A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 the sewer and the pond!

Most of you know that our septic system went kaput recently, and we have to hook up to the town sewer system. The guy is out there digging out the trench as I write. What Don did not plan for, is that the driveway is completely covered in dirt and our 2 cars are parked in the garage! He seems to think the dirt will be back in the ditch before I need to get Amy from school around 4p.m.

Here is the dirt mound view from the street about an hour ago - the house is our next door neighbors' but ours is the same design only in white with blue shutters, and blue/grey shingles.



Here is a view of the dirt from the house side.
It actually doesn't look quite as bad as it does in person:



We have asked the contractor if he would dig out a pond in the back when he's finished with the sewer. He's such a nice guy, and said that he's done that a few other times for people. So, after quickly thinking it out, I've decided on 11 x 15 to be behind where the bathtub pond/garden is. There will need to be a pathway between the two, because the pipe has to go there too.

This is the view from the driveway looking down to the yard where the pond will go behind the bathtub garden.

There will probably be a 3-4 foot path between the gardens, as the pipe will be under there.
Some more views of the area before it's dug out:

Lots of rocks they are digging up there Lynne. The new pond is going to be so awesome! Great deal that he is so willing to dig it out for you. That will save you all so much money and many hours of back breaking work.

That's the first thing I noticed!
I'd be out there grabbing those rocks like a crazy person!

I can't wait to see your pond!

Thanks you two!

Triss - Don will be paying him to dig it out, but since he's here already, hopefully it won't be much.

What you can't see, is that the property slopes down right after this area, so we really don't use the backyard much other than this flat area, and I have a few gardens down by the shed. I'm going to go back out and take a few more pics to show the slope.

Don is trying to pick out some good rocks that are flat on one side so we can use them around the pond to help hold down the liner.

ooops - didn't see Cindy post at the same time - see - Cindy Jr. already!!!


We have sooooo many rocks here in ROCKland County I don't think I need to run out and grab 'em! But I am going out to take some more pics - be back soon.

thats cool lynne!
too bad your sewer went kaput, i know that cost alot, atleast your getting a pond out of it

Thanks, sibyl!

So, the job will take another 1/2 day, so I have time to think and talk over the pond idea overnight - anyone have any more ideas?

Poor Roxie!!! She keeps running into whatever room I'm in and GROWWWWWWWWLING - she does not like those trucks and the tractor!

Anywho...I took more pics of the slope of the backyard, and the area we will put the pond.

From the side:


From the base of the backyard - I'm standing in front of the shed that's in front of the rock wall:


From the other side of the backyard:


Can you get a feel for how the backyard slopes away from the house?

Don is out there picking the rocks out of the dirt that is being back-hoed into the ditch. He got a really nice flat one, but needed a handtruck to move it away!

Youuuuuuuuuu lucky duck!!
I am very happy for you Lynne..
I can't wait to see it all come together for you..
*see how one bad happenin' can become a blessing
in disquise *

Thorn heads down to the crick to catch some minners to go in Lynne's new pond.

Ya know, Weezie - I was thinking that too...

Thorny - how big do minnows get exactly?
I need to find out how many/size fish I'll be able to put in a pond that size, before I get too enthusiastic!

Gee, Lynne ~ what a nice bounty you guys are making of an unhappy occurance to homeowners!

I can't wait to see the progress of this project.

Do you happen to know the grade of the backyard slope? From the photos it doesn't look very steep although covering an extended area.... I have a hard time with posted photos anyway, unless they are exceptionally bright. Sometimes additional yakking helps me fill in what I can't readily see.


Merme

That is cool lynne, look forward to more and more pics;-)

Thanks Merme and Angie!

Weezie - the pond will only be 3 feet and not really a source of water - I don't think it would qualify.

Merme - Don says the slope is about 30 degrees?
Here's a picture that he took from the second story deck - you can see how much lower the shed and rock wall are, and if you look really closely, you can see a small rock just left of center in the grass - that is how wide the pond will be - I think!


