Then we started stumping them. For those who are unfamiliar with stumping, this means digging the stump out, and removing the large roots. This is more effective at preventing regrowth of the tree than stump grinding. It also prevents the cubic feet of sawdust that is left in the soil after stump grinding, which effectively makes the soil unusable for a year or two, because decomposition uses up all the nitrates, but I digress. Stumping a tree is a bunch of work, stumping a half dozen is miserable, but when it's done, you do get that sense of accomplishment... My wife s such a trooper, in there with the digging bar ripping out stumps and roots...

Then we poured bases for the waterfall and pump house, built the pump house up, and put in the base for the waterfall's raised pool. Originally, I was thinking to hide the pump under the waterfall, but that just wasn't going to work very well in the space we had, so we separated them. In the foreground you can see the waterfall base. We will have two waterfalls, one into the smaller pond, one into the larger pond, both fed from a single pool basin, which will be on top of the cinder blocks. In the back, you can see the cinder block house for the pump, filter just outside (not in this photo). The AC will also be in the pump house, which DW affectionately has named "the bunker". It will have large rocks hiding it, and plants on top, possibly with a tertiary trickle waterfall down the front, if I can get that to work...

Next, we got the felt out and then put in the liner. I ordered a 40x40 to make sure we could cover all the weird curves and such. I had no idea the liner was so heavy! 400lbs shipping weight. Awful for two people, get friends to help if you are crazy enough to do this... We have lots of fold and wrinkles despite our best efforts (DW's efforts, I was useless at this task). We decided to fill it with water to see if it looked better, and it did. Unfortunately, not good enough. We are going to mortar the bottom with some strategically placed river rock for aesthetics. We will probably refill at that point and see how it looks. For those f you who are appalled at the waste of water, fear not, it was all fed to our redwood trees, which need it in this heat, and are recovering from years of neglect. It's crazy that you can dump a couple thousand gallons of water on these trees, and get nary a puddle. No joke, water comes out of the hose and just disappears into the ground, for hours at a time. In any case, it looks good with water in it.

Next weekend, we install the return piping, and mortar the bottom. Comments and tips are dearly appreciated.
Mike

I think you have the right idea on doing a little and seeing how you like it. Best way imo.

Redwood roots are pretty shallow. Soaker hose might be better. You might even think about a trickle water change system for the pond. That's where you put a drip head, like 1 gal per hour (depends on pond size) running 24/7 and the pond over flows. Gives you really good water quality. I think the overflow would be good for the redwoods. If you're using water in the landscape may as well get two uses out of it. For the overflow you could build up the top of the pond a bit except where you want the overflow to go. You sure have enough liner. From there you could make a stream to the redwoods assuming not too far. Just an idea.

I miss the Bay Area.

Whichever way you chose, it's going to be beautiful.

I think it's a matter of personal taste. I've never liked the look of liner wrinkles, pipes, pumps, pots and filters in the bottom of the pond. There's a long standing knee jerk reaction in pond forums to rocks in a pond...bah, bah, bah, rocks, bah, bah. Unjustified imo. Loose rocks are an issue. Mortared rock no problem.

Bluelake, I appreciate the comments, and had already heard others say that loose rock was a bad idea, esp if we have koi. We're going to start with goldfish, but might add some koi later. Again, baby steps...

Waterbug, there are some tools that are indispensable. That wheelbarrow is definitely one of them. I also have a six foot digging bar that is a good friend. : ) The redwood overflow is a great idea, but unfortunately, the trees are 150' away from the pond. I am going to look at setting up some way to reuse the back flush and pond vac water constructively, though. I have a tetra pressurized filter w/UV that I just put in the ground, so when I use that I don't want to waste the water. Likewise, I got a pond-o-vac 4, and I should use the water from that too. We have nearby ferns, roses, and assorted flowers that might appreciate the occasional muck and fish poo...

If I could, I'd like your opinions on an idea we've been toying with. If you look at the photos, the waterfall is right next to a skinny connecting channel between the small and large pond areas. We were thinking of perhaps taking the rocks that we cover the waterfall structure with, and using them to cover a portion of the channel to make a fish tunnel. There will be a fairly high flow through the channel, so I don't know how much the fish would use it. Flow might be ~30gph through there. Do you think it would be good for the fish?
Thanks, Mike

The tunnel will also provide protection from visiting non-invited dinner guests.

Pond botton needs to be a continous solid type base, be it a liner or rocks, (if mortored) for ease of cleaning.
McKool