Backyard Ponds

firemarshal71

firemarshal71

#1
#1
Taking a momentary pause from working/fabricating on my minibike (and related) projects to do some work around the house. Been replacing my hardwood floors, getting the garage/shop setup for some new equipment, and working on the backyard putting in a small pond. We have a few aquariums in the house that have become too small for our fish so looking at moving them outdoors real soon. Have spent the past 2 months at a snails pace digging up an area for an estimated 750 gallon pond. Will have a dry bed stream leading to the bridge area and then a waterfall feature dumping into the larger area of the pond. The bridge is almost 8ft in length and I made sure it was just wide enough to get the lawnmower over (and minibikes) to access the back 1/2 of the yard. Hope to have the liner in over the next couple weeks so I can still have some summer left to work on my 4-wheeler project.

 
WrenchDad

WrenchDad

Active Member
#2
#2
Do you live in a limestone Quarry ? that's some funky looking ground. What are you going to use as a pump system? The pond and stream bed looks pretty cool. My son has me digging up the back yard right now also (4'X6' 8" sloping to 2' ) will have a liner spitting frog fountain and some fish outlined in sand stone.
 
firemarshal71

firemarshal71

#4
#4
WrenchDad said:
Do you live in a limestone Quarry ? that's some funky looking ground. What are you going to use as a pump system? The pond and stream bed looks pretty cool. My son has me digging up the back yard right now also (4'X6' 8" sloping to 2' ) will have a liner spitting frog fountain and some fish outlined in sand stone.
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No quarry, just multi colored clay layering imbedded with lots of tree roots. We have great soil here with good drainage. The pump system is a regular submersible which will pump up to a filter box hidden under the bridge. The top of the box opens and dumps the water back down into the pond. I am putting a receptacle box w/switch on the corner rail for the electrical needs. The large area of the pond is about 6x9 and 3 ft deep. There is a second level at 1 1/2 foot to help get in/out for cleaning. We have a mulberry bush/tree right there on the corner and I can already see it becoming a mess.
 
WrenchDad

WrenchDad

Active Member
#7
#7
firemarshal71 said:
drainage. The pump system is a regular submersible which will pump up to a filter box hidden under the bridge. The top of the box opens and dumps the water back down into the pond.



That's a pretty good idea I have a filter box for our's also , I think I may build a waterfall out of sand stone to hide the filter box and serve as return.
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buckeye

buckeye

Well-Known Member
#8
#8
Really nice.
Seems we can't get away from being kids. Digging holes, playing in water, and riding minis. Awesome!:thumbsup:
 
dajsnipe

dajsnipe

New Member
#9
#9
That's looking great. I like the bridge. :thumbsup:
I put one in for the wife a few weeks ago and finally just got the kinks worked out, I think.

Like everything else in my yard.... It's made from scrap :laugh:
 
firemarshal71

firemarshal71

#11
#11
dajsnipe said:
That's looking great. I like the bridge. :thumbsup:
I put one in for the wife a few weeks ago and finally just got the kinks worked out, I think.

Like everything else in my yard.... It's made from scrap :laugh:
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Very clean design, and nicely put together.:thumbsup: What you have done with the landscape and design aspect is the part I'm worried the most about. Hoping I can find some landscape stone and materials which will give it a natural look like you have. Great job!

I was hoping to go deep enough to keep the fish alive in the winter. My folks have one over in Brooklyn, MI which has fish that have survived the last 3 winters with just a small heater/bubbler. Thanks for all the comments.
 
manchester1

manchester1

#15
#15
Here are a few pictures of my pond. Its a bit over grown this year:laugh: I was actually working on some trimming today. Worse thing I ever did was plant ivy.:doah: The pond is 18 years old this year. Same liner:thumbsup:
 
H

Havasu Dave

Moderator
#16
#16
manchester1 said:
Here are a few pictures of my pond. Its a bit over grown this year:laugh: I was actually working on some trimming today. Worse thing I ever did was plant ivy.:doah: The pond is 18 years old this year.
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Wow! That is bad ass! I've seen some Koi ponds in Japan, and this is up there with the best of them. :thumbsup:
 
Spyderdregg

Spyderdregg

Active Member
#17
#17
We just enlarged the pond we did last year,still have some landscaping to do.The waterfall is about 3 feet tall made with a crap ton of rocks we had laying around.We may try some fish this year,the pond is about 2 feet deep so they may survive the winter.

 
dajsnipe

dajsnipe

New Member
#19
#19
firemarshal71 said:
Very clean design, and nicely put together.:thumbsup: What you have done with the landscape and design aspect is the part I'm worried the most about. Hoping I can find some landscape stone and materials which will give it a natural look like you have. Great job!

.
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Thanks Firemarshal, try and take a ride in the country. Around hear every field has a stack of rocks in the corner, the farmers normally are happy to be rid of them.
 
firemarshal71

firemarshal71

#20
#20
Havasu Dave said:
Wow! That is bad ass! I've seen some Koi ponds in Japan, and this is up there with the best of them. :thumbsup:
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I agree Manchester, that is an amazing pond you have there!:thumbsup:

Started digging the trench to lay the electrical last night. You would think I lived in the woods with the amount of roots I have to chop through.

Some really great looking ponds here-:thumbsup:
 
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