Pond Reconstruction Project (+ Bog)

[Duxwig]

Had to give wife something to look forward to. Took me thiiiiiiis far to get an “ooooooooh now I get it.”



No angulars poking into the liner, but had to use them as jigsaws and sliding them under/between the bigger stuff as it all just wanted to roll around and was a death trap if you happened to step on one.

Now I need like 7-8 pails of 2-4” cobble on top of the red area working up towards edging, but rock place closed till Monday now.
In the mean time I’ll probably try to work some on the falls/river so I can get it closer to seaming. Only have all rounded 6-8”ers left though so going to be tough.

Need to find a rock swap to rid these big round rocks lol.

We went round and round on the sump pump drainage hole and the pvc escape tube. Our anniversary is Monday. There was a very direct “just finish it now” talk so rocks rocks rocks for weight to avoid hippo.

Green are a few plant pockets but need to make more once I figure out WHAT to plant WHERE.
There will be plants in the small alley way, but not planning on water being high enough to always be going in / use for filtering. Those that like occasional water.

The back left and back side were too low and graded TOWARDS the pond a bit so I backfilled the left to get more liner to tuck and built a berm on the back with grading towards the fence to help w run off.
More soil plant room from the left side backfill so wife happy.

Need to fill in bottom right by pond hole - with all the folds ….then trying to fold multiple layers of liner for edging is tough and the bottom right doesn’t fold well so I’ll just need to back fill and keep the edge high.

Not sure how I’ll put in Lilly’s with lack of deep flat space, but they’re just aesthetic and I’ll take filter plants any day at this point just to keep it clean longer.

At the end of the day - im pretty proud and happy myself with how it’s coming along.

[SarahT]

Rightfully proud. It is looking good and coming along so nicely. Can you take out one or a few of the bottom round stones and find a flat-ish one to be the base for the water lily? Otherwise, maybe plant them in fabric pots that the pot's bottom will conform to the rounded rocks.
Happy Anniversary!

[Duxwig]

Thanks much! :)

How well would a felt (underlayment) “bag” work to contain the various plants? Figured I could sew them together to make it container like but not sure if that’s a good idea or not?

Contemplated the sissy socks made of screening but feels just sewn underlayment would be a safer less pokey option?

[brokensword]

Lots of work; good for you, Dux!

I'd put any lily in a plastic pot, personally, as I wouldn't want it escaping and then becoming a problem when you find out you ignored it too long. You can get a 4" plastic oil pan and use that. Low profile, cheap. Use unscented pure clay kitty litter as the medium and put in some slow release fertilizer (Osmocote) near the bottom. This will contain the lily and be easy to hide if you nestle it in amongst the rocks as Sarah suggested.

If your hippo was from water draining toward it, just berm all the sides and you should be okay. If it's from a high water table, the problem might yet rear its ugly head. Time will tell.

[SarahT]

Hmm. How about a underlayment pebble filled bag and oil pan kitty litter planting plant burrito ? That is, make a underlayment bag, some pebbles in the bottom which would conform better to the gaps between the bottom stones to be a little more stable, tuck the bag sides into the oil pan, held there with the kitty litter into which you plant the lily with some osmocote, and down, gently onto the pond floor, letting the pebbles nestle between the gaps in the pond stones on the bottom? If the oil pan has a lip on it, you could use some cord to tie the bag to it a little better.

[Duxwig]

Left pond as is for now to hop over to the bog/falls. Took all the rocks off to go over the liner again. Put some of the rocks in place and not perfect but still better than I’ve been hoping!

The right falls is dead in the video and at the end you can see lots is being directed backwards and going to the liner and down vs right.
I haven’t put any in yet but seems some strategic foam placement would divert that big towards the right to fill the tiers more. The first tier after the falls box needs to pool. I have liner to use as a dam and There’s some gaps around the flat rock I can fill in with foam to achieve what I’m thinking I believe. The final rock will just be a splash down vs pool.

Straight on bog falls working well enough too and traversing to the right as desired however theres that small gap on the bottom corner rock where the water is sneaking. If I can’t fiddle with the rocks to get it flowing over more I’ll probably put foam in the tiny crevice to push the water outward more.

Lots of finishing tweaks but have some plant pockets planned here/there for coverage of spots/tubing. (Next long post will likely be about plants ).

Again maybe not everyone’s cup of tea but wife and kids got excited enough and I’m digging most of the look so onward!

Tweaks but

[j.w]

Here a tweak, there a tweak, everywhere a tweak tweak! This is your life now, get used to it

It really is coming alone nicely and you will get to the point where you find it looks just right...............for awhile anyways and then

I love the sound of the falls

[Duxwig]

I do too and glad it’s more than it was when the pond had only the small pee-hole as the start.
Old neighbors moved out of their house yesterday and new ones Sunday. Hope they enjoy it too!

[brokensword]

Left pond as is for now to hop over to the bog/falls. Took all the rocks off to go over the liner again. Put some of the rocks in place and not perfect but still better than I’ve been hoping!

The right falls is dead in the video and at the end you can see lots is being directed backwards and going to the liner and down vs right.
I haven’t put any in yet but seems some strategic foam placement would divert that big towards the right to fill the tiers more. The first tier after the falls box needs to pool. I have liner to use as a dam and There’s some gaps around the flat rock I can fill in with foam to achieve what I’m thinking I believe. The final rock will just be a splash down vs pool.

Straight on bog falls working well enough too and traversing to the right as desired however theres that small gap on the bottom corner rock where the water is sneaking. If I can’t fiddle with the rocks to get it flowing over more I’ll probably put foam in the tiny crevice to push the water outward more.

Lots of finishing tweaks but have some plant pockets planned here/there for coverage of spots/tubing. (Next long post will likely be about plants ).

Again maybe not everyone’s cup of tea but wife and kids got excited enough and I’m digging most of the look so onward!

Tweaks but

isn't it nice to get to this stage? You can actually now start to feel like it's real, hey? And yeah, tweaks to make it better, is the way I look at it. I never mind tweaking. Still not sure about that ONE HUGE angular on the very top. I like that it separates, but it sure does draw the eye! Looks like you have a very good fall now left and right. ANNNNNNDDDD, told ya that widdle angle to the right was going to pour more straight than right, yes? You can help this by putting some flat rock ON the shelf; this will direct it to the right. I've done this on a couple of my shelves. I have small flat rocks right near the weir and as the water starts off toward the edge, it's diverted via the rock to either side to trickle some water to a couple pots of creeping jenny. Works a treat! You just need to watch how much and where it goes, adding and subtracting rocks (large, small, wider, narrower, etc. Too, you can tilt that first shelf UP in front so the water HAS To go backwards and if you ALSO angle the left side higher, the water HAS to go right. Some foam on that back edge would keep it from going behind the shelf. But, you'll see as you tweak. Not that hard and definitely glad mrsDux and the Dux-lings like what you've done. You've put a lot of work into this and it shows! Glad you showed more of the whole pond this time; gives a better idea of the scope of what you've accomplished. Decent pump, for sure. And I'm assuming your water level WILL be higher in the future, right? Btw, seams holding?

Careful with the plants; if they get constant water, make sure they can handle/want that. Impatiens do well in those situation if you want all summer color. And don't overwhelm your waterfall hill with plants that spread AND grow tallish; you'll lose the focal point, which should be the waterfalls. Plenty of low growing but orderly plants. I do favor the creeping jenny and forget-me-nots. My rule of thumb re plants has always been; tall stuff in back, short stuff in front. I don't like to jam different tall plants side by side as one or the other can get lost. Leave some space between. And at first, you'll see a lot of rock, unless you fill in heavily initially. Though, this means you'll be cutting/thinning very quickly. Is mrsDux going to be involved in planting the pond area? I'd get her AND the Dux-lings involved; it'll give them a sense of ownership and make YOUR work that much better.

Looking very good, Dux!

[Duxwig]

Not many changes but decided to fill it up to see how level the water ends up being, depths, and how it looks at first glance. Rocks in the stream just thrown in randomly where bridge goes.
Took some measurements after for planting.

Seams appearing ok at moment, water level appeared stable this morn but need to walk out and see where I chalked.

[brokensword]

Not many changes but decided to fill it up to see how level the water ends up being, depths, and how it looks at first glance. Rocks in the stream just thrown in randomly where bridge goes.
Took some measurements after for planting.

Seams appearing ok at moment, water level appeared stable this morn but need to walk out and see where I chalked.

Looking pretty good, Dux! I like when you dwell a few seconds on each part; helps to troubleshoot and confirm whether various techniques are working or not. One question I did have; you'll have liner showing for much of the perimeter; are you planning on the plants to cover (plants going into those gravel channels?). That is, I'd have thought you'd have rocks all around that stick up above water level and then the folded liner on the bank, then some backfill/plants, whatever. This is more typical and will fully hide the liner. I see areas that isn't going to happen, esp those channels. You can mitigate those areas of exposure (as you'll have this all winter and early spring before any plants get established) by laying in a flat stone right against the bank.

Were it mine though, I'd raise the water level and place the rocks half in half out so it's fully covered, then bring the dirt/berm with plants right to the edge.

Otherwise, I can definitely start to see all your potential here. Getting exciting, actually! Makes me want to reach out, grab some of those rocks on the patio, and start laying them in!!

btw, how is mrsDux and the Dux-lings liking it? Growing on them? Are they getting excited too? Let them be part of the final tweaks!

[Duxwig]

I’m the “get it done” part and big fixes later but wife commented the falls is “f**king amazing.” So there’s that :)

Lots of edging to do still. Wanted to just get water in and moving to see if i really messed something up. Water seems to mainly holding. A smudge lower but I marked the sides of the pump hole and the sides could have moved w the wind or any other issues. Overall no visual or functional issues which is a giant relief vs leaking stressful pond it was.

Lots of those rocks laid out on the patio at the end of the video by Spiderkid will be used. Have 5-6 buckets of 2-4” rocks, 2 buckets of 4-6’ers, lots of 6-10+, and around 40 gallons of 3/4 pebble beach still.

Plan/hope to use bigger->smaller up/over the channel and hold/blend to the top to cover it all. Shouldn’t be able to see the channel/pebbles under when I’m done. Hoping to set plants under / in pebbles to grow up through the edging before the soil plants.
Thought about doing it today but mine has been more plant mindset and we’re headed for picnic / dog park.