Now that is just grand.I would love to have one too,but we get snakes on the property (yikes)and I am afraid it would attract more of them.I do have a few pot fountains though.Would you happen to know what the little leaf stuff is that is around the water lily?

That's a very healthy looking pond. Not an algae to be seen and water looks very clear.

Ianna

I wished and I wished and I wished that I had a pond, ... and suddenly there it was.....albeit with a lot of heavy labour lifting liners, and rocks, and planting water plants, and stocking the pond, and cleaning up in the fall, and opening in the spring. LOL

Ponds are a lot of work, but in my humble view they are worthy of the effort. I have a few snakes around, but interestingly enough have not seen any at the pond ( albeit a small one).

Molly: I will try and find out the name of the pond plant you mention.

Jroot: I am (very) slowly gathering materials to do the same. Building your own would give one a great sense of satisfaction. By the way, the pond pictured above was entirely designed, built and planted by the owners. Even more amazing is they did it after they retired from 45 years of farming.

I would be happy if I attracted more snakes to our yard. They are one of a gardeners best friends, eating many things which harm your plants. Some snakes even eat slugs. I would order up a few dozen of those if somebody starts up a small business to breed them;-)

Cheers,
MG

They were here before we were ,and I know they are good but they still spook me when I see them.I just wish someone would put bells on them for me.LOL

I believe the tiny floating plant is called Fairy Moss. I get it at one of our nurseries in the area that supply some pond plants. It cost me about 4 bucks for a small styrofoam cupful. It will multiply and almost cover the surface of the pond unless you have Koi. They love the stuff and you wont be able to keep up with it

Here is a link that might be useful: Fairy moss

That is one nice pond! It looks like it extends behind those plants - or is that a seperate pond?

I'd love to have a nice big pond like that - heck I would even be happy with a small pond. But we don't have the room, not even for the tiniest one.

Guess I'd better go buy another lottery ticket :-)

BP

I have a small pond, though not as glamorous as the one in the picture. It was work building it, but once you get it built itÂs more just maintenance stuff. Still, you have to consider it a hobby and like any hobby be prepared to spend some time on it. Just like some people are more into gardening and prepared to spend more time weeding and digging while others just have basic grass and no plants in their backyards.

This time of year itÂs basically clean the filter once a week or two, do some water changes to clean the bottom of the pond, clean algae off the waterfall, etc. I had always thought that building a pond wasnÂt something the average home owner could do, so was surprised how basic it was. ItÂs definitely physical labour, especially hauling out the soil and hauling rocks, but basically you dig a hole, put in a liner, surround by rocks, fill with water. After that, however, thereÂs a fair amount of "fine tuning" until you get it to look right. The nice part is you can build it the way you want, itÂs your design.

It also surprised me, from hanging around the pond forum, how much in the pond world is Âhome madeÂ. For a small pond like mine, I just bought a pump and built my own filter around it using a rubbermaid container. If you need pots for your water lilies you can always use black shrub pots that the nurseries have. You can use JobeÂs tomato spikes for fertilizer instead of buying aquatic plant fertilizer. I use a clay pot on the pond bottom for the fish to hide under. All this is cheaper than buying "pre made" stuff from the pond section at the nursery.

The only part for me thatÂs a bit of a hassle is that my pond is only 18" deep. Thus the fish have to be overwintered indoors because the pond will freeze right to the bottom. Still, they are family so I guess itÂs worth it.

Glen

I came here to ask a question about something else and saw this post and had to respond. I have two ponds and I just love them. I am out there everyday, all day just loving them. They are an endless source of enjoyment.
Anyone can put a pond in, they are a lot of work to put in (digging, electrical, etc. etc.) but once they are in the maintanence of this is very little. The rewards are abundant as they will attract natural wildlife with the sound of the water. Every day I have birds bathing in the stream, dragonflies, hummingbirds, frogs etc.
I would encourage anyone to put one in, the only thing I would say is decide on the size you want....then double it!!! You will always want it bigger after you have it done. You can see my ponds at http:bevsplace.ca

Molly: Designing the the mechanism to keep the bell on the snake would be the tricky part;-)

BP: The pond narrows to a stream which wraps around to become the secondary pond. I will get more photos when I invite myself back;-)

Glen: Do you (or anybody else out there) have a photo series or home video of your pond project? This would be very useful.

If anyone else is currently building a pond, please consider taking pics or videos to aid future pond do it your self types.

Bev: Posting a link to your page to help web newbies.

