it's life?
Like the verigated one also!! Too many ideas and not enough wallet.....jeez!




Was wondering about using solar panels to power the pump for the pond. That way any power consumption wouldn't effect the already high enough power bill inside the house. Of course the battery bank isn't all that 'green friendly', but there are not many choices beyond that.
Read some where that there is a 'Rule of Thumb', on how much pump to buy in comparison to the amount of water that needs to moved. The pond should be moved at least twice an hour(750 gallon pond would require at least 1500gph pump). Is this true? Or overkill?

Thanks for all the information so far. I'm sure to have more questions as soon as I start collecting 'stuff'!!




Scott (great pictures) B

[GARDEN GUY]

Hi
I would contact Aaron at www.pondmarket.com he can answer any pond related question that you may have. PM me and I will give you his personal e-mail to contact him directly.
Also, the Japanese Maple changes due to its characteristics, not local climate.