A new pond in the making

Here is a photograph of my current pond, taken one year ago this month. For nearly 12 years, it has brought me many hours of pleasure.

 



After this summer's wonderful adventure with spawning goldfish and growing plants, I decided I wanted a larger pond. But I can't expand here... I'm too close to existing water and electric lines.

 

This rock-walled garden next to my barbeque and outdoor tables has seen several transitions over the years. It's time for a new one!

 

A Spotted Towhee was scavenging for a few grapes from the last of the snarled vines. I moved one vine and put it in the new vineyard that I planted to replace the one I was tearing out (12 new vines!). One renovation leads to another.

 

It took a lot longer than I expected to clear the vegetation from the area. Bo was pretty disgruntled as each section of "his" napping area disappeared. 

 

I took a rope and laid out several shape options. I want the finished pond to be between 700-800 gallons, with enough room surrounding it for a small patio. I finally start digging on December 18th! I hauled a lot of dirt away, working to keep the edges slightly elevated and level as I went.

 

I dug every day that I could, marking the progress with photographs as I went.

 

By the 22nd of December, I reached the 2' level in one area. A breakthrough! Lots of roots and rocks and hard dense clay gave me a real workout!

 



 I hired a neighbor to dig a ditch from the house along the side of the rock-garden to an area where I'll wire in a couple of weather-protected outlets. I buried schedule 40 conduit with 12/2 direct burial cable in it.  

 My neighbor came back to help me on Christmas day. While the ground thawed a bit, we staged a bunch of rock for later finish work. By 1:30 that afternoon, the ground was workable and the pond hole was finished at 5:00 PM. Hooray! 

 I re-leveled the edges and got the underlayment and liner set on December 26th. I measured the water flow from my garden hoses so I could get an accurate volume for the pond, and filled her up! 750 gallons...perfect!

  

 The waterfall and stone patio will be next. I cannot move these rocks by myself, so will get help with that. I need to finish up the electric and a reed fence to hide the wood pile in the back. I can't wait to introduce my fish to their new home!