# Garden pond



## jowwy (17 Jul 2020)

Has anybody got one and how did you go about building it????

Thanks


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## lazybloke (17 Jul 2020)

Seemed simple enough on Ground Force: Dig a hole. Add pond liner from garden centre. Trim liner / hide it under rocks. Add plants.
And, inexplicably: paint your fences blue.


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## Poacher (18 Jul 2020)

Decide how you're going to dispose of the spoil. Traditional method is to make a rockery <yawn> near to the pond, which should preferably enjoy full sunlight for most of the day.

We made a rockery, of course, incorporating lots of "caves" of various lengths and diameters of plastic pipe for frogs and toads to hibernate in, accessible from the pond margins. Some of the spoil, when we got down far enough, was a red clay suitable for rustic pottery.

Make the whole thing more interesting by designing a watercourse from near the top of the rockery. Don't skimp on the pump - get one that's reliable and capable of pumping a high volume of water to a reasonable height - you can always reduce the flow if necessary by using a small diameter hose, dialling back the volume if it's a really posh pump, or fitting a fountain attachment. Bury the hose in a larger diameter waste pipe so you can replace it at a later date if necessary without having to dig up the established rockery. Take great care over burying the power supply where you can locate it again and using high quality electric fittings.

When you've decided on the dimensions of the pond, make it at least twice the size you first decided. Trust me, you won't regret it.
Make the pond at least 90cm deep, with shallower margins for plants. Research the marginal plants to avoid the more problematic species, like water mint - it's great for bees, but very invasive. Use the best quality liner you can afford, and protect the exposed edges from sunlight as much as possible, with overhanging stones - we bought broken Yorkstone flags, which have been brilliant, but a hell of a jigsaw puzzle. Enough for now, maybe some pics over the weekend so you don't repeat our mistakes!


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## steveindenmark (18 Jul 2020)

Before you do anything. Google and read as much about filtration as you can, if you intend to keep fish.


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## jowwy (18 Jul 2020)

I’m not sure if it’s a pond we want or just a large water feature......still researching to see what’s best


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## Levo-Lon (18 Jul 2020)

Constructed may 18 , added 10 fish, now over a 100.
No filter as we're not allowed at work , legionnaire risk 

Little bit problematic keeping it clear but ok for fish.

If it was just a wildlife pond it would be as clear as a bell.
The plants I added in may 18 have matured and require occasional thinning back.

Not bad for just over 2yrs ,frogs have moved in too


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## Phaeton (18 Jul 2020)

Or you build up from the ground


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## Slick (18 Jul 2020)

Levo-Lon said:


> View attachment 536694
> 
> 
> View attachment 536689
> ...


That looks ace. 

Why are adding filters a risk?


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## welsh dragon (18 Jul 2020)

This theead is a bit like "how long is a piece of string".

How big, how deep, what do you want to make it out of, is it for fish or plants only. What kind of fish do you want.

In our case there was already a hole in the ground with water in it. Mr WD just made the hole a lot bigger, threw some irises that we bought with us from Brum into it along with some lillies from our old pond, bought some tench, Rudd, roach, perch etc and away you go.

It's now been expanded even more and is about 100 feet long. 

Mr WD has been making noises about building another one closer the back of house, but we shall see. You can have too much of a good thing.


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## Levo-Lon (18 Jul 2020)

Slick said:


> That looks ace.
> 
> Why are adding filters a risk?




I work for a care provider, they won't allow pumps or anything that may cause a risk.
A filter would be ok as long as I didn't have a fountain, but they don't want electrical cable or anything ...it's a big deal doing anything ...


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## Levo-Lon (18 Jul 2020)

welsh dragon said:


> This theead is a bit like "how long is a piece of string".
> 
> How big, how deep, what do you want to make it out of, is it for fish or plants only. What kind of fish do you want.
> 
> ...





A lot of men tell the wife "I'm digging a pond darling"


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## Slick (18 Jul 2020)

Levo-Lon said:


> I work for a care provider, they won't allow pumps or anything that may cause a risk.
> A filter would be ok as long as I didn't have a fountain, but they don't want electrical cable or anything ...it's a big deal doing anything ...


Ah, okay. Looks great either way, I might give it a go next year.


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## Phaeton (18 Jul 2020)

Levo-Lon said:


> I work for a care provider, they won't allow pumps or anything that may cause a risk.
> A filter would be ok as long as I didn't have a fountain, but they don't want electrical cable or anything ...it's a big deal doing anything ...


You could also go pneumatic like Chatsworth House


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## Levo-Lon (18 Jul 2020)

Phaeton said:


> You could also go pneumatic like Chatsworth House




I'll ask ...if it's more than a fiver ..employer says No


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## MichaelW2 (18 Jul 2020)

Is it for decoration, food or wildlife?
Wildlife ponds can benefit from having one marshy or boggy end with no defined edge so it is easier for wee beasties to enter and exit.


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## Dave7 (18 Jul 2020)

jowwy said:


> Has anybody got one and how did you go about building it????
> 
> Thanks


I have just got rid of ours.
IMO....too much mither for too little pleasure.
Basically.
Dug a hole 3 mtr x 2mtr x 0.5mtr deep. At one end it was 1 mtr deep so the fish has somewhere to go in winter.
Lined it with approprate liner**.
Built a waterfall at one end.
Filled it.
Laid electric on to run a pump and a filter.
**left overlap to flag around the edges.
Then sit back and wait for......
Algi to take over
Pump/filter to pack in
Herons to eat your fish
NB NB
That was my experience. Others seem to love them.


