Ornamental ponds, Yay or nay?

[Chickstarrs]

I am thinking of putting an ornamental pond in my garden and am wondering how much work would I be creating for myself it I did this? I know that building it and setting it up would be the biggest job. What about general maintenance once it is up and running? I live in a cold climate and would have to winterize it every fall. Thanks.

 

[DobieLover]

This is the pond I built at my last house.

I will be building another like it at my current home next spring.
It is very therapeutic to sit around and work in the pond!!
I pruned the dead lily pads and hosed off the skimmer filters weekly, fed the lilies every other week, vacuumed the bottom about every other month and netted it before the leaves started to fall. Brought the water level up as needed.
Start up is expensive. I have $3,000 in my budget to start up my next pond. I will again do all the work myself.
I built a Skippy filter that is installed where the waterfall head is and would put water lettuce and water hyacinth in them once all danger of frost was past each spring as well buying lettuce, hyacinth and other pond annuals for the pond itself.
The Skippy filter really helps lower maintenance. Keeping the fish population low does too. Mine spawned like mad and because of all the plant cover in the water, many survived so I had to sell off a lot each spring to keep the population under control.
I loved it and I can't wait to start again!

 

[Chickstarrs]

This is the pond I built at my last house.View attachment 2713959View attachment 2713960View attachment 2713961View attachment 2713965View attachment 2713968

I will be building another like it at my current home next spring.
It is very therapeutic to sit around and work in the pond!!
I pruned the dead lily pads and hosed off the skimmer filters weekly, fed the lilies every other week, vacuumed the bottom about every other month and netted it before the leaves started to fall. Brought the water level up as needed.
Start up is expensive. I have $3,000 in my budget to start up my next pond. I will again do all the work myself.
I built a Skippy filter that is installed where the waterfall head is and would put water lettuce and water hyacinth in them once all danger of frost was past each spring as well buying lettuce, hyacinth and other pond annuals for the pond itself.
The Skippy filter really helps lower maintenance. Keeping the fish population low does too. Mine spawned like mad and because of all the plant cover in the water, many survived so I had to sell off a lot each spring to keep the population under control.
I loved it and I can't wait to start again!

That is a beautiful pond. Did you collect or buy rocks to make the waterfall yourself? Are any of the plants perennials?

 

[DobieLover]

That is a beautiful pond. Did you collect or buy rocks to make the waterfall yourself? Are any of the plants perennials?

I collected the rocks. Where I lived, you could drive along country roads and they'd just be laying on the banks. So we would stop and load up the truck. There were mostly perennials and shrubs around and in that pond.

 

[Chickstarrs]

Any hints and tips to be aware of before planning to avoid as many complications as possible?

 

[DobieLover]

Any hints and tips to be aware of before planning to avoid as many complications as possible?

Will you have fish in the pond or just plants?
How cold do your winters get?
I didn't want koi because they get huge, are expensive and can be destructive to the plants in a smaller ornamental pond.
I did Shubunkins, Comets and Common goldfish instead.
Make the deepest part 3' deep or more and slope the bottom so there is one point the majority of the waste will collect to make it easier to vacuum out.
If you are going to install marginal plants along the pond edges, dig out a slope about 10" below the top level of the pond and make it as level as possible (certainly not sloping towards the center as the pots will fall in - I made that mistake and had to shim up under the edge of the pots to keep them from sliding into the deeper water).
After I dug out my pond site, I mounded all the fill I'd removed where the water fall went. I got a roll of carpet that someone discarded after removing from their home and lined pond site with it before laying out the liner.
Make SURE that the surface of the pond will be higher than all surrounding soil. I had a torrential downpour for 2 days and the water gushed over the ground and into the pond and made a huge mess. When you are shaping the final layout use some of the soil you dig out to build up the rim.
I would leave the waterfall running until the pond started to really ice over before pulling out the submersible pump and shutting down the waterfall. I left a Venturi style pump and an air bubbler running year round to keep a hole in the ice and the water under the ice circulating.

 

[Chickstarrs]

Will you have fish in the pond or just plants?
How cold do your winters get?
I didn't want koi because they get huge, are expensive and can be destructive to the plants in a smaller ornamental pond.
I did Shubunkins, Comets and Common goldfish instead.
Make the deepest part 3' deep or more and slope the bottom so there is one point the majority of the waste will collect to make it easier to vacuum out.
If you are going to install marginal plants along the pond edges, dig out a slope about 10" below the top level of the pond and make it as level as possible (certainly not sloping towards the center as the pots will fall in - I made that mistake and had to shim up under the edge of the pots to keep them from sliding into the deeper water).
After I dug out my pond site, I mounded all the fill I'd removed where the water fall went. I got a roll of carpet that someone discarded after removing from their home and lined pond site with it before laying out the liner.
Make SURE that the surface of the pond will be higher than all surrounding soil. I had a torrential downpour for 2 days and the water gushed over the ground and into the pond and made a huge mess. When you are shaping the final layout use some of the soil you dig out to build up the rim.
I would leave the waterfall running until the pond started to really ice over before pulling out the submersible pump and shutting down the waterfall. I left a Venturi style pump and an air bubbler running year round to keep a hole in the ice and the water under the ice circulating.

Those are great tips! Thanks. Yes I do plan to have few fish. They will control any mosquitos trying to breed there. I am in the northern part of Southern Ontario, near Lake Huron, so it does get cold. I don't want to have to bring the fish in over the winter like I have heard some people do.

 

[DobieLover]

Those are great tips! Thanks. Yes I do plan to have few fish. They will control any mosquitos trying to breed there. I am in the northern part of Southern Ontario, near Lake Huron, so it does get cold. I don't want to have to bring the fish in over the winter like I have heard some people do.

I never brought the fish in. The pond has to be deep enough for them to have space under the ice. You need that hole in the ice for gas exchange. Circulating the water under the ice help keep it from freezing too deep. You can also have a floating deicer to keep a hole open.