me new bigger pond

[Matthew Storrs]

That looks superb Marcus.

 

i did a little pond for someone last year- frankly it was just an easy solution to a area of otherwise utterly hopeless ground- springs everywhere. I dug our the peat until I got to rock with a 6 tonner. Because of lack of reach I dug it out sitting in the pond and it was filling quicker from the springs than I could dig it out- by evening it was filled!

photo 2 was a few months later.

[difflock]

I may treat myself to a proper-pagen-playful-pishful-paddle(an au natural, natch) to christen the pond and indeed to celebrate my 60th birthday at the end of the month, 'cos the water does look clear and inviting, though until plant life gets established, the clay fines are easy to muddily disturb.

The clay is presumably somewhat alkali, so with the slight acidity of the rainwater, guessing about Ph neutral, I was toying with buying an 8 wheeler load of lime, i.e. crushed limestone(the same as they spread on the fields), to be sure, to be sure, to be very very sure.

But since I can get round the rear of the pond with a lorry, I can still add lime/limestone if needed.

A mate has suggested Rainbow Trout, or another hybrid trout, and I will assure you, iffen there are trout to be caught, they will be straight onto the takanaki grill, since it would simply be too cruel to catch and release.

Anyone got a Fly Rod for sale btw?

cheers

mth

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by difflock

[difflock]

A couple of images from today, the house Martins were feeding over the water, but I failed to capture this wonderful sight.

Edit; 

Thank you Steve for sorting the software so that technophobes like me, do not have to resize or otherwise manipulate images before posting.

2nd EDIT

Just to say that the water level is now at or above pre-existing ground level, with a couple of feet to go. 

BUT with (i) The increasing exposure to drying winds, and the greater surface area more prone to these evaporative losses. 

PLUS (ii) The surrounding clay bank is obviously narrower towards the top(and the stretch next the house finishes at less than 1.0m wide when I wanted 2.0m wide at the top, at a minimium) so there will be some(but how much?) seepage.

So, getting there, but with my fingers well crossed.

Edited September 19, 2019 by difflock

[Matthew Storrs]

That looks great Marcus. I assume you had to bring in the clay to line it with?

 

Im starting another pond tomorrow, went back to the one I did last year recently to shore up some of the edges with boulders as the slopes were tending to migrate into the pond a bit (it’s only soft Peat), also dug it out deeper right down to bedrock whilst I was at it.

[difflock]

Nope, Matthew, most of the peat(as far as I am aware) here in N.I. lies over impervious clay(or  has in my, albeit limited, experience), so I simply had that dug out, leaving a deeper hole, and pushed up into the banks, thus creating more "free" water depth.

cheers

mth

Edited September 19, 2019 by difflock

[Matthew Storrs]

10 minutes ago, difflock said:

Nope, Matthew, most of the peat(as far as I am aware) here in N.I. lies over impervious clay(or  has in my, albeit limited, experience), so I simply had that dug out, leaving a deeper hole, and pushed up into the banks, thus creating more "free" water depth.

cheers

mth

Sounds very similar to here. Usually something like Peat on top, then decomposed granite and boulders, then China clay underneath,

I expect by pushing the clay into the banks helped stabilise them too, I found Peat alone couldn’t really hold much of a bank- very shallow slope is ok but then you get grass growing in the shallow water and it looks a bit grotty. I had to use the Boulders I dug out to place around the sides to keep the Peat from slumping into the pond.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Matthew Storrs

[spandit]

I had a boggy patch of ground so dug a very large hole which has now filled with water. It's about 12' deep in the middle and beautifully clear. Unfortunately, the council did not like the fact that I didn't ask for permission and it's been dragging on for over 2 years now... Not easy to see from this angle but the bank on the bottom left are pretty steep and high. Lovely to swim in (the jetty on the left hand side is now in the water so I can dive in) although the lilies are struggling since the dog keeps trampling them.

[Big J]

3 minutes ago, spandit said:

I had a boggy patch of ground so dug a very large hole which has now filled with water. It's about 12' deep in the middle and beautifully clear. Unfortunately, the council did not like the fact that I didn't ask for permission and it's been dragging on for over 2 years now... Not easy to see from this angle but the bank on the bottom left are pretty steep and high. Lovely to swim in (the jetty on the left hand side is now in the water so I can dive in) although the lilies are struggling since the dog keeps trampling them.

Given that I'm likely to dig a large pond as soon as we get land, what difficulties have you had with the council? If you don't mind me asking.

[spandit]

4 minutes ago, Big J said:

Given that I'm likely to dig a large pond as soon as we get land, what difficulties have you had with the council? If you don't mind me asking.

I didn't ask for planning permission beforehand so had to apply for retrospective permission. I've now got it (after a lot of reports and hassle), but they imposed a load of conditions on it, including getting a professional ecologist to do a report (which was a few hundred quid). I am now trying to vary/cancel the condition but will have to pay another £234 for the privilege - feels like extortion to me but the fee structure is clearly set out on the planning portal.

 

One issue I had is that they wanted detailed plans before and after - I tried explaining that because it was a retrospective application, I didn't have plans before and the pond was designed as we went along, in line with the terrain, so didn't have an accurate plan either. I've had to construct a 3D model of the pond, with contours. Most recently I've sent them an 130 page report showing details of every tree I've planted around it (with coordinates to the nearest cm :o). I've had no objections to the pond (only one neighbour can see it) and even the council member who visited said it didn't look out of place. The council drainage engineer who visited said the bund was well constructed but planning applications generally deal with buildings, not ponds, so the framework they use doesn't really fit. For example, I was asked if there was access for the fire department (in case it catches fire?) and was asked how many parking spaces it would generate...

 

I don't know how remote the land you are looking to buy is - if nobody can see it, then nobody can complain, although there's always Google Earth to snitch on you...

[Alex O]

That’s a nice looking pond, I had no idea you would have to apply for a pond in your own garden, or is it if it’s over a certain size or depth? How did the council find out about yours? Were you snitched on?