Are you saying that you believe that your area was once a pond made from a cement bottom and sides. Or do you just believe there are cement sides to keep the bricks stable. A dome at the bottom suggests a pond with a fountain (and plumbing) may have existed originally.

It would be good to be down at least two feet for pond lilies. And yes, a little deeper would probably be better. That is certainly true for fish too. I suppose it normally gets cold down to 15 degrees F in your winter? Were you wanting lotus plants or just lily plants in the blue color similar to a lotus? I got some lotus from a swap meet one time and realized they certainly wouldn't make it thru a cold winter, and couldn't figure out how to save them. I may be wrong, but I suspect you would have to reacquire them each year.

hello,

indeed I believe it was before. it has concrete base and sides. (would/should I still need to rubber line it?)

this year's winter min temps was -8ðC but year before was -17ðC one night.

I'd love blue flowers so which ever has the most prominent blue (tardis blue is best)

and there was copper in hole but it was a solid bar (may have been iron was rusty (does copper rust) the circular stone in middle does move but it's deep that it makes it hard to remove out of hole.

the pond is now 2.2ft deep.

Perhaps others will know if it is actually easy to reseal a cement pond. I have only used liner and suspect it would be easier. But maybe it is already sealed. Does rain water stay in there? The liner folds would show somewhat, but most will become hidden once plants produce serious growth. The nice thing about the liner is that you wouldn't have to kill yourself digging and cleaning all the way down. Also, if the bottom is really only just over two feet, you could gain extra 'depth' by raising the edge above ground with a ring of brick or railroad ties or something. AT 0 degrees F.,the extra depth is probably needed even for the lilies and certainly fish if you added them.

hello, the cement base has a large hope in, I filled it with soil, and I was going to put play sand down as its soft. the base was full of decayed concrete and bricks that turned back into rubble and clay. I would make it higher with the rail sleepers (wooden logs under the steel lines) but I am unable to obtain them for a reasonable price.

no I spoke with mums neighbor who had koi, he said it is deep enough for goldfish.

thabk you

Leo

You have done a lot of work excavating your hole. I would raise the edges so ground water could not get in and do a liner. You could have a blue tropical water lily. It would not survive your winter like a hardy lily would--but they don't come in blue. There are many small hardy lilies that would work well in your size pond.

I have a 6' circular pond and 3 small leafed water lily varieties, and other shallow plants that are on a big flat rock that is on top of a milk crate. This gives the fish a place to hide and makes a place for the plants that need to be in water but not submerged. I also have water hyacinth.

I have a pump in the pond going to a tipped pot to aerate and filter the water. Nothing too complicated--the pump empties into a big pot that has quilt batting with 3 hand sized rocks on top to hold the batting in place. The batting gets dirty quick and blends in with the rocks. I usually add some annuals (impatiens with the dirt washed out of their roots and re-planted in pots of gravel) in the spring that grow until they are spilling out of the tipped pot. I do change out the batting a few times in the summer.