There will be 3-4 feet of walkway between the bathtub pond (you can see it here) and the large pond to the left of it.

Here is one of the workers in the deepest part of the ditch by the sewer hookup to the street:

Minnows are usually 1-3 inches long.

Did someone say ROCKS???



Don is grabbing all the rocks with a flat side to them to line the pond with,and also for the waterfall.

Look how careful the contractor is being with my gardens! He has to bring the pipe down this way, but is making sure to clear the edge of the gardens - not by a whole lot I might add, but very skillfully so!

Can you see the edge of the bathtub garden in this picture?


Here, they came very close to another garden with a yucca on the edge. The pipes you see are the inground sprinkler system that Don put in a few years ago - some things just had to be sacrificed! Fortunately, NOT the gardens!

I just looked out the second story and this was what I saw - went out on the freezing cold deck for the shot - look how close he had to get to the bathtub pond! And see how the pond is frozen for the very first time this winter? The ground is so hard, that he has to keep pouring anti-freeze into the bucket of the backhoe because the dirt is sticking to it!!!

That is so close to your pond, Lynne! The guy is doing a super job not to ruin your gardens...

Anti-freeze in the bucket? Is it going to be a problem for your kitties after all is done?

Thanks for thinking of the kitties, Dianna - my 3 do not go outside at all, and Slinky is the only outdoor feral cat who comes around for food anymore, so I hope he'll be ok! (WHERE'S FRAIDY??? )

The guy does turn the soil back into the trench, so hopefully the anti-freeze will go down lower rather than on the surface. I think I'll ask him next time I brave the cold and go outside.

OK - I hope I don't bore you all to tears, but here is the "pond" in its earliest stages:

and the last few for now...



Sooooooooo, we went from this:



To this!!!



It doesn't show here as big as it is, but you can see how deep it is. Don will be sculpting it into a kidney shape with shelves along the edges for aquatic plant pots in the spring. I keep telling him it's going to be a LOT of work - he keeps telling me to stop saying that! So... I will stop!

I wish that guy would bring his backhoe up here! Oh, Lynne, I know you are tickled to pieces. I am so happy for you...

Thanks Dianna!

OMG!!!!!!!!

It's shaping up so nice! So how deep is it?

And how nice of the man to not even take any money, that is a rarity!

I need a backhoe for when we redo ours in the spring! Hmmmmm.........or Mark will be digging it out all on by himself.

hi loz! It is about 3 1/2 feet deep for the most part, and the part that is on the side where the yard slopes down - where he deposited the dirt for the waterfall - is a little bit deeper to ensure that the fish can overwinter safely.

by the way... I would definitely take you up on your offer for some mosquito fish if your brood is successful when the time comes! Thanks!

I have made myself silly looking at all sorts of pond pictures online - I can't see straight - saving those that are do's and also don'ts as far as aesthetics.

I had a fantastic pond website a few years ago in my favorites, but cannot for the life of me find it anywhere - no matter what I put into the search box! I'm so mad at myself for deleting it - can't remember why?

I make it pretty and tend it, and Mark makes it! Teamwork!

ohhhhhhhhh - sounds just like us!!!

It looks great!

Me too Wrennie.....i am so happy for you Lynne!!!

Thank you all again - he really is a gem, isn't he???

I measured the hole this morning because it was looking very square to me from up above - again, Don will be tweaking the final shape quite a bit. For now... it measures 14 x 16! It will end up being somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 gallons, which means I can definitely get some koi! One needs 300 gallons per full grown koi - they can get up to 3 feet long!

