# Building a small ornamental pond - a builder's log.



## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

I started a pond this Spring! 

The pond was originally in my Parent's yard, and was first built by my Dad about 10 years ago..
its one of those large "pre formed" plastic shells..
it was in their front yard, and was part of the original "Stone Hedge" garden, that led to the creation
of the Stone Hedge Railroad:

http://gold.mylargescale.com/scotty...-main.html

Here is a photo of the pond in its original configuration..
you can see my Dad's Spectrum Mogul in the background:



Its about 8 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 18" deep..I dont really know how many gallons it is..

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The plastic shell is moved around a bit, until a final location is worked out.

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Boots (the cat) really enjoyed the steadily enlarging pit in the ground..she would play it in constantly!
when the pond was finalyl placed into it, taking away her fun, we considered digging her another large hole
somewhere else in the yard! we havent yet..and probably wont..but she really did enjoy it..

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Woo Hoo! it finally fits!


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the pond somehow would up slightly higher than I wanted it to be!
I wanted it up only a few inches abouve the ground level..when I was done it was about 5" high!
I think as I was packing in the sand along the sides and bottom, I probably pushed up the liner a bit..
maybe I should have filled it all the way first with water, so it was REALLY heavy..but I didnt want the pond
completely filled up with the sides unsupported..oh well, no biggie really..I want to rocks sloped *away* a bit anyway,
and having it slightly raised should help keep it cleaner, and help keep leaves and random debris out..

started playing with the placement of the "upper" pond, that will create the waterfall:


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And here (below) is a view from the "front"..
the front side and left side will be "open"..nothing blocking the view of the pond..
those are the "approachable" sides..
the back, along both sides of the waterfall, and the right side, will be the "landscaped" sides..
with tall plants, ornamental grasses, marginal pond plants, and general vegatition..

The right side (in the photo below) is also the south side..where the sun shines in..
so I want some tall plants along that edge to provide some shade for the fish..
(oh yeah, I also inherited my parents 8 goldfish! they made the trip up with the pond back in March..
they are living in a 55 gallon aquarium indoors until their pond is ready)

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2 weeks later, work begins again..
the black plastic edging is temporary..it markes the outer edge of the "garden" portion of the pond..
next spring the plastic will be replaced by round rocks, similar to edging seen in other photos above.
I dont have the rocks yet to make the edge this year..I have a local farmer who lets me collect "cobble stones"
every spring..

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Half of the upper waterfall is filled in!
it looks pretty good..im planning for much vines and other groundcovers to eventually fill in, hide the remaining bits
of visable pond shell and rubber liner, and soften things up a bit..that will come next year.

The one small piece of greenery visable in the mulched portion is a "Karl Forester Feather Reed Grass"
[url="http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2006/07/29/dwarfconifer/68c605.jpg"]http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/20...68c605.jpg[/url]
the first bit of pond landscaping to go in the ground..
I have three of them..two will go around the pond, and one is behind the "sitting area"


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As I said, im short on rocks..
I need more round-ish rocks to fill in the other side of the pond..and the back!
I got an idea to use pieces of firewood, cut whole logs, to fill in the back of the waterfall..
it might be temporary..I might replace it with stone eventually, as the logs eventually rot, (and I imagine
I am creating a lovely winter home for mice..although the Cats might appreciate that..)
but it works for now..the logs will probaably stay in place for a year or three..

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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

nice! did you say you are connecting your rail barrel hose to it to replenish evaporation?


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By SE18 on 19 Jul 2010 11:23 AM 
nice! did you say you are connecting your rail barrel hose to it to replenish evaporation? 





thanks!
no, I wasnt planning to use the rain barrel for the pond..the barrel is just for the carnivorous plants..
I will probabyl just use the hose to top-off the pond..
only potential problem with that is chlorine..not good for the fish..but if I do it in really small amounts, I dont think it will hurt the fish..
im not quite sure what im going to do yet..

I could use water from the rain barrel for the pond I suppose, when I know a good rain is coming to re-fill it, so I dont run out of water for the CP's..

Scot


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice work and idea... I was wondering what to do in one corner of my Koi pond and how to build it up.. Now I see the logs and I just cut down a Eucalyptus tree that was about 3 foot around.. Now just got to fig. how to get the 4 or 5 foot long logs over there.. laf.. tks for the idea. Oh sorry about the Owie. Noel & Jane


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