Constructing a floating island for duck pond?

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farmdude

farmdude

Songster
10 Years
Sep 20, 2009
482
8
123
NE Wisconsin
I hope I put this message in the right place, sorry if I haven't.
I would like to construct a small floating island for my duck pond. A safe haven for the ducks to nest and ducklings to rest. My pond is 100 long and 60 feet wide, and 10 feet deep. So I was thinking the island could be 10 long and 6 feet wide. Problem is, I have no idea how. I would like to have water grasses to grown on it and have it look as natural as possible. Any ideas and advice would be appreciated.
 
if you do a search online look up water gardening supplies. they make little islands to put plants on but i don't think i've seen them be very large like that. they are usually made out of foam that floats and you would have to tether it to the center where you want it to stay.

www.tricker.com is one of the places i got supplies from and Lilyblooms.com but those mostly carry plants.
 
Hi!
We have a large pond at our golf course. We have a large island, too. One of our friends maintains it for the ducks and the turtles. He took PVC pipe, large diameter and cut to the length he wanted it to be, and epoxied caps on the ends. He lashed the whole works together in a raft and filled the gaps between the pipes in with spray expansion foam, just for added floatation. He has an anchor of a concrete filled 5 gallon bucket attached to the lashing with a rope so that the float doesn't spend all of its time on a bank on shore. If you wanted to add grasses, etc, you could figure out how to create wells in the pvc pipes or to attach a separate part of the island that would support plants. It may be as simple as cutting one of the PVC pipes in half and inserting the grasses. Good luck!
 
I once saw on tv some guy made an island out of plastic water and soda bottles. Don't remember the details (long time ago) but I think he used some type of netting to keep them all together. Then incorporated vegetation on top of it somehow. It would be a challenge, but I believe it would be a good way to recycle some plastic bottles. It would have to be anchored in order to stay put. The foam blocks might be easier.
 
Ok bare with me here. What if you built an island like thedollymamma talked about. But when you put on the foam you don't make it flat with the top of the pipes, kind of a well but not deep, just like a small dip.

Go to a laundermat and ask them for their dryer lint (Trust me!) You're gonna need a bunch of it. Spread the lint over the top of the "island".

Sprinkle with plant seeds or small seedlings.

Sprinkle the top of the lint with a silty soil (that which the bottom of your pond is made of)

Cover this with landscaping burlap so that it wraps slightly over the pipes.

The burlap will wick water up into the lint and soil to keep the seeds moist. The seed will grow up through the burlap and cover the "island"
 
Hi...i constructed a floating duck island for my Pekins...it is made from a big pallet (oak)...i screwed styrofoam pieces to the bottom for floatation (found at Lowes in the insulation area to apply to walls...its about 1/2 inch thick, 4ft x 1ft)....chicken wired the topside to keep legs from falling thru pallet slats....bought a big tote at Walmart and cut a door hole and screwed it to the deck....teathered to the pond bottom with nylon rope and cinderblock anchor...it works great...the anchor line is attached behind the tote to the pallet so the door is always down wind for weather protection

see pictures on my profile page under coop pictures
 

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