"Stephen Henning" wrote in message
news
"Reel Mckoi" wrote:

We have to redo 3 sides of
my 2000 gallon pond this summer because they were made too steep! The
guy
said it would help keep predators out of the pond. YEAH RIGHT! He
didn't
mention that the pressure from the surrounding soil would eventually
allow
the sides to "fall in." And that's what's happening. It should have
been
dug more bowl shape to let the water pressure and weight keep that from
happening.
===========
Your "expert" was correct. You need to make the sides steep to prevent
predators from having a picnic in the pond.

## The steep walls did not keep out the predators in our area. We live in a
rural area near a huge lake surrounded by Gov. land. It abounds with all
kinds of wildlife. We were losing fish faster than we could replace them.
Steep walls do nothing but keep out cranes and coons. Cranes aren't a large
problem in home ponds where I live and the dogs discouraged any coons from
coming near the house.

What he didn't do was build
up a vertical wall out of cement blocks at the periphery and then build
the steep slope out of something that wouldn't shift. Also, don't
forget shelves around the edge for marginal plants.

## Yes, he left shelves around 3 sides.

It sounds like you don't have very good drainage around your pond. That
is a big problem and needs to be addressed.

## Actually the drainage is excellent as the pond is on a gentle slope and
rain runs off. The soil here, a fine red clay, gets like mustard when it's
wet. The smaller pond is now bowl shape and so far so good.

Most ponds don't do well in
a bog area unless they have masonry retaining walls.

## I WISH I had a bog area! :-)
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
Do not feed the trolls.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o