Building Liner Ponds Written by Brett Fogle Continued from page 1 Remember that any kind of wood must be pressure treated if you want it to last more than a year! Although I mentioned rectangular shape, if you have some carpentry skills, you can also do triangles, pentagons, ponds within ponds, etc. Ponds built with treated lumber planks do not need any side support if they are less than 8 feet or 10 feet long; if you are building larger than that, you will want to drive a stake into ground where planks are to be nailed together, so water pressure won't make planks bow outward. So, if you know how to use twelve nails to nail four planks together, then you can build a pond. If you are feeling lazy, have lumber yard cut planks to size you need. Borrow your neighbor's staple gun, find those scissors buried in kitchen drawer, and you are in business! Pond liners can also be used to make an in ground pond. The advantage is that you can make any shape pond you want, and ground itself supports sides of liner. It is a good idea to use a flexible garden hose to lay out pool shape you want. Once everyone agrees that it is a pleasant shape, and it is large enough, you can dig a trench along side hose, and start digging. Remember, pool does not have to be more than 12 to 16 inches deep, so don't get carried away. If you want a waterfall, some of excavated soil can be mounded up near pond for later waterfall construction. In some cases, it may be useful to use some of soil for a berm around pond, so that is another way to dispose of excavated soil. Once pond is excavated, check level, decide which side you want excess rainfall to flow from, and then you are ready to line hole with roofing felt, running it across pond, up sides onto edges of pond. Drop liner in, weigh it down lightly with some rocks around edges, and start filling. Again, do not trim any excess liner until pond is completely filled. Some pond books say you should create a shallow shelf in pond before putting in liner, but they don't have our river sand and rainfall to deal with. I think it is better to build pond to a depth of 14-16 inches, and just use bricks to prop up those bog plants that don't want to sit too deep in water. This gives greater flexibility in rearranging pond plants as you wish, and avoids calamity of a shelf suddenly slumping into pool. When using pool liners, whether in ground or above ground, it is important to conceal edges from sunlight, since that is what eventually breaks down most liners. Using stones or lumber planks to finish off edge of your pond will make it more appealing, and enable liner to live up to its ten year guarantee. Even heavier, preformed plastic ponds should have their edges covered by sod or some paving material, so sun can't reach it. Some final pointers: if possible, locate your pond away from trees, in a place that gets at least five hours of direct sun daily. This will allow you to grow a wide variety of pond plants. Be sure to use a dechlorinating product when you first fill ponds... new chemicals in our drinking water do not dissipate quickly and they will kill your fish and damage your plants, even ten days after you have filled pond! Be sure you are pleased with size and shape of your pond before you start - so you won't say "I should have made it bigger, or longer, or rounder, etc.", within two hours of filling it! Rule number one in pond building is that no matter how big your pond is, you always want a bigger one. Last, but not least, if you decide to do an in-the-ground pond, why not serve refreshments and get some friends to help . . . friends will have all kinds of useful ideas on how you should do it ... which is fine, as long as they keep digging... *********************************************************** Brett Fogle is the owner of MacArthur Water Gardens and several pond-related websites. He also publishes a free monthly newsletter called PondStuff! with a reader circulation of over 6,000 pond owners. To sign up for the free newsletter and receive a complimentary 'New Pond Owners Guide' for joining, visit MacArthur Water Gardens Fish Health in Hot Summer Heat Written by Brett Fogle Continued from page 1 One thing we recommend this time of year, is to do a partial water change. Drain off 10 - 25% of your total pond volume, and replace it with fresh, new dechlorinated water. If possible, vacuum or drain decaying organic matter and debris off bottom to reduce ponds bio-load. Your fish will usually be vibrant and playful after a water change. It's like giving them a 'breath of fresh air' and invigorates them. Again, we only recommend a 10 - 25% water change right now - but feel free to experiment with whatever works best for your pond. Remember to re-add your pond salt whenever you drain and add new water. Having a salt water test kit is also helpful, or a digital salinity meter, to determine optimum salt levels. *********************************************************** Brett Fogle is the owner of MacArthur Water Gardens and several pond-related websites. He also publishes a free monthly newsletter called PondStuff! with a reader circulation of over 6,000 pond owners. To sign up for the free newsletter and receive a complimentary 'New Pond Owners Guide' for joining, visit MacArthur Water Gardens     <Back to Page 1   ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005 Terms of Use