I'm doing a master plan- revamping a well done but now overgrown landscape. The pond was there when they bought the house. I'm planning a screen behind the pond, and planting the mound intensively.Today I thought of using a bamboo fence for immediate effect. She wants another water fountain on the other side of the deck with a colorful garden for feng-shui (sp?). So I'm thinking an oriental flavor would go well, and the bamboo will suit. Oriental will also complement the house.

It will be a lot, as you face several issues. First issue: This is a very large pond you are looking at, in the range of 11,000 gallons (using the calculations you provided). It sounds as if someone had a very serious koi pond at one time. Although you state you are leaning toward not keeping fish, I would want bottom drains installed in a pond of this size, or you will end up with a mucky mess in a couple of years. If this was a properly designed koi pond, some of that plumbing may still be in place. So the first consideration is that you will need a pump that will filter something on the order of 5,500 to 10,000 gallons per hour, 24 hours a day. A Dolphin Ampmaster ES5500 external pump would perform this function relatively inexpensively, at about 286 watts per hour. I've seen that pump listed for around $400. The second issue is that a pump like the Dolphin will not push water to the heights you are considering for your waterfall. You need a pump that will push 40 feet or greater "well head" height -- the vertical distance that a pump will raise a column of water. For this, you will need a powerful unit like a Sequence Primer which draws around 1500 watts per hour. That is about the same as a large window air conditioner. Where I live in Virginia, the math works out like this: 1500 watts = 1.5 kWh x 7 cents = $1.05 per hour. (I think the national average cost is more like 10 cents per kWh.) Therefore, since you must run filtration 24 hours a day, you are probably looking at two pump systems. The filtration could be accomplished with a low-cost unit like the Dolphin. Your waterfall would be fed by a second very powerful pump that you'd run only for those hours each day when you want to operate the waterfall. You could reduce your cost somewhat by lowering the height of the waterfall. If you are serious about this project, I would recommend first reading up on koi pond design and construction. (There are several websites which specialize in this subject.) Also, some of the experts around here will hopefully chime in. This is not a "garden-variety" pond project that you are considering!

i made one of the floating islands also last summer. it really was easy to make and worked well. I had to refurbish it this year with new fabric and a new cocoa mat but big deal. its up and floating again! i love it. buy one of those wire hanging planters with a cocoa mat. get a pool noodle. cut a piece of noodle to go around the upper edge of the wire basket. cover the noodle with tshirt fabric that was sewed into a tube then slid over the noodle. attach the covered noodle to the upper rim of the wire basket with electrical (or sometimes called multipurpose) ties. add your preferred potting soil, plants, and then float! I found evertything at walmart and the dollar store. under $10. its adorable and the plants love it!

Um... okay.