About Our Old Pond

This information was taken from our first pond website that we created in 1996. Was it really that long ago?

Creating a water garden can be a lot of work, but the results are well worth the effort. The following images are from the water garden in the back yard of our old house.

The pond, which was constructed in May of 1994, took about two weeks to complete. It holds approximately 500 gallons of water and is about 30" deep. Design work was done to scale, on our home PC, using a simple graphics program.

Once the design phase was complete, string was laid on the ground to mark the future ponds perimeter. This made it easy to make adjustments to the pond's shape until we had it just right. Spray paint was then used to permanently mark the ground and we were ready for the real work.

Several days later, we had a huge hole in our back yard (and plenty of blisters). Several bags of sand were added to create a smooth bottom. A PVC liner was stretched across the hole and worked into place. This turned out to be more difficult than expected; the shape of the pond is roughly triangular and it was necessary to place folds in the liner near the corners. Water was added and the back sides of the pond had to be built up to make it level.

 The rocks in the waterfall and the ones lining the perimeter of the pond were purchased at a local stone yard. It took several trips to get all 1,250 pounds home in our car.

The waterfall has been redone several times; the last being about a year after the pond was installed. A piece of pond liner was placed under the waterfall to ensure all stray water makes it back to the pond.

Several low wattage lights are installed around the perimeter and a spotlight shines on the waterfall at night from the front edge of the pond.

A submersible pump runs year round providing water circulation through the filter and then on to the waterfall.

Pink and white Water Lilies are the main plants in the pond, along with varied underwater species. The plants are crucial to the ponds health; they feed on the nutrients in the water, effectively starving out any algae. They also help eliminate ammonia and nitrates which are created during the biological break down of food, dead plants, and fish waste.

It took several weeks for our pond to clear once it was up and running. It's easy to get impatient, but nature will eventually take care of things. We added several feeder gold fish the first year to see what kind of luck we would have before spending a lot of money on Koi. They did so well that by fall we had a bunch of babies to contend with. Koi were added last spring.

Green frogs have taken residence in our pond each summer. In the spring the babies are about the size of a matchbook, by fall they are full grown.

One summer a very special frog would come out of the water to greet us. He would follow my wife around the back yard as she watered the plants.

Nothing seems more right than having a frog sitting on a big lily pad soaking up the sun and croaking away. We have often wondered if it bothers the neighbors.

My wife, Mary Beth, is responsible for the beautiful landscaping around the pond. She devotes many long hours to yard work and thoroughly enjoys it. With her efforts, the pond looks very natural and integrates well with its surroundings.

During the winter we place a floating heater in the pond. It keeps the surface from freezing solid; allowing oxygen to enter the water. The fish are not fed during the cold months. Their digestive systems slow down so much, food can actually kill them.

We had quite a winter in '96, this picture was taken during the Blizzard of '96.

It was nice when spring arrived and winter is only a faint memory!