Jerry's pond was another classic rebuild exhibiting all the common mistakes observed in the prototypical landscaper "liner insert" pond. Aesthetically it was well done but lacked a bottom drain, pond depth and a good filter system
Jerry wanted some koi and to get into the hobby. By the end of the rebuild the pond was 5 feet deep, over 2,000 gallons and had a 4 inch bottom drain feeding a custom made filter system
It was a frustrating job with all the obstacles that surrounded the pond but once the waterfall was turned on that frustration was quickly forgotten
This shot was taken before we began.
The box filter is clearly visible which
does not lend to a natural look |
When I first arrived at the pond there were several glaring problems. First of all, the box filter was totally visible and totally inadequate as it was fed by a pump in the pond. Aesthetically pleasing it was not although the rock work was well done. The filter was clogging, the pump was clogging, there was no flow and the pond was dirty. The pond was also too shallow and had a small leak which was coming from the waterfall. Time for a major rebuild
Step 1 was to gut the pond and install a proper concrete collar. There was a rude awakening with this job rather quickly - there was hardly any access as it was surrounded by a retaining wall, pool and gazebo. This made things very difficult and we had to do all the rock work by hand. Some stones were close to 400 pounds |
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In this picture we are mortaring a ring of river rock together. This will serve to contain the additional stone behind it. If you just place the stone down on the liner, it will eventually find its way to the bottom of the pond |
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