BUILDING A POND Step one. Check your worst winter temperatures - TopicsExpress



          

BUILDING A POND Step one. Check your worst winter temperatures and plan at least a deep well in one end of the pond that reaches below the ground freeze line. 3 feet is adequate in most places. If your ground-freeze is particularly deep you have the option of a sinking heater, or a well deeper than 3 feet. And if you want a bridge, remember that boards you can *easily* get top out at 12 feet. Our pond has a waist. Step two: Order your system. You need sufficient liner: ours figures at 5000 gallons, with a 3 well and a 15x20 max reach. Part of the liner will go out on the berm to be rocked. It doesnt stretch. It needs a thin fibrous underlayment for protection. You will also need a skimmer, and some sort of waterfall, and one should be as far as possible from the other, with hose that goes the distance. The pump (we use a Shinmaywa) sits in the skimmer, and sends water to the waterfall (Savio 2000 kit: waterfall and skimmer.) Ours is rated for 2000 gallons: we just bought more liner. Tip: order your liner as one piece, not two, with splice. A proper dealer can heat-splice it. Far better than glue. Tip 2: never throw away liner: youll find uses for the trim bits. We have [now that our fish are bigger] found it necessary to add 2000 gallons more filtering power, via an additional pump and filter (we use Matala brand) ---a pump that goes in the deep well and sends water to a box filter that sends it right back to the pond. We are half-burying it and leaving the top accessible for cleaning via a fake rock cap. Step two: Pick a spot. Ideally a spot where you have as little deciduous leaves as possible, where you can reach all areas of it somehow, where you can dig to sufficient depth without hitting buried water or power lines (contact your utility and theyll mark it for you) and it must legally, in most towns, be where you can secure a fence around the area to keep small children from falling in. To figure the shape, get a long bright rope or several garden hoses and just create a circle, then start pushing and pulling the edges until you have a satisfactory shape. Ours resembles the British Isles. Step three. Dig. A Bobcat [rental] can do it real fast and easy---but! it can also do a lot of damage real fast and easy if you make a mistake. Hiring someone who can run it is an option.Option two: get a tiller that means business and churn up the ground, then shovel it into a berm around the pond. This gets you a nice depth faster, and provides more areas for plantings. Remember youre going to have to lay rock around that edge, so dont make it too steep. We did it, two women, a little Mantis garden tiller, and a common shovel. Took a couple of months, but everyone needs a hobby. Step four. Install your liner. With help, get the bundle down to the center of the pond still folded, starting with the underlayment. Unfold it there and spread it out. Same with the liner. Attach liner as a bib for skimmer (Savio has good instructions, and video) and waterfall. Dig in your pit for skimmer and extra filter; build up (we used concrete block) your hill for the waterfall, which is to outward appearance, loose native stone rubble, which we have made into a rock garden. Dig your hose trench, connect the two, install your pump(s), and ---yes...turn on the hose. Youre ready. Step five: fill the pond and once the skimmer fills, turn on the pump. Add declorinator. Let the pond warm up a bit, assuming this is spring or summer, and add your lilies (no pot: just weight the roots with pebbles) and some baby koi---you can often get them for 5.00 each. Step six: if you have predators in the area (and consider flying ones, too) get some bird netting (hardware store) and some aluminum 7-shaped tent stakes that go clear down into the ground (step on them) Stretch it taut over your rim rockwork. That will stop the predators. Coyote urine powder helps, but many of your problems will be aerial. The bird netting is the most effective. This problem gets better as your fish get too big. Our largest is over a foot, and has a scar from one attempt, before we got the netting. Step seven: in winter, disconnect the pumps, install a floating stock heater, [plugs in] and if you need it, a sinking heater. The fish will drowse the winter through under pond ice, and reappear hungry in the spring [and still fat! go figure!] In southern climes, you may operate year-round. Just never feed them once the water temperature goes below 58 degrees, and feed them only wheat kibble [winter food] for a month before and after the water reaches that temperature. Thats pretty well it. Best online company to deal with: pondliner.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:19:38 +0000

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