Need some help with giving my pond a makeover

[Scarlet]

Ive always hated my pond, nowhere to balance plants, it's much too deep. The top edge looks rubbish as I can't grow plants over it...it just looks to sterile/concrete heap and we have had other more pressing jobs so it's been left.
But it's sprung a leak! We've emptied the remaining water, dug out the sludge, gravel, stones, one huge stone about two foot wide, kids toys, an Easter egg? An axe and a few other things. Now how to proceed.

line it with plastic, sand in the bottom? Any hints on making a shelf to rest some plants on. I would love a little fountain in there - is that possible or will I need to get electricity there.

Your thoughts are welcome

P.S..I'm shattered

[Guest]

How about a bog garden?

I fear if you use sand and line it you will lose a fair amount of space, so would be a case of finding the leak and repairing it. You could build a ledge from bricks (I have in my head engineering bricks, I think it is because the won't disintegrate quickly over time - could be wrong) or put individual plants on blocks before refilling the pond.

In regards to softening edges could you have a crescent bed joining it to put plants in?

In regards to fountains is it worth looking at solar powered jobbies or did you have something more glamorous in mind like a concrete boy having a piddle?

Sorry if none of this is helpful, just thinking out loud.

[Ryez]

I saw in one episode of GW how they put a stone and rested a plant and said that when it grows a bit it can be moved deeper in the pond. Could you do that?

[Scarlet]

I fear if you use sand and line it you will lose a fair amount of space

It's over 4ft deep - do we need to worry about losing a few inches?

[veggiechicken]

Was it a well, Scarlet?

[Scarlet]

Well, on our "old plans" there is a well in that area...the house was built in 1710. We can't find a well but the pond has a concrete bottom... I was hoping for a well but if it was one, why fill it in with concrete?

[veggiechicken]

It looks like a well so, if you haven't built it, I'd guess it was the original well.
Maybe it became redundant when mains water was available, or the water was not potable, or someone fell down it and couldn't get out; maybe they're still down there under the concrete.
Fascinating! Do you know any water diviners?

[Containergardener]

Sounds like a hammer house of horror film...someone thrown in the well

Sorry I've had hammer house on the mind tonight, the weather was fitting .

[Cadalot]

Well, on our "old plans" there is a well in that area...the house was built in 1710. We can't find a well but the pond has a concrete bottom... I was hoping for a well but if it was one, why fill it in with concrete?

It may not be filled, it could just have been capped, as in dig a recess around, permanent / lost shuttering a little reinforcement mesh (one hopes) and then cast a slab over the top and you have a safe capping to a rather deep hole that a person or animal could fall into.

[Bigmallly]

If you are not planning on keeping fish in it, I think 4ft is far too deep. I would be tempted to fill half of it with rubbish, soil, straw etc, build your shelves then put a few inch layer of sand on top, pack it well down so no sharp edges are showing, I would then re-line it using the spare stones around the lip to hold the liner in place. If you are wanting a good powerful fountain then you would have to go with a mains pump, otherwise a solar one would give you a weaker effect....................but only when it's sunny...........

[cptncrackoff]

I can't really help with design.. more of a make it up as I go along.. but make sure it's set up for tadpole farming!

All that tadpoles water..and at the end of production...

[SusieG]

He's a super little chap Cptn!

I'm watching this thread with interest ~ I too have an unloved pond .....
I think it basically needs emptying and cleaning .....
It's all green on top. Over the years leaves, bits of tree branches have fallen into it and there was a huge weed overgrowth all around - nettles, sow thistles, long grass.

There are also some plants that I recognise to be pond plants and not weeds (I think).
There is a pump and a filter in place which, amazingly worked when I powered it up .....
It feels to be quite deep as when I put the broom handle in to see how deep it went it looked to be at least 3ft ...possibly more....

Anyways! Any labour saving ideas on how to empty the pond of water - or is it just a bucketful at a time .....
And can I put all the 'stuff' from the bottom of the pond (when I get to it!!) on the compost heap? As it feels like there's going to be mountains of it ....... I 'tickled the top' of it a few weeks ago and found loads of rotting stuff .....

Sorry for hijacking this thread folks, but any advice most welcome (I'd love tadpoles/frogs/newts.....!!!!!)

[Bren In Pots]

Been thinking you don't like the top edge so would it be possible to remove it, would you still have enough depth?

[Bigmallly]

Anyways! Any labour saving ideas on how to empty the pond of water - or is it just a bucketful at a time .....
And can I put all the 'stuff' from the bottom of the pond (when I get to it!!) on the compost heap? As it feels like there's going to be mountains of it ....... I 'tickled the top' of it a few weeks ago and found loads of rotting stuff .....

The easiest way is to use a submersible pump or a pond vac, you can just switch it on & leave it to it. Yes, you can put the bottom debris onto your compost heap.............If you are going to empty it by hand, it may be beneficial to save the water as plants will love it.

[Jay22]

I was thinking it looked more like a well too VC, great imagination though...Scarlet won't get any sleep now if she's anything like me!