Construction of my pond continued with more than it's share of problems. Having completed the sleeper walls I set about digging out the bottom of the pond which I thought would be easy....until I realised that the area which I had chosen for the pond must have been the builders 'spoil' heap when the houses here were built! There was so much broken rock and hardcore that I couldn't get a spade into it which then meant every shovel full had to be broken with a wrecking bar or pickaxe before I could actually dig it out! This took me a very long time as it was dug by hand! I also had to stop work for a period of time as I had a nest of ground bees in the pond base who luckily for me got fed up and left after a few weeks! Due to the amount of horsetail weed and stones which I feared could potentially puncture the rubber liner I added an 'unplanned' concrete base to the base and sides of the pond! The total project which I expected to take a few weeks ended up taking me from April-July!
The fish which are a mixture of Koi, Tench, Golden Rudd & Carp were stocked gradually over a six week period. The first fish went in at 5pm one day and at 5am the following day I awoke to find a big fat heron trying to fish them back out again!....Some improvised safety covers were designed and fitted rather quickly!...
The pictures below will hopefully demonstrate the build better than I can put into words...
Sleepers in place...digging starts...approximately 3' of soil and 'spoil' dug out by hand!
Digging complete, base and base sides concreted in...
layer of sand added across base to help protect the liner...
Old carpet and pond liner membrane were also added to help protect the liner...
Liner laid in and pond starting to fill...
Water in...oak capping put in place prior to trimming off excess liner...notice plants added as early as possible to help the water mature...filtration unit is also running from as early a stage as possible...
Fish added....they seemed to like their new home...
Unwelcome visitor....waiting to empty the pond!...
Removable safety (& anti heron) covers designed and fitted....
Unfortunately I haven't space to include many of the photos which I took during the pond build. If you would like to see more detailed pictures of the build or a certain part of the build leave me a comment on here and I will attempt to include some more...
Pond Dimensions: 3mtrs x 3mtrs x 4' deep = 11250litres (2500gallons)
Next blog...what am I going to do with those left over sleepers?...and a room with a view...
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