HI. I havent posted much here or even been too good about reading it as my ponds were large non filtered,non lined ponds and I have them stocked with bass,tilapia,and sunfish.I didnt want to cry if the herons ate my fish and I thought it would be great for the grandkids as well as wildlife to enjoy.It definately has.

My project was an absolute nightmere due to the first guy I hired. He was very good at tearing up but not good at anything else.He would park heavy equipment on my property and leave it for months.He paid no respect to my Laurel Oak trees smashing into them and driving over their roots. Sadly I am slowly losing many of them to Hypoxylon Oak canker.

After a year of this guy leaving my yard looking like a disaster and little done on my ponds we told him to finish up or else(he was into us real good for $$$$$.) Anyway he brought a huge empty flatbed trailer and parked it in front of my house to appease me. That was it, how dumb did he think we were? Anyway we fired him and tried to get some of our $$$ back. He wrote us a bad check so we took it to the Sheriff.(he owes people all over town)He paid some of it back then a past worker showed up and announced he was putting a lien against our house because the guy did not pay him.

We hired a new guy who had to redig the ponds and creek. There was an old dump we unearthed and the first guy was to have removed . No,,, we discovered he had compacted it into the bank! You could actually hear glass crunch beneath your feet!My new guy brought dumpsters and cleaned it up(dump fees $1500)and really did a fantastic job . It wasnt cheap because he had to undo the first guys mess but he knew what we had been through and finished it up in a week!

We also had a Flow well put in. The first well guy came and dug the first day.Upon returning the next day he said "something isnt right someone sabotaged it overnight." He dug a second well and hit something hard enough to break his machine (it was sabotaged by tough ground) He left defeated and didnt return or call us back. Got a new well guy. He started to dig and broke something.He returned with heavier equipment and finished the job.

The ponds and creek have been done a little over a year now.

It was really frustrating to not have the right people.Even when you have the right people you need to be out there. I wanted a natural winding creek and 2 ponds that were not square ,rectangle or circles. I had to demand it be done that way as they all had their ideas.Now they look like they have always been there.

We are reworking the first waterfall to make it larger and more natural and will be adding another to the second pond in the future.Presently we have a fountain in the second pond for aeration.

Has it been worth it?

Absolutely !Check out my slideshow/pictures on building my ponds.

http://community.webshots.com/user/blondeponder