A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 My watergarden im currently building at present.

I currently have the butyl liner,but as you can see its going to take a number of people to help me fit it in place.I dug and built this pond myself,by hand,i was a complete novice starting out,i guess you could say,i made it big.
A waterfall will run down into it,through a series of mini pools,and a stone cave will start the waterfall.
Im planning it to be totally natural,with a wide range of plants,and natural stone and pebbles.
A deck will look out onto the water,and at the top i plan on building a small teahouse to complement the setting,beside the waterfall.
Its an awful big job,considering im on my own with it,but ill just take it one step at a time.

here is the skeletel outline of the waterfall going into the main pond,the liner and stonework will be next here.A stone cave at the top will start the fall,to add interest to the design.

OHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYY GAWDDDDDDDDDDDD.....
When you're done, you're more than welcome to
come to my ..
WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
That's AWESOME job...

When did you start all of that????

Wow! That's a huge undertaking... I can't wait to see it when you're finished!

Beautiful, simply beautiful.....I can just picture it finished--you know you've done a wonderful job doing it all by yourself....PLEASE make sure you post more pictures as you get more done, I'd love to see it finished.

WOW! You did that all on your own and all by hand. WOW!!! That is going to be a stunning waterfall. Absolutely stunning!!!! Please keep posting pics of your progress.

That is gorgeous! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Dianna

Thanks very much for all your nice comments,really appreciate it.Well i started digging it in the summer of 2004,my garden you see is enclosed and getting a mechanical digger in was simply out of the question,access for one of these into the garden was not possible,so by spade and shovel i took it on,and what a nightmare it was.
About 3 feet down i came accross these roots,and i said to myself,"oh no",they were coming from the laurel hedge,so i had to take all these roots out,which were enormous,and they grew in all patterns around the area,eventually i managed to rid them all,so i built a wall from 3 ft down up to the datum point,where the waterlevel would be and worked from there.It was really nasty stuff,i contemplated giving up,but i stuck at it,basically ive thought myself everything.
Im doing it for my parents,who dont keep well,and im determined to succeed.My motto in a project like this is just to take it one step at a time,and not to rush,and when things go wrong not to panic,theres help out there,as i badly need right now with this liner,its a tonne weight,and worse still it has to be brought from the bottom yard right up a steep hill into the garden,hopefully the help im getting tomorrow will be enough to get it up

David! Your pond is going to be absolutely beautiful! What a great accomplishment you have made so far and will make in the future! Make sure you keep a jounal as you plan and build all of your pond! You never know, you might want to write a book about it. Thank you for sharing it with us!

i'm impressed by your perserverance...altho, i dunno why...i'm irish too, and when we get something in our minds there's NO stopping us

it's going to be GORGEOUS when you've got it all done... might just have to fly over and see it in person!!

I wont be happy until this liner is brought up to the garden,its soo heavy,anyone one to fly to ireland and give me a hand with this monster

OMG!!! i have to see this when your done. pleeezzze keep us posted!

What a wonderful job you have done David!!
I dug my super small pond by hand and I know it is a big ole pain in the keister! The rocks the roots the back ache...
I for one can't wait to see the finished product! Please keep us posted on your progress!
Great Job!!

well just about an hour ago,myself and a local guy managed to somehow,get the roll of butyl liner up the steep hill into the garden,well lets just say it was scary,it weighed a tonne,so we positined it upright on a rock cart and tied it in with rope,and dragged it up the hill,half way up we both slipped and were lucky we werent killed,but with the luck of the gods we somehow achieved the impossible and got the roll up.

Great Job!! Glad to see you were not hurt!!

Now the big task of laying it down!! What a BIG POND!! Good luck !!

oh, i'm glad you got someone to help...with the broken leg i would have been more of a hinderance than a help.

VERY glad that neither you or your buddy were hurt when you slipped, too!!!

can not wait to see it when it's finished!!!

That was some steep hill. Glad you and the liner made it up there intact! Now the big job... getting it all laid out.

well i have to put the polyfelt underlay in next,and then i have to wait till next week sometime,for this friend of mine to help me with the liner,since i have no experience in laying a liner ill need his assistance as hes worked with pond liners before,so mean time,underlay.

