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Ponds & Aquatic Plants

Expanded the Pond this weekend, check it out!

13 years ago

I learned a couple of things this weekend.

1. My fish greatly enjoy the larger pond.

2. My body at 39 isn't nearly as happy to move 100 cubic feet of well packed clay soil as it might have been at 25!

I dug out the pond starting on Friday night. I had marked out the ground, and began digging away from the pond to start the process and leave the fish in the current pond as long as possible. On Saturday, I transferred all the fish, plants, frogs, crawfish and pump/filter to a kiddie pool I bought from Menards ($12!!!!).

And the digging began in earnest. Worked all day, then finished up around 7:45pm as the sun was setting.

Up at 7:00am on Sunday, and kept digging. Moved 18 loads of clay/soil (6 cubic feet each!) to all of my neighbors that would take it, and the rest I used to build some flower 'banks' for the yard.

Had my daughters help me install the liner padding, then the firestone liner (45mil). I used a 20x20 piece.

Pond was originally about 9'x6'x24" deep. It's now 10'x14'x24".

Before:

[IMG]http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/anonpix_photo/2011-03-22141630.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/anonpix_photo/2011-03-20135556.jpg[/IMG]

After (and during process)

[IMG]http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/anonpix_photo/FromtheDeck.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/anonpix_photo/HoleDug.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/anonpix_photo/TempHoldingPen.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/anonpix_photo/LinerIn.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/anonpix_photo/NewPond.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/anonpix_photo/Waterfall.jpg[/IMG]

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Comments (13)

groundbeef
Original Author
13 years ago
Grrrr. I hate it when the images don't post. Here they are again.

Original Pond:

{{gwi:192704}}

{{gwi:187438}}

New Pond: (and construction)

{{gwi:192705}}

{{gwi:192707}}

{{gwi:186581}}

{{gwi:192708}}

{{gwi:192709}}

{{gwi:192710}}

I'll finish off covering the liner around the edges next weekend. Right after my muscles stop aching!
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blessedfamily
13 years ago
Very nice and much bigger :)
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annedickinson
13 years ago
1. I agree... older bodies aren't the same as younger bodies no matter how our minds lie to us!!!

2. What a cute daughter and how nice of her to be willing to help old aching Dad!

3. Beautiful pond - old and new. I'm sure the fish are much happier with more room for swimming, though in that second to the last picture they were still all huddled together.

4. The Daddy's Sanctuary stone is very sweet. Is that from your daughter?

Overall - Good job. I like your new pond!!
Anne
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knittlin
13 years ago
I'm impressed, GroundBeef! You know how much that is in cubic yards? Four. Know how much a regular pickup truck bed holds? Two. And if that heavy clay is as heavy as I think it is (75 lbs. a cubic foot), a regular pickup truck couldn't haul one yard at a time or it'd screw up the suspension and maybe blow out some tires.

You moved four tons of soil this weekened, GB. Makes those sore muscles reeeeeeeally understandable, huh?! Maybe you should change your username to Truck. Maybe DumpTruck.

It's going to be beautiful when you're done. Can't wait to see the finished pictures.
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bwalters
13 years ago
Wow- jealous...

I need to go bigger myself- I have a 2k gal pond, and while it was fine 3 years ago, it's a little small now. The logistics are probably what's scaring me more than anything else- I hate to gut an established pond and start over, especially when I consider having to temporarily re-home the koi.

I may just dig an extension next to the old pond, then connect the 2 in a way that doesn't disrupt everything that's going on now...
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groundbeef
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for everyones kind words! I'll post more pictures when I'm all done. My neighbor suggested I use pea gravel around the edges to help cover the liner. I'm going to see what that looks like this coming weekend. I think it will look nice.

BTW the girl in the picture is my neighbor's daughter, and my eldest daughers best friend. She always takes care of our fish while we go on vacation, and loves to come over and watch the fish.
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ernie_m
13 years ago
I agree, they are both beautiful ponds.

I wouldn't go the pea gravel route myself, I would just turn the liner back & under so it doesn't stick beyond the edging stones. Then bring the landscape back up to it.
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Calamity_J
13 years ago
WOW! That is a GREAT Job you did! Give yourself a big pat on the back...and Enjoy!!!! We'll have to change your name to: The Reaper! As in reaping the benifits of your labor!!!
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sleeplessinftwayne
13 years ago
Nice work. My sympathies for your back.
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bagsmom
13 years ago
Ground Beef -- (love the name!)

I will be doing about the same amount of work when I build my pond from scratch -- at age 45! Are you telling me I'll be hurtin'? :)

I have a couple of questions for you.... I see there is a tree there -- did you run into roots? What did you do? This is a worry for me. I don't want to put in a pond, then have to spend 3K to take down a tree I killed by injuring roots.

Your pond is about the size I want. Is it ok to ask you the ball park figure of how much you spent on supplies? I haven't done any digging yet because right now I don't have money for rocks, liner, underlayer, pumps, etc.

I love your pond!
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dakota01
13 years ago
Well as you get even older it gets worse! At 53 there is no way I can hand dig my own pond. My new yard starts as clay then goes to hard shale.

You did a GREAT JOB - your fish will be very, very happy!
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groundbeef
Original Author
13 years ago
@Bagsmom,

Thanks for your questions. I would anticipate needing some advil after digging!

Secondly, yes there were a number of roots that I had to contend with while expanding my pond. I just chopped through them and kept going. Based on the spread, and looking around the yard excluding the pond I have rolled the dice and am not anticipating the tree to die.

It's been in the yard now 4 years so it's still very young. I put some extra tree spikes down to encourage root growth elsewhere.

I ordered the liner/underlayment from here: http://www.webbsonline.com/pond-liner.html

They were the best price on the liner including shipping.

I used a 15'x20' underlayment and a 20'x20' liner. I could have probably gotten away with the 15'x20' liner but I didn't want to come up short. That was like $287 delivered.

I already had the pump/filter/uv system but I think I spent around $500 for all of that.

The slate I got from a landscaper that uses larger pieces for patio work. The pieces I got were too small for them to have much use for. I had them delivered the house and the cost was around $150. Not bad considering they unloaded them for me orignally. I think the weight was around 3000lbs.

If you are careful and supply your own labor you can install it all for about ~$900?

That doesn't include fish cost. I think I have about $100 invested in the fish. The value of my largest Koi far exceed that now. I don't think I could buy 1 of my Koi now for under $300/each. (That's a guess, but they are about 18" long and weigh a few pounds each).
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bagsmom
13 years ago
Thanks -- that's very helpful! Thanks also for your response to my post on zoning for ponds. I'll be bummed out if it is "against the law."!

Your pond is fabulous!
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