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Pond Suggestions
Here's another question:
My husband and I are planning to majorly revamp our zone 3 backyard and put in a path with flat stones, and a small pond, maybe 6' by 8'. I'm interested to know if anyone has any general suggestions before we start, based on their own experience. We went and picked out rock that we like for stepping stones, about 2" thick. We're not sure about the pond yet. We're pretty handy and want to do it ourselves. It gets very cold here in the winter. The backyard is a mixture of sun and shade, mostly dappled shade. Thanks, Cynthia |
Pond Suggestions
Ponds are most enjoyable features, but they come with a price tag of
being responsible for the critters that live there. It should be deep enough so it doesn't freeze solid and has enough room for fish and whatever to hibernate under the ice. The ice must also have a hole to allow gasses to exit, otherwise fish waste and mulm (bottom buildup) will rot slowly during the winter and the gasses formed will kill your wet pets. If there is enough shade to keep the water temperature below 90 degrees in the summer you shouldn't have to worry about too much sun. Download rec.ponds and read a while and look at the url's in the messages, you'll get a lot of good ideas there. Regards, Hal On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 18:32:46 GMT, (Jacquard_The_Ripper) wrote: We're not sure about the pond yet. We're pretty handy and want to do it ourselves. It gets very cold here in the winter. The backyard is a mixture of sun and shade, mostly dappled shade. |
Pond Suggestions
Jacquard_The_Ripper wrote:
Here's another question: My husband and I are planning to majorly revamp our zone 3 backyard and put in a path with flat stones, and a small pond, maybe 6' by 8'. I'm interested to know if anyone has any general suggestions before we start, based on their own experience. We went and picked out rock that we like for stepping stones, about 2" thick. We're not sure about the pond yet. We're pretty handy and want to do it ourselves. It gets very cold here in the winter. The backyard is a mixture of sun and shade, mostly dappled shade. Thanks, Cynthia Hi Cynthia, Do visit rec.ponds. Friendly folk and helpful hints. Building your own pond can be enjoyable if you plan ahead - rec.ponds covers people with all size ponds in many zones. -- Bonnie NJ http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/ |
Pond Suggestions
Hi Cynthia, I'll start with one suggestion and then probably get long winded from there for which I apologize up front lol. Go with a flexible liner... Unless a pre form (hard plastic) is impeccably installed it will crack in a frost heave, they are near to impossible to repair once that happens. Some have had luck patching them but in my experience most have not. The pond needs to be level, I have a small area that is a bit lower so any overflow goes into the direction I chose it to go instead of towards the house. You don't need to use filtration with really good planning and planting, a pond can be run totally natural if done right. Always keep a low fish count, and if you are going to have koi be kind and give them ample room to live and swim ... it bothers me when someone has a fish that can barely turn around in it's surroundings, it's cruel in my opinion. Predators happen, there are things we can do to discourage them but you are putting these brightly colored fish out for all the world to see, it is only natural a heron would come a calling. Go as large as you can afford, I have never heard of a ponder saying they wished they'd put a smaller pond in, it's much cheaper in the long run to go large, ponding *is addictive. There is a rec.ponds group that are always there to help out with questions and ideas. Happy ponding!!! Colleen zone 5 Connecticut |
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