Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

[radman]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

Planning next years projects. One includes construction of two tiered waterfall and 4000-5000 gal garden pond. Est. waterfall will be 10-12 above the depth of the pond. Plan to use an EPDM liner. The rest is open for recommendations. External pump vs submersible pump? UV lights? Pool lights? Biological filter or other filters? Fish? Electrical requirements? etc? Plan to construct it off a 2 tiered retaining wall. Any comments good or bad would be appreciated. My only knowledge is based on what I have read.

 

[DAP]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

not much <font color=red>M</font color=red>oney?
how <font color=red>O</font color=red>ften does it need water?
adds value to the <font color=red>S</font color=red>ale price of your home?
nice <font color=red>Q</font color=red>uieting sounds?
a <font color=red>U</font color=red>niform depth?
an <font color=red>I</font color=red>nteresting piece for the yard?
a lot of construction <font color=red>T</font color=red>ime?
<font color=red>O</font color=red>ther kinds of liners?
is it <font color=red>E</font color=red>asy to maintain?
are these questions <font color=red>S</font color=red>illy?



Doug

 

[gerard]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

ok, something I can consider myself SOMEWHAT of an authority on, now going on my second koi (garden) pond and having already made most of the beginners mistakes. I'll try and answer some of the basic questions - (if you want some in depth answers private email me and I'll give you a phone #). 45 mil EPDM is the best liner for a small pond, just make sure it's NOT roof material which has a fungicide in it that will kill your fish. Subermisible's are a little more to run as they are not as efficiaent as an exterior pump BUT you don't hear the pump running which is a plus. Plan on sizing the pump to turn the water over .5 to 1 times per hour and plan on running the pump 24/7 during the "in season". ie 5000 gal pond needs to pump 40-80 gal per minute. Filter size should be about 1/3 the size of the pond depending on how much clarity you want, location of the pond as far as full sun, partially shaded etc. A bog section can function as a biological filter, add a natural look, and reduce maintenance. Cost - I put in a 4000 gal pond with bog, 50 foot return stream and tiered waterfall for about $2000 which was the cost of the kit. Did all the install myself and used boulders from the property. Had a landscaper friend help me a little withbooming some of the boulders in place and he told me he would have to charge about $10K to have done the job from start to finish (including supplying the boulders). Anyway that should get you started, I'll try and take some pics of my pond as it now looks but it's frozen over with the main pump shut down so the waterfall/streams not running but it should show you the general idea.

 

[Harv]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

You raise an interesting issue, Doug, in a clever and subtle way. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

My father built a wonderful pond and waterfall scene in our suburban backyard when I was growing up. I'll see if I can dig up pictures 'cuz it was featured in one of those "Home Beautiful" magazines way back when.

What we didn't have was mosquitos, and I'm not sure why. Because the water was not stagnant? The right kind of fish and/or other critters? (I'd be hard pressed to remember what was in there now.) Maybe the flora and fauna had something to do with it? Pop was quite the researcher for projects like that, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was some esoteric mosquito repellant built in. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

I'll be interested in what the TBN brain trust has to say on the subject.

 

[TonyC]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

You've got it about right Harv...fresh running water and fish with infinite appetites will easily keep away all traces of mosquitos. Ponds are like aquariums...everything is about balance. Ph levels, ammonia levels etc. With the right balance of plants, fish and naturally occuring bacteria, the balance is easy to keep once you attain it. Finding the balance can be tricky. Attached is a picture of one of my small ponds. Landscaping was still in progress!

 

[Harv]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

They sure are pretty when you keep them up. Nice-looking pond, Tony. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

When you say, "fresh running water", you're really talking about fresh recycled water, aren't you?

I remember my dad creating a very elaborate screened-off sump area for the submersible pump unit. Being a kid, that and the fancy multi-tiered waterfall were my favorite parts. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[gerard]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

Here's what our pond looks like now /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif Won't see the koi for a few more months when things starts to melt. Not a lot of snow yet but temps been below 20deg for the past few weeks.

 

[TonyC]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

Yep, you're right. It's recycled water. By fresh I meant it is clean and not stagnent. The only filter I use is a $1 fabric type strainer on the waterfall pump. I just put the pump in an old black plastic flower pot (10") and form fit the mesh into the top, with a hole for the hose. All this does is filter out loose suspended material but it really helps. After that, I just depend on natural bacteria. A few times a year when a see an algae bloom starting, I add store bought natural enzymes which help out mother nature. The fish and the plants do the rest. The water tests perfectly every time.

 

[rmorgan]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

Thought I'd post a picture of our waterfall this afternoon. We've had a week of 8-25 degrees and the ice is starting to form pretty good.

 

[emery]

Re: garden ponds and waterfalls

Here is a picture of backyard falls I built a couple of years ago. It is much smaller than your plans, but still provides a nice backyard feature