See if you have a supplier of bentonite clay in the area. Drain pond. Let dry somewhat. Put layer of bentonite down. Rototill lightly. Pack. Fill pond. The devil is in the details. How much bentonite?

Really a beautiful area now & with all that great help you have some precious memories along with the pump from your folks! The adopted kitty looks so at home in the wheelbarrel, same color as she! How nice that is near the porch so you can hear that great sound of running water. Cleaned out the shed a bit too so you can go to yard sales this summer & get some more goodies! Win ,win all around! Jan

Hi Jenny and Sleepless, Thank you for the supportive posts. I've decided that for now I won't be contacting the city for clarification regarding the legalities of my pond. I'm guessing that in the spring when I am digging a big hole in the ground for a gravity fed filter and running plumbing for 2 new retro drains my neighbor will be on the phone as quick as you can say "b*tch". In which case, either the city will ignore her again or come talk to me. I will welcome to the opportunity to speak with the city inspector like Jenny did if it comes to that. In the meantime, I see no reason to stir up a hornets nest by calling the city to clarify the legalities of my pond right now. Besides, if I wait for my neighbor to file another complaint, she will only be adding to her already stellar reputation as a complainer so who is going to have more credibility with the city inspector then?? ;-) Thank you Jenny for the story. I don't feel so alone now and know that there is always a pita somewhere. Which is why I'm dreaming of the day I can move to the country on 20+ acres with no neighbors in sight!! LOL Seriously, though, it sounds like your neighbor and mine could be sisters. Almost identical situations with different details. My neighbor has also alienated everyone living around her. The people who are on the other side of her had to go to the city board when the neighbor complained they had planted tomato plants in her yard (they hadn't) and are fed up to their eyeballs with all the "helpful" comments she gives them about improving the appearance of their home and yard. In fact, they've been slowly working on re-siding their home with cedar siding over the past year or two. They told me they have deliberately chosen to re-side the side of their house that faces the cranky neighbor's house because they are so fed up with her telling them what to do with their home. LOL The neighbors who lived behind her actually chose to put their house up for sale and move to the country because of her (amongst other reasons I'm guessing though they told me she was a major reason they wanted to move). This lady has no boundaries. When I first moved in, I tried to be the nice neighbor who would stop and chat when I saw her outside. Until the conversations turned into hour and half ordeals with her detailing for me all her and her husbands medical problems. By the way, how often your neighbor has to pee at night and the degree of discomfort it causes her is NOT something you ever need to know!! It came to the point where I'd drive around the block to see if she was outside in her back yard before I'd park my car. If she wasn't or was out in her front yard, I could park in the garage behind my house. If she was out in her backyard, I'd park my car in the street and sneak in the front door. Sometimes, though, she'd still catch me when I was on my way into the house after work. I would literally tell her I can't talk because I have friends coming over or was expecting a call. Totally did not phase her. Pretty soon I was telling her I just got home and needed to use the bathroom RIGHT NOW. She'd literally follow me up the sidewalk, up the stairs to my deck and continue talking to me through the screen door until I disappeared from her view. In the end she took my building a pond as a personal attack and was pissed because now it wouldn't be as easy for her to access my yard to trim her trees into absurd lollipop shapes. She still had room but it would not be a free for all like it used to be. It continued with her giving me "helpful" suggestions for how I could landscape my yard in order to hide my fiance's boat and snowmobile trailer so it wasn't so out in the open "not that it bothered her" at all. Later she told me she liked my pond and thought it was beautiful to which I told her I was having a hard time believing that because I'd heard from my other neighbors that she was complaining I had "ruined her yard" and had heard her complaining to her husband about my pond one day when I was sitting on my deck but she didn't realize I was there and had heard every word. Finally, I had a polite but firm conversation with her letting her know that what happens on my side of the lot line is my business and what happens on her side is her business. Well she didn't take that well at all because next thing I know she's cutting down every tree of hers that was on her lot line and digging up all sorts of flowers and stuff. Passive agressive much? LOL It finally culminated with her demanding I give back the tamper she had leant to me. Not too coincidental that said tamper was being used while I added a waterfall to the pond. Problem was it was my tamper that I had bought at Menards. I called her and spoke with her husband asking him to let her know it was my tamper and I could produce a receipt if necessary. Next thing I know she is up on my deck pounding on my patio door. She proceeded to start hollering at me and telling me to "prove it" that the tamper belonged to me. By that time I was incensed, I told her I'd send my fiance over when he got home from work to show her that the tamper was mine because at that point I was too angry to speak with her any longer. I then shut the door and locked it - thankfully - because pretty soon she is trying to open the door again and continue arguing with me. Crazy apparently runs rampant in the world!! :-) I'm with you sleepless, it sucks to be left twisting in the wind trying to figure out if your pond is legal or not based on antiquated ordinances. However, in the meantime, I've done my best to keep my pond as unobstrusive as possible by keeping my pond tucked away in the backyard and bordered in the back with a split rail fence and tons of shrubs and trees which also obstruct the view from curious kids. And, nowadays most of the kids in my neighborhood are middle school age or older. Like you, they stick close to home and do not have the freedom to roam the neighbor hood "until the streetlights come on" like I did when I was younger. The neighbors who live behind me (separated by an alley way) have small children. However, that family's yard is enclosed by a picket fence and they also have a small pond in their own yard. I've talked with the family when they moved in over a year ago letting them know I have a pond and that it might be a good idea to not let their kids wander into my yard unsupervised. In addition, I've had these kids at my house with me (letting them pet my kitties which they are enamored with) and every time they come to my house I make time to point out the pond and again impress upon them that they have to have a grown up with them when they look at it.

That sounds like a great project! You have an amazing resource in St. Louis. As you probably know, the St. Louis botanical gardens are world class. They have an outstanding Japanese Garden. This information is 5 years old but, a friend (who lives by Forest Park) talked to the curator of the Japanese Garden who agreed to transform her back yard. Over a weekend it was completed and is amazing. Her pond is much smaller than what you have planned but it is integrated perfectly in her new landscape. So, I'd take a trip to the gardens one day and chat with the staff and inquire about contractors. Something like "would you happen to know anyone who could help me ..." With luck you might find one of the most knowledgeable and highly skilled landscape architects in the country take your job. If not they would certainly know who they use when they have a project to do. I'm partial to Japanese gardens but every garden there is first rate. If you have a style in mind that is the area i would gravitate to. Good Luck Here is a link that might be useful: Come Join Pond Chat!