| My Pond |
| The Before Pictures |
| The First Year |
Did the yard really once look like this? Holy smokes!! In the summer of 2000, my husband put an extension on our existing deck,
so the yard just BEGGED for a pond! I had some free time (HA!), so that's how it all started. I decided to dig my pond by hand
because at the time, I didn't think any excavator would be able to do what I wanted done. (Since then, I have learned
differently, and have an excavator that can dig a pond so well with a backhoe that it barely needs finish work.) So, as you can
see, during the hand digging process of my 18' x 24' x 3' deep pond, I had plenty of time to research, so that's just what I did. (I
would have dug it deeper, but I got tired of digging! Now I do it full time . . . . . go figure.) Early on in my research, I decided I
wanted to keep koi, so I figured the best way to find out HOW to keep koi was to find out how REAL koi keepers were doing it.
Yes, I have learned plenty of hard lessons through trial and error, but looking back, it was all worth it in the end. When I
initially installed the pond, I did NOT plumb for bottom drains under the liner and I did NOT believe that you couldn't put rocks
in your pond. Both lessons were learned at great expense to my back because the second season I had to remove all the boarder
rocks, drain the pond, scoop all the river rock out of it by hand, pull back the liner, and plumb for two bottom drains. My poor
fish spent most of that summer in a cramped holding tank. But I'm getting ahead of myself . . . .
so the yard just BEGGED for a pond! I had some free time (HA!), so that's how it all started. I decided to dig my pond by hand
because at the time, I didn't think any excavator would be able to do what I wanted done. (Since then, I have learned
differently, and have an excavator that can dig a pond so well with a backhoe that it barely needs finish work.) So, as you can
see, during the hand digging process of my 18' x 24' x 3' deep pond, I had plenty of time to research, so that's just what I did. (I
would have dug it deeper, but I got tired of digging! Now I do it full time . . . . . go figure.) Early on in my research, I decided I
wanted to keep koi, so I figured the best way to find out HOW to keep koi was to find out how REAL koi keepers were doing it.
Yes, I have learned plenty of hard lessons through trial and error, but looking back, it was all worth it in the end. When I
initially installed the pond, I did NOT plumb for bottom drains under the liner and I did NOT believe that you couldn't put rocks
in your pond. Both lessons were learned at great expense to my back because the second season I had to remove all the boarder
rocks, drain the pond, scoop all the river rock out of it by hand, pull back the liner, and plumb for two bottom drains. My poor
fish spent most of that summer in a cramped holding tank. But I'm getting ahead of myself . . . .
The first winter was a bad one. I had 14" of ice on the pond and it was completely frozen over. I lost EVERY fish. The top
picture is one of that winter, compared to the picture directly below it, which is of the pond late that first summer. Where the
heck is the POND? I KNOW I dug a big hole out there somewhere! It was about that time I learned about aeration, and I haven't
lost any fish over the winter since.
picture is one of that winter, compared to the picture directly below it, which is of the pond late that first summer. Where the
heck is the POND? I KNOW I dug a big hole out there somewhere! It was about that time I learned about aeration, and I haven't
lost any fish over the winter since.
| View off the Front Porch |
| View off the Deck |
| View off the Front Porch |
| View off the Deck |
In addition to removing the river rock from inside the pond and plumbing for bottom drains, I have also added a bog garden,
completely re-worked the waterfall, mortared in the rocks at the approach and around the raised flower bed, converted the 150
gallon stock tank filter to a 500 gallon upflow sand filter, and of course, landscaped the entire area.
completely re-worked the waterfall, mortared in the rocks at the approach and around the raised flower bed, converted the 150
gallon stock tank filter to a 500 gallon upflow sand filter, and of course, landscaped the entire area.
| Audio sounds provided by www.Freesound.org 38391- volivieri water flows over rock.wav 72722 - Manuel Calurano - Conversation between a nightingale and a frog.mp3 |
| Write me at: pondgal@gridcom.net |
This is what my pond looks like now. I am happy with the size, although if I had it to do all over again, I would dig it to 6' deep
and raise the pond edge 8" with cinder block for the simple purpose of creating more water volume. Maybe some year in the
future . . . . . ? It really fills the space visually and is big enough (so far anyway) to support my addiction of not being able to
pass up a gorgeous koi!
and raise the pond edge 8" with cinder block for the simple purpose of creating more water volume. Maybe some year in the
future . . . . . ? It really fills the space visually and is big enough (so far anyway) to support my addiction of not being able to
pass up a gorgeous koi!
| My Pond Now |