Best Book and Bible - The Complete Pond Builder by Helen Nash - click here to see it on Amazon.com.

Other info - Online - a search for water+garden+tips on dogpile.com will get you a wealth of information, (about 5%  useable).

Exacvation - Luckily I had a bulldozer on site for another project and he dug my pond in 5-7 minutes, took him 2 big scoops (took me 22 loads in the wheel barrow to move the dirt he excavated, because I didn't know where I wanted it to go at that time, whole thing was sorta an impulse -  I also made him lift and move the 300 lb concrete planter, with the dozer bucket, that was sitting in that spot - all he asked was "maam, does your husband know what you are doing").  I put 2 big barn buckets and some scrap plywood in the bottom to hold a kidney shaped depression in the middle at least 30" deep, the recommended freeze barrier for my Zone 7 pond.  Then, to shape a sturdy planting shelf about 16" deep,  I  put 6-8 concrete blocks, holes up, around the outside of the buckets and filled with dirt to 2" over the blocks (about 10") and packed and packed and packed, dampened and packed some more.  Let sit for about 2 weeks before I started on the underlayment.

Larger bog area

Underlayment - Newspaper as an underlayment works like a charm.  I soaked mine for 3-5 minutes in a tub of water and then took 'sunday sized' sections and laid them, 2 thick and overlapping, like paper mache and let them dry for a day and got great 2" - 3" coverage.  I added old carpet scraps to the 'heavy impact' areas on the shelf where the plant pots and maybe the occasional dog would be.

Liner - I found a great place to buy liners online - beat my best local price by almost 50%, $5 delivery charge and my COD order was at my door in 48 hours.   UnitLiner   I got the 65 mil Firestone PondGuard.  Their customer service people are great help.  My advice is to buy the best liner you can afford.  When I asked about the less expensive liner (like 22 mil) at a local garden center, the clerk said "maam, I have a hard time rolling that out without putting my fingers through it".  Now, laying, placing and stretching the liner is a king sized job! (not like spreading a bed sheet, as I imagined)  Devote at least 1/2 a day to that (perfect honey-do project), do it right and then rest (I recommend a hops based liquid refreshment afterwards - do you know that one of the retrievers can fetch and carry cans and bottles?).  You will need about 50% of your rock available to hold the liner in place.  Oh - there is a right side up and a wrong side up, so unless you want to see 'FIRESTONE'  through the water, look before you cut!   (hee hee!)

See the label? Darn clear water!

Pumps - I found my pumps in the fall of last year when the local Wal-Mart was tearing down their water displays to make room for Christmas stuff (about late August - God forbid!).  Bought 2 $100+ pumps for $10 and $15.  Worked fine this year!

Filters - We ran our pond for about 6 weeks without a filter.  It was OK, fish did fine as I have lots of plants.  But it took forever for the water to clear if it got stirred up.  We just added an inexpensive box filter that surrounds the pump and it's working great.

Plant Material - I recommend Ohhhhhhing and Ahhhhing over a neighbors expensive, commercially installed water gardens for starts on water plants, fish and snails!  If that fails, consider a flashlight and set the alarm for 2am (addresses of my favorites sold to the highest bidder).  I also got some nice arrowhead and spiky grass along the bank of my lake that is doing well in my pond and bog area.

Fish - Save your money!  Koi make excellent heron & king fisher food (and the occasional water snake).  I bought 10 of the 10/$1.00 feeder comets (gold ones) and they are happy as larks and doing great, doubled in size and number (?) in 6 weeks.   Yes, they doubled in number.  There is something fishy going on under the water hyacinths.  Also, I haven't fed them and the mosquito larvae have disappeared.

Rocks & pebbles - Scavenge!  Keep an eye out for rock slides and exposed rocky places along the mountain roads or local construction sites.  It will take 4 times the number of rocks as you think.  You really need good sized flat ones to go around the edge to over hang and hide the liner.  One friend had all her pond rock delivered for free because she asked at a construction site and then baked them cookies (yes, all those tricks my mother tried to teach do work on men, especially construction workers and dozer guys!).  And the 3 bags of pea gravel ($2.33), 2 of river gravel and 2 of grey gravel ($3.73) spread around the edge and in the cracks of the larger rockes makes it look complete.
Smaller Bog area.

Waterfall - If you add a waterfall, make sure the rock really tips forward and all the water runs in, because even if a few drops drip off the back side of the rock, it can empty a pond in less than a day.

Other ornaments - Hit the sale tables.  Because after a few freezes and the dogs run through or the grandchildren play, it's gonna have a chip in it anyway.  I found a cool spitting fish fountain at a real 'upscale' nursery.  It had a chip in it, so I got it at 75% off ($20).  And, there is a great place in Asheville that makes epoxy garden and pond ornaments.  They sell their rejects for $2 - $20.  I have a few frogs around the pond that are supposed to be key keepers.  I painted them with a bronze metallic paint and they have tarnished and look great.  (And, for the adventurous, ask about the sea serpent head about 20' out in the lake, mounted on a 4x4 sunk into the bottom.  I got my "Savannah bird girl - midnight in the garden" statue from the local decorative concrete place for 50% off because it had gotten a bit of terracotta paint sprayed on it, which looks great.

Spitting fish ornament
 

HOME | GOLDENS | GARDENS | PHOTO GALLERY | OTHER | EMAIL | PUPPIES