I am almost done with my very first pond a 140 gallons preformed. Still need do the following

1) Pondscape: Planning to add a dwarf lotus in the upper pond, and a water lily in the lower
2) Setup the upper pond as a filter
3) Complete landscape around the pond
4) Add a couple of goldfish.

Open for suggestions.

xman

What a lovely job you have done. I have no suggestions.
Anne

Lisa

Thank you for your kind words. I love how my backyard is coming along. It was completely bare with patchy grass a year ago when I moved in. I do get a lot of birds visiting the bird bath, now they are showing interest in the pond.

thanks,
xman

Actually the lower and upper come together as a set. I actually got my pair at Lowes for $5 (I think the original price was $169). I not sure if this was part of a pond kit or not but at $5 it was a great deal. Here is the link to the kit.
I have seen liners similar to the upper pond in both Lowes and Homedepot. You can check your local craigslist, I see these preformed liners listed all the time at a low price.

I think the upper pond is about 35 gallons, and together it is 140 gallons.

thanks,
xman

Now if you dont mind me asking, HOW??!!

Nice job! S

The pump and tubing was not included, just the upper and lower ponds. I think either the package broke and they misplaced the pump and tubing, or somebody bought the kit and returned it after opening it or something.

xman

Actually I'd love to know what all the plants you have and how they are doing now in the heat of the summer?

Sorry, I did look at this thread till today. Here is a picture with the numbers and names of the plants. I have a lot of Japanese maples in that small yard (about 35) all in containers, most of the plants you see in the background are these maples. I also have about 6 types of bamboo. Most of the low lying plants are sedums.

1) Japanese maple "Tamukeyama"
2) Bamboo "Golden Goddess"
3) Japanese maple "Shaina"
4) Canna
5) Crepe Myrtle
6) Nandina Domestica
7) Dwarf bamboo
8) Dwarf papyrus plant
9) Dwarf Lavender "Munstead"
10) Pruned juniper
11) Sedum Angelina
12) Gray Santolina
13) Cleyera japonica

All the plants are doing really well considering the 100 degree temperature that we have in TX every day.

Hopefully that helps, please let me know if you need the names of any of the others.
xman

What Lisa said!!! Wonderful job!

Your plant choices are lovely. The contrasting textures and colors work so well and I love the pruned Juniper! As far as pondscaping goes the plants you mentioned above would work well! For some added variation and texture you might consider putting a Dwarf Cattail in the lower pond as well. They only grow about 2 feet tall and have tiny little catkins.

If you want to 'hide' the outside of the upper pond level you could try building a rock retaining wall, fill it with earth and plant some type of cascading plant to soften the edges of the wall and the pond.

The goldfish are going to love it!

I hope you will post more photos as your pond progresses!

Wonderful job!

Bren

Thank you for your kind words. I am using the upper pond as a bio filter and it seems to be working great. I have have a water lily on the upper pond, and the upper pond does not stand out as it did before. I will definitely take a look at the Dwarf Cattail. I have held off on putting any fish in the pond this year, as I want to see if it freezes over in winter.

All the plants are growing well and very month the pond and its surrounding look a little more mature. I only hoped I had built the lower pond a little bigger and deeper. But I stuck with the pre-formed pond liner that I got a good deal on.

thanks,
xman