Cheers,
MG

Here is a link that might be useful: Bev's page link

Mystery Gardener
Bells wouldn't work?Maybe some flashing lights stuck on them with velcro?I seem to have one here that loves to spook me,I call him "Murphy".Every time I see him I jump in the air, hold my heart, and hollar "JE--S MURPHY ,WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT" hense the name.
Mollyzone5

Thanks Mystery Gardener....I have no idea how you did that, but appreciate it :)

MG, I'm in the process of finishing the landscaping around my pond. It's taken a few months of work, but I think it's definately worth it. I've given the link to my album and hope it will help anybody who's interested in building one. Our pond isn't huge, about 700 gallons, but I still like it. BTW, I would kill to have a japanese maple like your friends, around here it would never get that nice or as large. I'll guess I'll just have to settle for my Bailey's Compact maple :)
Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: my pond

Hi Laurie.

Thanks for the link. Your pond looks great. I will have to remember to include a sitting area when we build ours.

I am already growing a few Japanese maples so they will be a decent size when we finally do build a pond.

Cheers,
MG

OH, I want a pond so badly, we have no place for one and no electric out front. Cant put it out back because of the kids and the dog! I have been researching a container pond.! Oh I want one so badly.!
Kelly

Kelly
We got a garden gnome(they had other ones like frogs etc.) that mounts on the side of a very large planter pot,and the water circulates through his mouth.It is a kit from Home Depot,everything included except the pot,$29.99.I have added floating water plants,a few fake water lilys for color,and a fake koi fish,it is great.The whole setup cost about $50.00.

Here's a nice one from "Down Under". Bring on the margaritas!

Cheers, Barrie.
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Container water gardening is really cool. I have seen several variations that would suit most everyone. I have no photos of this type of garden but I will try and add some in the future.

Very nice pond Barrie. You could almost recreate the same thing here with careful plant choices (and a lot of cash;-)

Cheers,
MG

Me thinks that's called a swimming pool - but I could live with that!

I had a small pond, an old converted bath tub lined with an old waterbed liner! We loved this pond so much we decided to not only keep it, but purchased a 100 gal formed pond with a waterfall to pour into it. That was 4 years ago, and the old tub with a waterbed liner is still going strong! If funds are short you too can do this. We found our cast iron tub at a used building material place, and it (the tub) was pretty beat up so needed a liner. Our neighbours had an old waterbed liner that their kids blew up and were playing on. When it got a hole, they threw the water bed out. We inherited it.

We put a concrete breeze block on one end of the tub, covered it with insulation and an old blanket to protect the liner from sharp edges. Threw in the liner, added water and fish. Voila! Our first pond! Cost $20.

We purchased a 150 gal formed pond with waterfall at a garage sale, and now we are waiting for the new landscaping to be completed before putting in this pond.

We also have an old heavy duty 18' fibreglass boat mold with the metal frame on the outside and this we have now in the newly landscaped garden, and as soon as the dirt is levelled, we will paint the inside of the boat mold with black marine paint. (1 gal at $60.) We got the mold free. Boat buileint places get their new models once in awhile and so the old models are thrown out.

Also purchased a 4' long plastic "creek" and we are using this as a form to make hypertufa sections of creek so that eventually, the 150 gal pond will flow into this creek (8 x 4' sections) and that will run into the boat which will have a super big waterfall in one corner.

Oh yes we thought the pond pumps were way too expensive so we were advised to purchase a good old sump pump. We have experimented with the sump pump this summer, and it works great for half the cost of a pond pump! This sump pump runs a huge waterfall, fills the creek and makes two bubble fountains.

BE WARNED!!!!!! Once you have a pond, you too will become a pond nut and devise any plan... beg, borrow and steal, to get more ponds and bigger ponds! They are addictive!

Oh yes, we have snakes and I can live with the racers and bull snakes, but those snakes with built in bells on their tails are NOT welcome! It is for this reason that the new pond will have lots of gravel and paving surrounding it, so that there is no place for rattlers to hide!

When and if you use one of these sump pumps, make sure that it says "continuous run" on it, otherwise, it is not meant to be run all the time and will burn out. The other thing is to make sure that these pumps do not contain oil in their interior especially if you plan on keeping fish and plants. Should this type of pump blow, goodbye fishies and plants

I want a pond! I don't even have a yard though, so I think that plan will have to be on hold for a while. =) But anyone who thinks they might like a pond should try a container pond! That's what I do, and it's hardly any work and lots of fun.

That little plant is called Azolla (botanical name). It's also called fairy moss and water fern (if you look closely, they look like tiny fern fronds). Very cute, but also very invasive. However, if you have fish, they might like to eat it, and it's a great food for them.

I too read to be careful using sump pumps. They might burn out, because they aren't meant to be used as pond pumps which have to run continuously, 24/7.

I wasn't aware that there were some of them that said "continuous run" on them. They might be okay.

