This maya be kind of a dumb question, considering the rap UK gets for
no sun, but does that area of your yard get much sun. As cold as its
may get, it still makes a heap of difference even on a cold day when
that old sun pops out.

We have an undergrund shelter made from 6 foot diam steel corrugated
culvert pipe 20 feet long......and its buried under 3' of dirt. Even
in it as cool as it stays in summer yu can feel a distinct difference
on the ceiling of it even with the three feet of dirt and brush on
top. In cold months temps have never dropped below 60 deg no matter
how cold its been outside.....

Do you have an ordinance / law/ regulation in regards to maximum depth
a pond can be? Some areas do have a max depth allowed in
residential areas. I am a firm believer of deeper is better up to a
certain point that is, but perhaps that area you have the french drain
is what they call it in USA, (gravel drain) you could build it up
higher, or make that area itself just a bit more shallower and perhaps
reserve it for a planted / marginal/ bog area, or pass over it with a
stream of sorts or perhaps postion the water fall there......

Your pics are nice and you do have lots of potential for a nice pond.
I tend to like a pond nestled in a corner, with lots of plants like
bamboo etc on the blind sides, but it does create problems when
maintenance etc is needed working up against a fence or house
wall......That decking is unique, that I see in the pics. The fellow I
mentined that just moved to the USA from GB, had decking like that and
he had it sanded and varnished and sanded and varnished to such a
high gloss it was nicer than most folks high dollar hard wood floors
or boat decks....... HIs pond was constructed differently. He dug a
hole and laid his pipes etc, for DB's etc/ then he laid in sheets of
foam, and then had it fiberglassed over, so his pond was actually a
formed inplace fiber glass pond. No worries for the most party with
leaks in liners etc.....and bamboo roots certainly would not be a
potential problem either....






On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:25:39 +0000, Gill Passman
wrote:

I'm actually leaning towards the planned pond being occupied by
Shubunkins/Comets - the reasoning behind this being, that for now, I'm
not convinced that I would be able to build a large enough pond to house
koi.

Living in an area where we can get heavy frosts I need to carefully
consider temperature drops in the winter (although not to the extent of
those in even colder climates) - this winter has actually been very mild
but I can't count on this. Obviously the pond needs to be dug to a depth
below the frost line to prevent the whole thing from freezing solid.
From recent observations of the reservoir for my water feature coupled
with the depth of my old pond and how far that iced up I'm pretty sure
that I can get the depth to avoid a total freeze up.....but I am now
curious how low the temperature can drop at the bottom of the pond
without it adversely affecting the fish...

TIA
Gill



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I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!