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mudcatslim
05-20-2008, 09:15 PM
:confused: Hello everyone,
I am new here and to water gardening in general but, I do plan on building a small garden this winter. I am planning on two separate ponds both four by ten in line with one another semi raised, rectangular ,and formal faced with stone. I plan on the upper pond being lined with a concrete skim coat and a pond paint. Same as the lower pond but I would like to place pebbles in the top pond and various rocks for the wildlife. I would like to place a layer of some sort of suitable planting media under the pebbles and plant directly in the media. Or I could construct planting pockets around the pond with some in the middle and keep the rest of the pond floor clean. I would probably keep and area clear for a bottom drain. The top pond will flow into the bottom pond by a weir. The bottom pond will be a clean design with a few plants on a marginal shelf with no rocks on the bottom. I would like to keep goldfish in this one. I plan on placing a bottom drain in that one to. If I place a bottom drain in the upper pond I may end up mortaring the pebbles directly to the floor of the pond in the area immediately adjacent to the drain. Pebbles with no muck under them is the idea. Does this sound doable or a recipe for disaster. I would like to build once and build it right. Can a soil be found that want constantly leach out an into the lower pond? I would like the upper pond to be sort of a natural filter with maybe a biological one thrown in for good measure. Any thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Good forums by the way. Oh yeah, upper pond about eighteen inches, bottom pond three feet deep.

Leekinneykoi
05-20-2008, 09:52 PM
Welcome to the forum:clap: , First do you want this thread in ask the Gardeners Section?

The only reason I ask is if you have questions about pond Construction you will get many more replies in that section about building any type of pond.
We will not beat your up for wanting plants and goldfish;) and you plan is very do-able but I think most will try and discourage you from pebbles on the bottom and planting in a media below them. Even if you put a bottom drain in there only to drain and clean it once in a while you will still build up tons of muck from decaying plants/debris getting trapped in the rocks and also the roots will grow all through the gravel and plants will eventually take over and if not cleaned often, the roots may find and even fill your bottom drain.
I think most would tr and persuade you to just use planting pots of many shapes to control the plants from taking over.
Another option if the upper pond will be shallow and you just want the bottom to look like pebbles.
Is to concrete the pond or even a 3 inch thick layer on a liner, using a nice looking rounded river gravel in the concrete mix.
You then fill the forms and smooth it as normal, but get some concrete Retarder from the plant you ordered the concrete from and spray the surface of the concrete with it, once you can step on it and not move the aggregate inside (leave deep prints) you can use a garden hose and stiff brush to clean the concrete and sand away from around just the tops of the bigger gravel in the mix, then you have a pebble looking surface, that you should find a fish safe clear sealer and seal it and you will have a concrete bottom that muck can not get under all the plain gravel.

It is simply called an exposed aggregate concrete, there are other methods that add the stone on top of fresh concrete and just push it down in to get the same effect. If you do not plan to do all this yourself there are concrete people in most places that can do it for you.
http://www.exposedaggregateconcrete.com/TechSupport.htm

Just some ideas to get you thinking and if you wish the thread moved to Construction just ask.;)

Cowiche Ponder
05-20-2008, 10:16 PM
I hope to build a water garden yet this summer :rolleyes: (was supposed to be last summer too) and my plan is to have a liner bottom with bottom drain. All plants will be in pots of some kind from normal black planters to dish pans for lilies and such. Bottom drain will be part of the filtration and I'm sure the settlement from it will have to be emptied often!!

mudcatslim
05-21-2008, 11:46 AM
Thanx for the information Cowiche Ponder , I am thinking of the pebble in the concrete trick. We have a local stone yard that carries the nice black Mexican beach pebbles here. I do think the thread could stand to be moved but, have no idea how. I plan on boneing up in this site some before digging. I don't have tons of space for a large pond but, a small one could still be fun. A stepping stone to a larger one latter perhaps. Any way thanks for the advice. Any other comments welcome.

mudcatslim
05-21-2008, 11:49 AM
Whoops I almost missed your comments Leekinneykoi, ditto on the thanks for the helpful hints. I really do want to do it once and do it right. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again