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## Levo-Lon (18 Jul 2020)

MichaelW2 said:


> Is it for decoration, food or wildlife?
> Wildlife ponds can benefit from having one marshy or boggy end with no defined edge so it is easier for wee beasties to enter and exit.




My wildlife pond, it's got lots of newt's frogs and all the usual suspects.

Birds love it too..


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## jowwy (18 Jul 2020)

Some great inspiration guys....keep them coming


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## Mike_P (19 Jul 2020)

Re electrics, low voltage pumps exist, my father has had "one" for over 40 years. Think it has been replaced once and copes well with c3ft high waterfall. It is removed every winter and cleaned.


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## Profpointy (19 Jul 2020)

We put one in a couple of years back. Couple of thoughts: assuming you plan to get fish. you'll probably need a pump and filter. Before you start work out where the pipes and filter box are going to go - and (something I missed) whether you can arrange a soakaway strategical placed so you can undo the big plug under the filter. box so the sludge drains away. Remember the pond itself needs an overflow and soakaway too (I did remember this luckily, as my garden guy had forgotten). If you have different levels in the pond I suggest the depths are flat rather than continuous - this means your plants won't fall over. Another hint is to get the nylon bag plant "pots" rather than plastic pots as they are mire stable. Electrics for the pond are I understand "notifyable" (if that's the word) so you are not supposed to diy and are meant to get a sparky. Ideally get 3 or 4 sockets; pump, UV lamp (part of filter) plus provision for separate fountain and lights . I went for koi carp and luckily only got small ones initially (less than a fiver each I think). A year on they are 10"+ so it wasn't worth paying £50 or £100 for big ones. You want the plants, pump and filter all working for a while before you risk getting fish. Another minor hint is that the pipe for pump isn't very bendy so get some plastic 90 degree bends rather than try and bend the pipe itself. Also our filter has 75mm return pipe - but the ones from "pondkeeper" were some quite sophisticated push fit ones from Germany and very pricey. After a lot of searching on the internet I did find cheap pvc drainpipe in 75mm but you can't get it in wickes. Another thought - we don't have a heron problem here (so far) but it's something to be seriously concerned about. Apparently seagulls (we have lots) drive them off - dunno if that's true


Our pond is under a tree - not recommended as it fills with leaves which MUST be fished out daily in the autumn else the water goes manky. You do need to do something on the pond nearly every day - nothing onerous but keep on top of it. Fish need feeding ideally a couple of times a day (but not at all in the winter) slime needs pulling out and the filter needs cleaning out weekly (or more in summer) . I don't mind doing this.

I've got on well buying stuff from pondkeeper.co.uk and found them very helpful on the phone explaining stuff (eg filters). They were recommended by my garden guy initially, and I've got all the kit side of things from them - plants and fish locally.

By way of history, in a previous place there was a pond there when we bought it and my first though was "stinky old thing, we'll fill that in" but I really got to like it. It was goldfish and frogs there rather than koi. 

I'll add more pics and thoughts later. 

I love my pond and will almost certainly have another at our next place


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## MarkF (19 Jul 2020)

I bought a pre-fabricated one from Ebay, I couldn't be bothered to achieve all the levels and steps myself. I let the law grow over the sides and sow wild flowers around each spring. Tbh have no idea about how to maintain it, my mother gave me some sort of filtration plant that multiplys rapidily and that I keep having to junk, it's pretty wild but is healthy enough, plants and a load of "things" live in it. I like to lay on a sun lounger, beer in hand and watch birds and dragon flies visit it.


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## midlife (19 Jul 2020)

My pond sort of takes care of itself. Cut back the edges and it grows back in spring, full of pond lilies at the moment. No filtration / pump but I throw in a pond bomb in the spring. No fish just whatever finds its way there. I guess it's about 10 feet across.


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## Profpointy (19 Jul 2020)

Some pictures of our set up. The main thing I regret is not having a better thought out arrangement for the filter box


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## JhnBssll (20 Jul 2020)

I built ours about 8 years ago. It's got a variety of Koi, goldfish and a few tench in currently.

I dug down a short distance to try and maintain water temperature over winter.






Concrete base built up to ground level with blockwork then a course of brick






Oak sleepers to bring it up to final height, then backfill with some sand and felt to get rid of the sharp edges then decent liner.






I've made a trapdoor in the decking in front of the garage door (open in this pic) where the pressurised filter is buried for easy access. Also a fountain pump and two air pumps to keep the fishies happy.






It's matured a lot in the 8 years since these photos were taken and currently needs a damn good cleanout as the water is murky but the fish quite like it like that


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## icowden (20 Jul 2020)

Without anything electrical you are going to need to make a natural or wildlife pond. Planting will be the key - you need to have plants that will clean the water so that you don't end up with a stagnant hole. Also no fish. For fish you need filtration and oxygenation really. Fountains, waterfalls etc are pretty much electrical unless you want to constantly run a hose and have run off.

As others have said - a good quality pond liner is really important. I have two ponds installed by the previous owners about 20 years ago. I have constant problems with leaks as the liners are disintegrating, particularly along the stream that joins the two ponds. My bottom pond has a filter pump and a waterfall pump. The top pond is fed by the waterfall and kept clean and fresh that way








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