Aqua environmental design

The following gives an overview of
the installation of our first pond
and waterfalls. Each site will be
unique and require site specific
techniques, but this page will
illustrate that having a beautiful, satisfying water garden is certainly
in the realm of possibility for the
do it your self home owner. A
modest investment (about half the
cost of a hot tub) and some
vigorous aerobic exercise are all that's required to enjoy your own
backyard oasis. We have a six foot "hill" near the
back deck that was created when
we excavated for the root cellar.
Though not directly facing the deck
or house, it provided a good site
for a series of water falls into a pond below. On a flat site, building
up the water falls to this height may
look artificial. The abundance of
large builders at our home has
caused us plenty of extra work in
the past. Now we're able to use many of them! I dug out a spot for the BioFalls®
near the top of the hill...after
standing back and taking a long
look, we decided to lower it so the
falls would seem to come directly
out of the hill. This extra work - and time spent just looking - was
well worth it. Here we've dug out the first shelf
and have begun digging out the
second shelf. The best way to move
the soil up hill around the BioFalls®
turned out to be with 5 gal.
buckets! The soil from the pond is placed
around three sides of the BioFalls
and compacted well to avoid future
settling. We borrowed a transit to check the
level of the edge of the pond and
to verify the level of the skimmer.
The black flexible PVC lines both go
to the back of the skimmer - one is
from the pump in the skimmer, the other is an over flow which drains
into a gravel filled trench. We've completed two levels of
excavation and have marked the
lower level, which will reach the
pond's maximum depth of two
feet. It's at this level that we
usually run into the really large boulders. Sure enough, this monster had to
be coaxed out of the pond and up
the hill...I was fortunate to have a
come-along, a strong pine in the
right place, and a willing young
helper! Excavation is complete! Plant
pockets were also dug at each end
of the second level...soil will be
added to these (over the liner),
and they will be home to water
lilies - this avoids growing them in pots. This is the excavation for the
waterfalls...it's a good exercise in
visualiztion to try to determine the
course of the water. The narrow,
level spots will support the flat
waterfall stones. Large rock is placed against the
vertical walls, with gravel to follow
on the level areas. All this rock
came from our property, saving us
much material and delivery cost. Building the water falls took plenty
of patience... just the right stone in
just the right place! The waterfall
liner is 10 feet wide to allow for
plenty of splashing and for the
turns in the course of the three falls. Note that the pond liner
extends well up the course of the
falls, with a generous overlap from
the waterfall liner. Though we washed the rock and
gravel several times, and pumped
out the dirty water, the first filling
of the pond was quite dirty. After
one week, it is much clearer...two
to six weeks are required to establish a healthy ecosystem with
relatively clear water. Landscaping
around the pond began shortly
after we filled it. More Photos... Pond Kit Pricing Our Pond at Clear water Landscapes Search Design for Success Build a Landscape Free – Build a Pond Ask questions and
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with others Home | Services. Call us on 08032861326.

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