Another thing to consider, however, isn't just the initial cost of the pump, but how much electricity (watts) the pump uses as well as the warranty that comes with the pump.

Some pumps cost more than others, but might make up for it over the life of the pump by the fact that they use less electricity. Some also have a five year warranty, while the cheaper more basic ones have a one year warranty.

Just something to keep in mind as when I first bought a pump I didn't even think to look at wattage.

My new pontec marathon pump uses the same wattage as my old little giant pump. The thing is, my new pump pumps 650 gallons per hour, the little giant one only pumped 300.

Actually, I might still be using the little giant pump but wanted a higher gallons per hour pump to run my small waterfall.

Glen

I had a pretty nice pond for 6 years (we moved). It was about 10' x 14' and 5' deep. It was definitely worth the mess in the spring and the fall clean up every year. We have grandchildren now so I probably won't have another one until they're a little older but your pics sure make me yearn for my old pond.

This year I put a wooden half barrel with liner next to my front entrance which is near an electical outlet. Bought a small pump at Canadian Tire & have a small trickling goin' on. Water lettuce & other water plants are surviving in 4 hours of sun only!
My original pond is an old bathtub set into a pit that had a cement foundation of sorts. I presumed it was the original outhouse as our home is circa 1860's!
The goldfish are returned every summer from their indoor aquarium. I have overwintered pond plants in our cold basement. A frog has returned & taken residence also. A ceramic heron sits on rocks in the middle attached to a pump. Water arcs from its mouth...such a soothing sound!
I do want a larger pond but not the physical labour that goes with it. LOL
I'm happy with these two wee ponds!
sam

beautiful picts......you should be proud.
please help find my friends sons killer.......
thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: fbi most wanted.....jason derek brown

I'd love a pond but I've a small yard so I've only an inground fountain, plus a wall fountain and a large container with water.

Sharont's posting about the old bathtub reminded me that I had originally wanted to place an old tub with a shower attached. I was going to recirculate water through the shower, and place a nice female figure inside the tub.

Alas my wife would have nothing to do with that idea, and insisted on a more traditional pond.
{{gwi:533837}}
{{gwi:533838}}
Comes with 3 resident frogs, and a dozen or so fish. Not quite as provocative as the lady in the shower, but... LOL

What about mosquitos and other water born insects? Are these a problem with ponds? One would think so.

Cheers, Barrie.

Barrie - think "instant fish food".....in my 3 little ponds anyways, the fish take care of any minute guppy like wigglers that I have to treat traditionally in my water barrels.

I've had two pondes and love them! Well worth the money and work! So much of it can be done yourself with scrounged materials, cheaply.

And a small yard is no excuse for not having one. I'll let you in on a little secret...grass is useless. It has absolutely no purpose and uses up a lot of water and chemicals to look nice. So, why have any? Make paths throughout the yard with woodchips or shavings, etc. and make the rest of the space into garden/ponds. Maybe a little bridge over the stream between the two small ponds.

Old carpet makes great under liner.

Small barrels and rubermaid storage containers make great filters. Lavarock from Walmart is a the best filter media, too. So are sponges without soap, plastic dish scrubbies wihtout soap, plastic bath scrubbies without soap, and sand with small gravel. An out-of-pond filter is really the only kind that works. Pre pump, in-the-pond filters don't really clean the water, just protect the pump.

You'll need a small part of the pond deep enough to be below the frost line if you want to keep fish in it all wanter. Here in Barrie/Toronto area, that's about 4' deep. But it can be just a small section in the center of the pond. The fish hibernate under the ice in the winter. You may also need a way to keep a hole in the ice all winter, if you want to keep fancy Koi. However, goldfish are a lot less sensitive to that kind of thing than Koi.

It's not necessary to spend money on fancy "pond" plants. Lots of garden plants will love growing in the pond. One such is impatients. They love to be free root (without dirt) in the water and they'll never wilt in the heat with their feet in water. Ribbon grass likes the pond too, so do canna lilies (both potted in soil with the pot in the pond)also ellphant ears, monarda, creeping jenny and watercress (which can be bought in pieces from the grocery store and rooted. It's a perennial and will come back in the pond every year.) - and peace lilies and pothos from inside the house.

Ponds are so much fun and fish are great pets! Mine were trained to eat from my hands and came looking for food every time they heard my voice. I'd have to shoo them away to move the pots around and work in the pond, little beggers! They know your voice and will hide if anyone else speaks.

Even a tiny container pond is worth the effort.

LOL! There's no mosquitoes in a pond with fish. Goldifsh eat eveything that moves. I regularly threw the slugs and earwings in the pond and they were snapped up before they got down 2". They fought over the worms.