Pictures of Natural Spring

Here's a link to pictures of the natural spring on the property I just bought: http://users.chartertn.net/peggyp/garden

The spring drains into the gravel driveway right now. If I install a water feature, it seems to me that I'd still need to have a way to drain the water.

What's the best way to "drain" the pond? Should I run a pipe from the pond to the drainage ditch? How will I get it to drain if it's going uphill?

There may be really simple answers to these questions, but I'm definitely NOT an engineer and I'll be doing all this myself, so the easier it is to do and the simpler it is to understand suggestions, the better!

Thanks for any help or advice. (I'm also posting one image to the forum, but I do have a link back to the forum from my web page.)

Peggy in East Tennessee

First of all,why would you want to drain the pond?
How much water comes out of that spring?
If you line a stream bed for that water to cascade down and had it end up in a lined /or earth pond ,there would be no reason to drain it.
If the spring was putting out too much water to be held in the pond ,and it overflowed ,you could route the overflow into a bog,simply make a stream from the pond to a boggy type area.Or just make a bog.....
Bogs are easy to build ,and it could start withing a foot or so of the pond.My first bog was a area that I dug out to 1 1/2 foot ,layed in a leaky tarp,and refilled with soil plus peat and other organics.The leaky tarp was so water would get in there but drain VERY slow.When I filled the soil back into it I placed cinder blocks in it and put pavers on top of them so I could walk in it even when very wet
I had astillbe,flag iris,cranberry,and all kinds of stuff....grew great in it!

You have a lot of choices to grow in there seeing where you live......even pitcher plants.......

Thanks! This is all so new to me, I didn't even know about "bogs." It definitely sounds like the way to go. I'd appreciate any other comments--I'm such a "newbie!"

Peggy

One other thing I forgot to ask about:

My property is so rocky, digging six inches (or two in some places), not to mention 18, will be a challenge! Is there a way to "capture" the water from the spring and bring it into an above-ground bog? Am I totally off base?

Thanks again!

P.