Advice Requested Regarding A Garden Pond.

 
Hi everyone ..


I arrive here again with another question ...I would like a garden pond
designing/constructing. I have a good idea as regards to what I want but
would appreciate any advice regarding a reliable and competent pond
builder in the Sheffield area. I have reservations as I am concerned
that a 'jack of all trades' may sound very good but may leave me with a
pond which falls to bits/leaks after the first couple of years ..


Any advice would be very much appreciated .

Best wishes.

Dave.




--
Simmo

 On Tue, 17 May 2011 20:52:09 +0000, Simmo


Google for "building a pond".

I built my own a couple of years ago. Roughly oval, approx 6m x 3m x
1m deep at the centre. Area about 10 sq.m., volume approx. 7.5 cu.m.
One third occupied by a bog garden. I dug about a third of it by hand
but had to 'get a man in' with a mini-digger to get out the rocky
sub-soil (a full swing with a pick-axe barely made an impression). I
then profiled and rammed the sides and bottom to compact them,
followed by a skim/render of a weak cement/gritty sand mix (1:10
approx) just to keep things in place. On top of that I put a felt
underlay, then the butyl liner over that. Probably a bit OTT, but as
it was a lot of work, I didn't want to have to dismantle it all if it
sprung a leak because I'd skimped something. There is also felt
underlay on top of the butyl in the area under the bog garden to
protect the liner from stones (and occasional bits of broken glass!)
in the bog soil.

Points to note, in no particular order:
1. Decide if you want a small pond with a pre-formed fiberglass liner
or something bigger.
2. If not pre-formed, draw it up on paper. Do you want a formal pond,
say rectangular with slabs around, or a more natural design with rough
stone edging?  
3. Plan how you're going to dispose of what you dig out. The loose
volume will be a lot more than the actual volume of the pond, roughly
double at a guess.
4. Use a proper nylon felt underlay to the liner (not a bit of old
carpet).
5. Use a good quality butyl rubber liner. Simply lining with cement
will probably settle and crack over time, and fresh cement gives
corrosively alkaline water in the pond for several months so you can't
immediately stock it with fish or plants. Pre-formed fiberglass liners
may be OK for small ponds, but I've known them split if not properly
bedded in.
6. If you are planning to have marginal plants in containers,
construct a shelf all round the edge, approx. 20 cm below the intended
water surface, to stand the containers on. That was my one mistake; I
put my shelf to deep, but I use whole bags of grit (pricked with a
garden fork, a bit like sausages) from garden centres to stand the
containers on.
7. A 'beach' is often suggested, made of small pebbles and gravel, to
let the wildlife crawl in and out. Mine doesn't have a beach, but the
wildlife seems to cope OK.

A good pond-builder will probably take all that into consideration,
and more, but it'll give you an idea as to what he should be doing for
you and what you should be telling him.

--
 
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales

 @gardenbanter.co.uk says...

 Modern pond liners can be bought with underlay, full instructions and a
20 yr guarantee; so any capable handyman should have no difficulty
installing one (and it's easy enough for you to check he's following the
instructions). Much easier to instal liners than a preformed pond.  We  
made a pond  ourselves last year; the hardest part was digging the hole.
We bought all the liner supplies (and advice) online from

  http://www.watergardeningdirect.com/

and can thoroughly recommend them.. very pleasant and efficient to deal
with.

  Janet

 
Janet;921986 Wrote:

Thanks very much for your helpful suggestions .. I am (and should have
written this originally) looking to have a raised pond constructed as
opposed to a 'dug out' one. I would like this to be of  a brick (or
preferably stone) so I was looking to find a builder who is competent
with this type of construction. As before, I was just concerned about
getting someone who will build what he thinks is right only to find that
it falls apart after a couple of years. This was why I was wondering if
there are people who specialise in pond building.

Thanks again ..




--
Simmo