Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put a few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Fingers crossed ...

Spider

Spider wrote:
Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put
a few pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Fingers crossed ...

Spider

You can uncross them now......works fine. Lovely garden............. thanks

--
https://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

Pete C
London UK

"Pete C" wrote in message
...


Spider wrote:
Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put
a few pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Fingers crossed ...

Spider

You can uncross them now......works fine. Lovely garden.............
thanks
--
https://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

Pete C
London UK

Thanks, Pete. Phew! It's a lot easier typing without your fingers crossed.

Spider

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Spider" contains these words:

Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put a
few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Nice ponds. Do they have a plastic lining or did you waterproof the
building material?

Janet


Thank you, Janet. There is no plastic lining. The base was cast in one
piece (it is 9-10" thick), then walling blocks made the walls; coping stones
capped it. Then, before filling with water we used a bitumen sealant, not
to waterproof it, but to seal the walls to prevent lime leaching into the
water. That sealant wore off in little more than a year, but the pond is
still water-tight, 15 years later. We kept fish for a few years (till the
local heron scoffed them) and they were healthy and happy, so we can only
assume the water was safe by then.

Spider

"Spider" wrote
"Janet Baraclough" wrote
"Spider" contains these words:

Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put a
few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Nice ponds. Do they have a plastic lining or did you waterproof the
building material?


Thank you, Janet. There is no plastic lining. The base was cast in one
piece (it is 9-10" thick), then walling blocks made the walls; coping
stones capped it. Then, before filling with water we used a bitumen
sealant, not to waterproof it, but to seal the walls to prevent lime
leaching into the water. That sealant wore off in little more than a
year, but the pond is still water-tight, 15 years later. We kept fish for
a few years (till the local heron scoffed them) and they were healthy and
happy, so we can only assume the water was safe by then.

That is the way most modern Koi ponds are built although they often line it
with Butyl Rubber to make doubly sure it's watertight and they also include
bottom drains so the can remove the sludge at the turn of a tap/pull of the
drain. I've seen them 9ft deep built that way.
One thing, if you build it deep enough with straight sides you won't have a
Heron problem as they won't be able to wade in it. Ours is a metre deep at
the sides and although Herons have looked they always fly off empty beaked.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London


One thing

On 2009-11-16 18:45:09 +0000, "Spider" said:

Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put a few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Fingers crossed ...

Spider

Lovely photos though a few of them should have come with a health
warning for me. ;-)) I very much like the hot border and the bird
bath, too but it all looks so beautifully laid out and cared for. Do
you have Alstroemeria pulchella? If not, give me a nudge in spring if
you'd like some.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:45:09 -0000, "Spider"
wrote:

Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put a few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Fingers crossed ...


Nice ones Spider.
What size is your garden?


Pam in Bristol

Bob Hobden wrote:
One thing, if you build it deep enough with straight sides you won't have a
Heron problem as they won't be able to wade in it. Ours is a metre deep at
the sides and although Herons have looked they always fly off empty beaked.

Then you have to watch out for Kingfishers instead. :-/
(Although they're very pretty when they appear)

On Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:33:59 -0000, Bob Hobden wrote:

That is the way most modern Koi ponds are built although they often line
it
with Butyl Rubber to make doubly sure it's watertight and they also
include
bottom drains so the can remove the sludge at the turn of a tap/pull of
the
drain. I've seen them 9ft deep built that way.
One thing, if you build it deep enough with straight sides you won't
have a
Heron problem as they won't be able to wade in it. Ours is a metre deep
at
the sides and although Herons have looked they always fly off empty
beaked.


I'll answer the mechanical bit, no doubt Spider will reply on the other
queries.
The blocks were fixed with a strong 3:1 mortar mix using ordinary cement.
They are built on a very substantial solid concrete bed, and I don't
expect any leakage.
There is no drain. Since the pond is raised above ground level we can
siphon it off onto the garden with a few feet of hose, and because the
bottom is flat and smooth we can easily scrape up the muck with a plastic
dust-pan.
One reason for making it raised was that if it ever got too much to look
after as a pond, we could fill it with earth and turn it into a nice
raised bed. Another crucial requirement was that the sides should be at a
convenient height for sitting and drinking tea whilst watching the bees on
the summer border.
There is a sump cast into the lower pond to house the circulating pump.
Copper pipes for water and cable conduits were laid inside the concrete
base.
There is an underwater light in the upper pond which has two functions -
it can illuminate the fountain, and in very cold spells we can run it at a
much lower level so that it gives off just enough heat to stop the pond
freezing solid. The pump and light are both wired from dimmers inside the
garden room so that we can remotely adjust the levels.

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Spider" contains these words:

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Spider" contains these words:

Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put
a
few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Nice ponds. Do they have a plastic lining or did you waterproof the
building material?

Janet


Thank you, Janet. There is no plastic lining. The base was cast in one
piece (it is 9-10" thick), then walling blocks made the walls; coping
stones
capped it. Then, before filling with water we used a bitumen sealant,
not
to waterproof it, but to seal the walls to prevent lime leaching into the
water. That sealant wore off in little more than a year, but the pond is
still water-tight, 15 years later.

Sounds just what I want. Did you use waterproof mortar and blocks?
I need a pond with a raised surround to discourage the dog from
sitting in it :-)


We used ordinary cement and walling block. My hubby (RG) has given some
technical detail below in this thread, so don't think me rude if I direct
you there :~), then there's little chance of me misleading you. The only
thing I don't think he's mentioned is the circuit breaker in the garden
room, which is essential if you don't want fried fish or people!
My experience of dogs is that they bounce and have no trouble getting over
walls, but you know your dog better than I do, naturally.


We kept fish for a few years (till the
local heron scoffed them) and they were healthy and happy, so we can only
assume the water was safe by then.

