Very Small Pond Planning

[jadefox]

We are planning a very small pond, and we thought we'd see what advice people here might have. The site is at the end of an old drainage ditch around our 19th century barn. It is a depression that collects water and probably was a small "pond" at one point in the past. We cleaned out the brush and leveled out the depression. It's about 12 feet across and 2 feet deep at the center.

 

[jeff9366]

Here is a LINK to small pond projects in the T-B-N archive:

https://www.google.com/search?clien...tractorbynet.com&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl


Send a little cool air down here.

 

[dave1949]

I would check out the pre-formed "water feature" ponds. Home Depot sells them, and others of course. Two or more can be combined in cascade to easily fill the space you have.

Second choice would be pond liner material that you drape in free form across the depression and bury the edges. People typically line these with stones, decorative rocks, plants, etc.

Any chance of having electric power available there? You wouldn't need a lot of power. You may need aeration with a small fountain to keep the water from stagnating, it will be warm water in the summer.

 

[jadefox]

Here is a LINK to small pond projects in the T-B-N archive:

https://www.google.com/search?clien...tractorbynet.com&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl


Send a little cool air down here.

Thanks a bunch! I've been searching and reading

 

[jadefox]

We're planning to use a liner, but we need to figure depth and slope of sides first. Power is available, and I was planning on running a small pump to cycle water from bottom back to the ditch that feeds the pond.

 

[deerseeker001]

We had a Garden pond 15 long x 8 foot wide with Waterfall and fountain.We enjoyed it very much,gold fish was a nice touch.

 

[dave1949]

We're planning to use a liner, but we need to figure depth and slope of sides first. Power is available, and I was planning on running a small pump to cycle water from bottom back to the ditch that feeds the pond.

Maybe work backwards by deciding what types of water plants look good to you, and what water depths do they require? You can form a shallow shelf along a side, drop down to a deeper shelf, like steps. Leave room for some rocks at the shelf edges to contain the plant roots and anchor the liner. You only need to use your imagination and some shovel artistry. :laughing:

Who knows? You may end up with something like this: Woodhouse Natural Swimming Pools :thumbsup:

 

[jadefox]

I thought I should update.

First full fill yesterday.

 

[EddieWalker]

Looks really nice!!!

 

[jadefox]

Looks really nice!!!

Thanks. Still need to backfill and plant, but it's getting there. My wife saw a fox drinking out of it this morning.

 

[Concordriver]

How deep is the pond? If you plan to keep fish in it, it will have to be deep enough to have plenty of unfrozen water under the expected winter ice for fish to survive. Otherwise, you will have to scoop out all the fish each fall and put them in an indoor winter tank. Nice looking pond!

 

[oosik]

I LIKE the way you finished the edges of the pond. A very attractive feature in your yard.

 

[jadefox]

How deep is the pond? If you plan to keep fish in it, it will have to be deep enough to have plenty of unfrozen water under the expected winter ice for fish to survive. Otherwise, you will have to scoop out all the fish each fall and put them in an indoor winter tank. Nice looking pond!

Thanks! It's about 3 feet deep, but we live in Maine, so fishes are not really an option.

 

[jadefox]

I LIKE the way you finished the edges of the pond. A very attractive feature in your yard.

Thanks so much!