I am looking for any information on making a small pond in a future flower bed, I just want a focal point in it. I have an 8x12 foot area to use and have included pictures. My main question is, Does it have to have a pump or can you forgo it? Also, would love fish and plants but not sure if that is possible. Please overlook all the work(weeding, etc.) that needs to be done lol I'm working on it. Thanks for any of your help.
Plants are very possible. If you use small goldfish, you don't need a pump, but may at times have green water. If you have koi, you will definitely need a pump/filter.
You will probably want to use a rubber liner, which you can get off ebay. I would recommend the 45mil thickness, even though it's a tad more pricey, it also pays off in the long run, over the 20 mil.
There is a place in St louis that I bought a liner from this spring, a very good deal, and they let me pick it up to save shipping. I agree on the 45mil.
If you are lacking on space width ways, you can always make the pond deeper, that way you have the option of adding more fish. Just be sure to put in shelves for the plants. Here's a link to the place in St louis.
http://anjonmfg.com/
1800-553-5605
Mo = coons, possums, they like to fish. They also like to knock stuff over if it sits on shallow ledges, makes pots sit on the bottom for no other reason... 8" drop off the sides are recommended if you have a lot of wandering wildlife, you want a focal point put your plastic risers (milk crates?) in the middle of pond which also provides hiding spots for fish, protects plants, can put a bubbling urn in the middle to help water circulation, or not. Or, invert a large clay pot, run a water hose out thru the drain hole, then find rocks to stack around the outside of the pot, with a few 'cupped' rocks to create bubbling noises, and you have a waterfall, warning, lay a piece of liner over the pond liner that will drain into the pond for this, and find a low spot in the pond for an overflo outlet in hard rains. This pond is enrt to a different spot, but it shows the 'french drain' overflo. It was raised above level ground to begin with, but we have sand and we raise the outer edge of our ponds to help avoid issues with liner float...
do you have a pic of the flower pot thing?
sounds neat.
It is like building a rock mailbox, the clay pot holds your form, precut hole for a little water hose, can be set on the edge of the pond instead of middle, the rocks you choose hide the clay pot, grin, I used a reptile watering bowl to catch the water flo in one, had marbles in the bottom of the bowl. Sad, no pics, but I may contrive one to click on after b'fast for you, I have the mats.
We put in shelves with lips of 8" or so on the edges of the shelving so that these ares could be filled with pea gravel and the plants were then planted directly into this shelving. From the edge of these shelves/bogs, the sides of the pond go straight down. This also helps with the filtration in the pond. We are in zone 5 and because the plants are planted directly into the shelves, I cannot/do not put the plants on the bottom of the pond for overwintering. I have water celery, as pictured here, pickerel weed, several different types of arrowhead, creeping jenny, water hibiscus, various water iris, lobelias and a number of other plants and have not had any problems with losing them to the winters.
The sides go directly down to the bottom, with the shallow end at 3 1/2 feet. We also have possums, raccoons, porcupines and a myriad of other creatures wondering around.
With the size of my pond and the fact that I have a number of koi, we have several pumps that we run.
ok Frilly, this is a mini how to, my mats werent quite right, chuckl, as you will see, first, too MUCH slope to sit the thing on, used a trimmed okra stem as a water hose, and I advise strongly NOT to use bull rock as your rock pile, maddening.
kept chasing those little round rocks back around the 'pot'
by water hose, I just mean flo outlet
Different rocks, say flatter ones, create a better look, but I have other chores today too. The slope under the thing, only needs to be gentle to guide spray toward the interior of the pond, so the liner for it is ON TOP of the pond liner, if this were the french drain for the pond, the liner would be tucked up under the pond liner. A clay pot is sturdier, makes a better support for the outer ring of stones, but you could always use a decorator pot with a hole and a rock to hold the water hose in position, and let the color be part of the fountain. I usually put the fountain across from the drain, is circulation enuff in small places.
ok, thank you so much, that was very handy!
By the way, to help natural circulation, a kidney shape with one end deeper than the other can help, I had plans for a heart shaped one I never finished. At the top of one side of the heart, the water would be pumped above the pond to bubble out, flo around the outer edge of the pond like a mini creek and then flare out at the point of the heart into a waterfall into the deep end of the pond . Had it sketched out-and even planned different rocks in that floway to guide the water flo in different paths to aid in water music. The other half of the heart was shallow to keep water lillies and lotus and...then there was a spot for marginals, very shallow. Maybe one day...