I'd like that (for wild pondlife)

Janet


That's why I wanted fish (I had Golden Orfe, btw), but I soon learned that
fish and wild pond life don't mix very well. I therefore chose to encourage
wild critters in the lower pond (where they could more easily reach it
anyway), and keep fish in the top pond. If you're not building a 2-level
cascade, then you could probably get away with sticklebacks or some other
small fish, so you'd have the best of both worlds. Any sizeable hungry fish
will eat tadpoles and dragonfly larvae, to mention but a few. In the lower
pond, I've arranged a 'beach' of cobbles to aid floundering creatures and
give frogs somewhere to hide.

Spider

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Spider" wrote
"Janet Baraclough" wrote
"Spider" contains these words:

Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put a
few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Nice ponds. Do they have a plastic lining or did you waterproof the
building material?


Thank you, Janet. There is no plastic lining. The base was cast in one
piece (it is 9-10" thick), then walling blocks made the walls; coping
stones capped it. Then, before filling with water we used a bitumen
sealant, not to waterproof it, but to seal the walls to prevent lime
leaching into the water. That sealant wore off in little more than a
year, but the pond is still water-tight, 15 years later. We kept fish
for a few years (till the local heron scoffed them) and they were healthy
and happy, so we can only assume the water was safe by then.

That is the way most modern Koi ponds are built although they often line
it with Butyl Rubber to make doubly sure it's watertight and they also
include bottom drains so the can remove the sludge at the turn of a
tap/pull of the drain. I've seen them 9ft deep built that way.
One thing, if you build it deep enough with straight sides you won't have
a Heron problem as they won't be able to wade in it. Ours is a metre deep
at the sides and although Herons have looked they always fly off empty
beaked.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London


I think our problem was that the heron could stand in the lower pond whilst
greedily filling his beak at the top pond :~(. The higher pond on its own
may have foiled him.

Spider

wrote in message
...
Bob Hobden wrote:
One thing, if you build it deep enough with straight sides you won't have
a
Heron problem as they won't be able to wade in it. Ours is a metre deep
at
the sides and although Herons have looked they always fly off empty
beaked.

Then you have to watch out for Kingfishers instead. :-/
(Although they're very pretty when they appear)


Now that I would like to see :~).
(love your dismayed 'smiley' btw).
Spider

"Aries" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:45:09 -0000, Spider wrote:

Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put a
few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Fingers crossed ...

Spider

very pretty, especially the spiders real and unreal Those are not
November pics tho are they?
--
"Between stimulus and response is our greatest power
- the freedom to choose." Stephen Covey
http://ariesval.co.uk/val/


Thanks, Val. No they're certainly not November pics, except for the few
that are dated 5th Nov, of course; oh, and the alpines are current November,
too. I've got a lot of work to do in the garden over the next few months,
then I must try and get in the habit of using the camera out there more
often. I should take a photo of my lengthy pyracantha hedge .. it's a
tapestry of fiery colour .. the tree you saw is just a taster.

Spider

"Spider" wrote in message
...
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Spider" wrote
"Janet Baraclough" wrote
"Spider" contains these words:

Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put
a few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Nice ponds. Do they have a plastic lining or did you waterproof the
building material?


Thank you, Janet. There is no plastic lining. The base was cast in one
piece (it is 9-10" thick), then walling blocks made the walls; coping
stones capped it. Then, before filling with water we used a bitumen
sealant, not to waterproof it, but to seal the walls to prevent lime
leaching into the water. That sealant wore off in little more than a
year, but the pond is still water-tight, 15 years later. We kept fish
for a few years (till the local heron scoffed them) and they were
healthy and happy, so we can only assume the water was safe by then.

That is the way most modern Koi ponds are built although they often line
it with Butyl Rubber to make doubly sure it's watertight and they also
include bottom drains so the can remove the sludge at the turn of a
tap/pull of the drain. I've seen them 9ft deep built that way.
One thing, if you build it deep enough with straight sides you won't have
a Heron problem as they won't be able to wade in it. Ours is a metre deep
at the sides and although Herons have looked they always fly off empty
beaked.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London


I think our problem was that the heron could stand in the lower pond
whilst greedily filling his beak at the top pond :~(. The higher pond on
its own may have foiled him.

Spider
Just following my own post to say thank you to everyone who's replied. I am
having some trouble seeing all my posts atm (this 'picture' thread is just a
""), so if I don't respond to someone, it's because you've not popped up!
Sorry if that happens.

Spider

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-11-16 18:45:09 +0000, "Spider" said:

Hello everyone!

With some considerable help from my IT manager (RG), I've finally put a
few
pics on the web for all to see. Try the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG

Fingers crossed ...

Spider

Lovely photos though a few of them should have come with a health warning
for me. ;-))

Oops, sorry about that, Sacha! :~) They are *everywhere* this year!


I very much like the hot border and the bird
bath, too but it all looks so beautifully laid out and cared for.


Thank you. The hot border is one of my favourite bits. You could toast
bread there in summer! I've made about three bird baths. They're so easy
to do and so much more individual than shop bought. The 'moon bowl' also
acts as a bird bath. That was a gift from my local gc after I got locked in
their premises and needed rescuing by the fire brigade! :~} Do you remember
that?

Do you have Alstroemeria pulchella? If not, give me a nudge in spring if
you'd like some.


No, I don't have A. pulchella. I just googled for a pic and it's lovely,
esp. those greeny bits! Yes, I'd love a bit, please Sacha. That's really
sweet of you, and Ray, of course. I've always had a thing about
Alstromeria; it's one of the things I hunt for at the RHS Hampton Court
Flower Show every year. Thank you :~))

Spider
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon