from outside?
Ok, it sounds simple- dig a hole, add the liner, add water, and enjoy! Well, that's what the marketing people for pond supply companies want you to believe! It can be relatively easy, but let me point out a few things that I ran into building my very first pond. There's a wealth of information out there on the web, and better yet- pay a visit to the REC.POND newsgroup. There are a lot of people out there to lend advise, plans & ideas for biofilters, etc. Do your research! It'll save you countless headaches later on. "Research- it's a good thing." *
For starters, I wanted to put my pond on a sloped part of my back yard. Here were some potential problems that I had to deal with. Water runoff from the top of the lawn, as well as the overflow from splash-out from the swimming pool, ran right down the hill to where the pond was going to go. So the first thing I had to do was think of how to route this water away from the pond. I originally installed an earth berm of a foot high along the edge of the lawn, right along the edge of where the lawn ended and the steep slope towards where the pond is. I figured I'd just add some ground cover plants and let it all divert sideways along the ridge, then down the hill next to the pond. But after sitting on the deck at the bottom of the hill right off of the back of the house, I realized that the berm was now blocking the view of the herb & flower garden at the back of the yard. "This is not a good thing." I removed the berm, then sat back with a tall glass of iced tea and thought of how to remedy this problem. You'll soon learn that a tall glass of iced tea will help solve most of your problems. Unless you have a fridge full of ice cold beer. Or if it's really sunny and in the 90's with high humidity and you have a fridge full of ice cold beer. "Lots of ice cold beer on a hot day- it's not a good thing." What I did was dig the main pond hole, leveled the sides putting a 6 inch high hill on the edge on the backside facing the hill, then dug a trench along the high side. That way any water that comes down will hit the trench, which has the liner covering the small hill, and run down and to the side of the pond. I'll try to get a photo of this with the web cam to give a clearer idea what I'm trying to get across here. "Controlling your water- it's a good thing."
The one thing I never planned on was roots. Oh boy, did I ever run across roots. Enough roots to build a good sized shrine to Alex Haley, who I just discovered lived right here in Knoxville. We've got some large trees on the property, the closest was at least 25 feet away from where the pond was going to be built. Trees have large roots. Really large root systems. Heck, I removed enough roots to build a really cool log cabin for the chipmunks that terrorized me in my yard as I worked. They just seemed to delight in charging me at full speed, chattering insanely as they galloped towards me as I stood there helpless in a big hole, unable to move out of their way. Maybe it was the look of sheer terror in my eyes, maybe it was the funny way I danced in the hole, scrambling like the horribly spastic madman that I am, up the side of the hole with a shovel in hand, uttering strangely guttural sounds, who knows.. they seemed to enjoy it, so I guess that's OK. Being the source of amusement for the local critters is something I've got a knack for. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, just be prepared to deal with roots. Got trees? You have roots lurking down there in the ground somewhere, ready to ruin your best pond plans. Most of the smaller ones were easily cut with either a hacksaw or a tree pruner, but the larger ones had to be left alone, otherwise the tree would suffer. There's enough suffering in the world as it is, so I worked around them as best I could. I do have a brand new chainsaw that's just itching for some action, but I resisted the temptation to start hacking away. My wife would be proud of me. Besides, it would take a while to get me out of the hole and into the emergency room. The end result of running into these roots was that the shape of the pond changed drastically. I went from a deep wide pond to one with a few steps in depth, which actually worked out well, since it'll make it easier to get in and out of the pond for cleaning at a later date. "Avoiding your roots- it's a good thing."
For protection from the many rocks here, I did some major recycling. I used an old swimming pool cover for the underlayment. It's heavy duty plastic, and best of all- it's covered in small air bubbles! The bottom of the pond has a lot of cushion to it, and by installing it bubble side up, the bottom of the pond even has a slight texture to it, which already makes it easier to walk around in without slipping. Call your local swimming pool supply house, and ask if they can have their customer save their old cover when they buy a new one. Recycling at it's finest! Your pool supply house is also a great source for old filter sand- have them ask their customers if you can have the old sand when they buy new sand for their swimming pool filter! It's kind of grungy, sometimes stinky, and may have a lot of small debris mixed in there, but hey- it's free! "Making use of what you have on hand and recycling- it's a good thing"
I'm kind of amazing myself as I come up with ways to make things that I need- one thing I needed was a way to split the water coming from the pump for the falls, biofilter, etc. I was ready to head to the hardware store for PVC piping, connectors, etc, then stopped and thought for a minute.. I went to the garage, grabbed a short piece of regular old pine 2X4, (NOT PRESSURE TREATED!) got the drill out, popped a 3/4 inch wood bit in it, and drilled holes on all the sides all the way through. I cut a few pieces of 3/4 inch hose to length, and stuck them into the wood block. Viola! The hose fits pretty tight, and when the wood gets wet, it expands, holding the hoses perfectly. So now I've got a 3 way flow splitter! What a hoot! The only cost for this pond so far is the cost of the liner- everything else is jury rigged from scavenged goodies. Ya' gotta' love it! "Creative problem solving- it's a good thing."
More tips to follow as I get time to add them here.
* (With all due apologies to Martha Stewart)