On Tue, 07 Jan 2003 07:50:56 +0000, TWStannard wrote:
Thanks Nick
Im anticipating maybe 15 feet by 10 feet ish. It will be artificially fed
(ie hose pipe), maybe some kind of auto top up, if I can figure it out.
Tim
"nick dickenson" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 07 Jan 2003 00:31:57 +0000, TWStannard wrote:
Anyone have any experience of this type of pond? How does one go about
the
'puddling' and how durable are they? Contemplating building a water
feature, and as I live on solid clay, it could save me a tonne of money
and
lifting! 
)
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How big is the pond? This would help to determine the best way to puddle
the clay. Puddled clay is quite durable as long as you don't let it dry
out, which in turn would cause the clay to crack. There are various
factors that need to be taken into account with this type of pond ie the
water feed to the pond. Is this going to be a natural source or another
type of source? Let me know and I will try to help you further.
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An artificially fed, puddled clay pond of this size could prove to be
quite a headache in the summer when the water level drops due to
evaporation. The parts of the bank left exposed will have a tendency to
dry out and become cracked, which in turn will ruin the hard work that you
put in to puddle the clay in the first place. With a pond of this size it
may be better to use some form of liner. Also, with a pond of this size,
using puddled clay, if either fish or water fowl come into the equation
then you will nearly always have cloudy water to contend with. I know that
this can still be a problem with a liner, but it is alot worse using
puddled clay.
With regards to how you go about getting the clay puddled in the first
place, the way that I usually use is to hire a minidigger for a day (the
type with caterpillar tracks) and spend a day driving the thing over the
wet clay. It works a treat but this has always been on much larger ponds
where you have the room to manouvre the thing, and get the thing out
easily at the end of the day. I have this vision of a 10x15 feet pond with
a minidigger as a permanent central feature :-) It's different I suppose,
and looking at the recent entries at Chelsea may even make gold! ;-)
I would seriously consider using some form of liner. It will be easier to
maintain in the long run, and will allow you to enjoy your pond to the
full. At the end of the day that is what horticulture is all about. FUN!
I hope this is of some help.