Want Them All

I'm contemplating the idea of putting a small pond, 5' x 5', depth is at least 2'. Shape can be circular, oval, or free form. Purpose is to have lilies growing in it, NOT for fish although I'll probably have some small fish to control mosquito larvae. Should I have the pond level with the ground or have it raised above ground? Inground involves lots of digging, which I don't mind, I'll dig a little each day. Above ground can provide someplace to sit on (the raised border of the pond), and is probably much more costly (have to buy a prefab "tub"). At this time I'm more inclined to go with inground, even though I realize that the grass clippings will fill the pond every time the lawn is mowed.

Thanks for any input/advice.

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sunfish

sunfish

Why not 18" below grade and a 6" raised edge.

Want Them All

I'll look into that. Thanks for the link, I'll shoot her some questions.

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cherokee_greg

This is my small little pond. I made a planter around it so I can add mulch and plants plus I put stones around the ege of the pond. That way grass does not get into the pond when I mow.

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Greg zone 9 Fresno,CA
http://gardenjot.com/garden/view/1980/Gregs-Banana-Farm

Want Them All

Very nice Greg! Is that a prefab pond?

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cherokee_greg

Yes got it at Home depot it took about two days to do. Well plus another day to dig out a bunch of grass. Im happy with it and my gold fish love it. I will put a bench next to it. I did have one made with a liner. There is lots of ways to do one.
good luck

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Greg zone 9 Fresno,CA
http://gardenjot.com/garden/view/1980/Gregs-Banana-Farm

saltydad

If you look in my galleries under the My Pond album, among other pics will be a series of shots of the pond's construction. This is a 1,000 gallon pond with a waterfall and a 6 foot stream. Depth is 3 ft. at deepest with a plant shelf all around. Putting in a pond is exciting as hell.....good luck and enjoy!

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Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

Want Them All

Thanks, those are great photos to document your build. I'll go over them later and will let you know if I have any questions.

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sandy0225

ponds are very fun to build. We have two and then a display area for waterlilies for sale. Build the biggest pond you can put in your space. It's just like a greenhouse, they get small fast. You think that pond's huge until you find you want 5 different kinds of lotus plus waterlilies. Or a victoria!

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Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!

Want Them All

I've decided to hire somebody to dig for me, the size is elongated oval, width 7' length 14'. Cost is $350. There is a shelf 1' deep 18" width all around the pond. Beyond the shelf the depth is 3'. Previously, my pond size was gonna be around 5' circular, but now it has ballooned to 7' x 14'

Do I need a pump to circulate the water? I've read that lilies like calm water.

Thanks,

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sandy0225

I have a very undersized pump in one pond, it's like a 550 gph in a 10,000 gallon pond, just to keep it from going stagnant. The other pond is like 10x7 x 4 ft deep and it has a 2350 per hour running a water fall and a stream. Victoria water lilies don't like any moving water much around them, especially where spray will fall on the leaves, all the hardies are pretty tolerant for the most part once they're established. If they're well established, they are pretty unstoppable even if the leaves get under the water fall.
So to answer your question, you don't need a pump. If you do want one to run a falls, or a stream, then place your lilies away from the flow until they are well established. If you want nice lilies, don't put koi in your pond, stick with shebunkins and comets, because koi will trash your lilies like a grass carp. The longer I have them the more convinced they are just pretty grass carps.

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Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!

jack hagenaars

my advice....the bigger the better,when your small pond is done,you will look at it a say...i should have built it bigger.....also...a pond is like a green house....the bigger the pond,the easier it is to keep the conditions under control....smaller ponds heat and cool to much..and a bigger pond keeps the water chemestry in check...other wise you will be fussing with chemicals and such.....my pond is 23 feet X 17feetX 3 half feet...it basically looks after itself...and if you have a small pond it will inevidably turn into a raccoon bath.

saltydad

Hey Jack, love to see some pics and more details about your pond. Love the size!

__________________
Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

jack hagenaars

Hey SD....posted a couple under my photo gallery

katgum

We have both an inground and above ground ponds. The inground originally started with a formed pond liner. It was simple to set up, once we had the hole dug. We later took out the pond form and expanded the pond creating a free form. We use a bog pond for filtering the pond. We have lillies, and flags for pond plants, and cannas on the outside

The pond form later became an above pond near our garden. It's surrounded with cinderblocks, since that is what we used to build our raised beds. We just recently added a Duck fountain for the filtration system.

On the raised pond, we are just letting the rain fill it up, so it becomes a back up rain barrell. On the inground pond, we fill it up, since we have some fish in that one.

As for fish, if you are going to have a shallow pond, you might want to consider goldfish. There easy to take care of and do well in shallow ponds.

Dalmatiansoap

This is concrete pond we buildt at our work base.
Its 70cm deep (below water line) and full of Koi fish. Its decorated with small rocks and various Helix vines.

Time for some Passiflora vines this summer

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saltydad

So how's the pond going, WTA? And Jack, beautiful pond pics; I'm very impressed! Yesterday and today were working days; I emptied 2/3s of the pond of water, sprayed the pond bottom rocks to get rid of the muck, and vacuumed. Then I refilled the pond, so I got my cleaning and water change done at the same time. Was very pleased to see growth in my Thalia delbata, water calla lily, lotus, hardy water lilies, Pretoria canna, and dwarf palms. This winter I 'only' lost 3 out of 13 fish (2 small koi and a fantail goldfish), so I'm pretty pleased. I still have an elephant ear inside to put in the pond when it's warmer. I put back in the pond a Lobelia cardinalis and a pitcher plant from inside. Also did 2 trays of seeds, so a good weekend so far. Monday I'm going to the Opening Day of US Baseball! The Washington Nationals vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. President Obama is to throw out the first ball, so I'm leaving the house at 9 AM for a 1 PM game to account for security delays.

__________________
Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

Patty in Wisc

Howard, I usually drain pond & climb in & scrub sides down & then wipe off bottom & refill. Could I use a shop vac to vacuum the bottom? Seems it would be much faster, but I don't want to get fried either LOL. It will be quite a project now as I didn't clean it last year

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Got a lite?
Patty




____
Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

saltydad

I use a great product called Pondovac 3. It can also double as a wet vac. Never used a shop vac, but assume it would be OK. I don't want to scrub everything off the rocks as they are my ponds biofiltration. Just to get most of the muck off. I don't have a bottom drain so I use the pond vac to drain down until there's just the deep part in the center. That way I can hard spray and all the muck will run down into the deep area where i can vacuum it out. I leave the fish in while I'm doing this, although I do take the plants out.

__________________
Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/