The underlay in place,to give added protection to the liner.

The butyl liner in place,myself and my brother put it in,its very hard to avoid creases but we did the best we could next i will add some underlay over the base for extra protection and add the pea shingle over the base,and dress the shelves with rock and gravel.

Looks Great David!! What a LOT of work!!
Looks like you could use a Guiness!

cheers for that,well my problem at the moment is we are having rain here and its filling up the base,so ill have to pump the water out and get going with laying the gravel in the base.

Rain is a tough one while trying to get everything straightened!
You Must have a HUGE pump for all that space!
Good Luck with the water!! Can't wait to see more Pictures!

Looks great David! Hope the rain lets up a bit for you so you can get to the next step.

Looking great...keep us posted !!

it's coming along nicely!!

sorry for the rain issue. lol, you really can't get away from it where you are tho !!

keep the pics coming - can't wait to see the finished pond!!

Wow, that is going to be spectacular....heck, it's almost like a small swimming pool! I just can't wait to see the finished product....hang in there, you'll get it done soon!

Hey at least it's not SNOWWWWW!!!
I've enjoyed following this thread..
Pleassssssse keep us posted on your progress..
Alot of us may never get a pond such as this,
but we like living vicariously thru this post...

Holy Koogamooga!

I can't wait to see more pictures!

I just love it when you pull out the Holy Koogamooga like that!

That pond is Koogamooga Worthy!

koogamooga thats a new one,ill remember
that
my next stage,i have the pea shingle in the base at present,i lined the butyl with a layer of rotproof underlay and scraps of spare liner over the top to protect from the stones.
I will start facing the waterfall face with stone and work from there right around the shelves,im planning that at present.This is the tricky bit.The pea shingle i have has sea shells in it,its great stuff..I need to be patient doing this,once the pond is lined with stone,i will then work on the waterfall pools and upwards.

What kinds of filters and pumps are you planning on using to move the water and keep it clean and clear? Are you building that all in as you go?

no filters what so ever,unless im a millionaire, ready to pay a huge electric bill.No the natural pea shingle,rocks and plants all balanced together will act as a biological filter,a pond this size can look after itself,wheras if it was only a small pond then you need filters.Basically its going to be a wildlife pond,where mother nature will take care of events.
For the waterfall im using a titan 12000,its a good pump.

It should look amazing when you are done.. I really like the natural ponds.. as large as the water fall is should provide all the oxygen you would need to maintain it!

Heyyyyyyyyy, have we had any up dates
on your pond lately David????
Very interested to see how you're coming along...

Yeah......any updates!!

Still wonderin' how this project is coming along..

That is going to be quite the pond! Can't wait to see more pics of it!

In case people are wondering i quit this project,as i just didnt have the expertise to complete it,it was too much for me,it became too stressfull.
Its a total shame,and a real disapointment.

Ohhhhhh man, I am very sorry to hear that...
What we saw was awesome looking..

Is there any way you can contact a local ponder and have them help finish it up...
Seems like you were almost finished with it...

I hope you find your peace with what you did do..
Maybe still fill it with water and use as a pond..

That is too bad.....have you decided what you are going to do with the space??

well i plucked up the courage to keep going with my project,i got a lot of encouragement from a lot of people,so i will fight another day,at the moment i am doing the stone cave at the top of the waterfall,and its going really well,i have to order beach pebbles to dress the inside of the cave,i will post pics of the cave as soon as i have it finished,stay tuned

We are patiently waiting David....

We so enjoy projects like this..
And many of us can not for some reason or another have something like this....
So, we are living vicariously thru you...

Thanks bunches for keeping up posted in your project/

no problem at all,its hard getting things done,ireland is such an expensive country,one of the most expensive countries in europe,materials are soo costly,ands its hard with my mum not keeping well,you know,but you will love the cave when its done,a statue of our blessed virgin mary will go inside the cave,it will look really special.

I can not wait!!!!