There is an absolutely GORGEOUS pure white HUGE koi in one of the large nurseries here. He comes up and sucks on your finger if you let him.
Don was joking about getting him last night -
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - at $10,000 I DON'T THINK SO!!! :rolleyes:

Lynne, wow!! I had just been mentioning to my husband my "need" for a small pond. What an exciting thread this is!! I loved seeing the before/during/after pics. I can't wait to see what develops for your newly-dug mini-lake. Also, since dragonflies spend most of their lives in water, you're going to get some beautiful little bugs zipping around, eating 'skeeters (mosquitos). Congrats on the new pond and the uncommon contractor who didn't charge you for the hole and didn't mess up your gardens!

Thanks, Sarah!

We actually already have a good amount of dragonflies and darning needles darting back and forth in the backyard - I just love to watch them! And Freddy Frog is going to be oh-so-happy with his new home!

Tonya was just telling me that one can put guppies in ponds - I haven't heard of that and will do some research - could be interesting!

Well then... I just returned from visiting the large, oh-so-expensive and world reknown nursery 10 minutes from here. They have a separate small building for ponding, so I went to take a look while killing time before picking up Amy.

Soooooooo - remember the $10,000 koi I was talking about earlier?
I asked if it was still there. The guy said yes, and proceeded to show me. He is PURE white with no scales - that's what makes him so expensive!

BUT... he told me that just last week, he sold 2 for $12,000 EACH!!!
Who would pay that for a fish, I inquired?
He said it was the owner/chairman of the Oster Blender company -
he apparently lives just over the border in NJ.

Well... if he has so much money to spare, he can just give some to me and each of you, right?!?

No kidding. There are sooo many more things I would spend $24,000 on.

I was searching all oer for this topic in Banter Hall.
It is going really good, Lynne. I'm enjoying watching it grow with you.
We bought feeder fish from a pet store for our pond (10/$1) and some of the got to be 5-6 inches long. Lot's of babies.

Thanks Tina!

I already have 7 feeder fish - some of them are already 3 inches just in small indoor tanks, and Margaret's HUGE 8 inch that started out as a feeder!!! I also have 4 fantailed goldfish, so I have a good start for stocking the pond.

I am so excited about being able to have koi though!
When I asked the guy how many he thought a pond that size could hold, he said "MANY!" I asked him to elaborate and he said "at least 12!" WOWZERS!!! I don't intend to get that many - I'm just thrilled to be able to have a least a few. Their smallest ones there, are about 1 1/2-2 inches and are $5.95, then the 3-4 inch ones are $20, and the next size up is $50!!! I'll be happy to start with the small ones, knowing they will grow with time!

Of course... that's the "sheee-sheee" place right here - there are lots of other places to look when the time is right!

any new pics on the pond progress yet? there was a backhoe at the house below us this a.m., i almost called into work so that i could go down there and pull a "Lynne" on them. slide them some cash under the table and in 2 scoops i would be well on my way to the third pond. but i did'nt besides that backhoe was probably to big for where it would need to go. is there such thing as a BABY backhoe?

actually, there is. i see them around here all the time, and they rent them at the rent-a-center in town!

i need a baby backhoe! imagine the possiblities!!!!!

I said it before, and I'll say it again!!!

WHAT A NICE GUY that contractor is!

We received a copy of our bill, a recommendation for an outside housepainter, and a thank you note for tipping his workers and for being so nice to them all in the cold while they were here, in the mail yesterday.

I thought THAT was really nice!

But, tonight, he called to see how everything was working out with being hooked up to the sewer! We schmoozed a little bit, and then he spoke with Don.

WHAT A NICE GUY!

have you worked any more on your pond?????? any pics?????

That was really nice of him. I hope ya'll keep him in mind if you need any other kind of stuff like that done. maybe for the plumbing of the pond???

Wendy - it's waaaaaaaaaaaay too bitter cold here to do anything on the pond with the ground frozen solid in sub-zero windchill temps! We'll have to wait until April at the earliest, I'm thinking, before we can begin.

Triss - Don will be doing the pond plumbing, but he is definitely first on our list for anything we might need - including referrals - he's a wonderful source of info as well!

can't wait to see more pics Lynne

hope u enjoy ur pond