What got me into ponds? A good shove... Hey, SOME one has to say it.

Really though, much the same way as you, Davin. I lived for many, many years in woodland cabins beside pristine lakes in the Canadian far north. My heart will always be there. So now I try recreate it in the naturalistic landscape of my little suburban home, relying heavily upon water, tree and rock elements. The bears I left behind.

I was at my buds house and she had the cutest little preformed pond...with a 3 concrete leaf casting waterfall she had made herself...I was sitting beside it just listening to the little trickle of water, and looking at the waterlily blooms...when a little bird landed on a leaf and had a little bath/drink...I was mesmerized and HAD to have one ever since...it took me 5 years of planning and a little galvanized tub pond, but I ended up with a dream pond...thanks to the help of this forum...and a dear friend who helped build it!

Ever since I was a little girl I have been attracted to water. I am telling you attracted... My mom couldn't keep me out of it. Every time she'd turn around, I would have stripped down to my birthday suit and was happily sitting in streams, creeks, ponds, lakes, the pacific ocean and even bird baths.

I realized about 5 years back when my husband and I were dating that I hadn't changed. We are the outdoors type and every adventure we went on if there was water he found me in it. My then boy friend even mentioned how it was strange that I couldn't seem to stay away from water.

So when we were married and bought our house the first thing I started doing (in my head) was planning a pond (helps to keep me out of the irrigation ditch lol).

Always like frogs, toads and fish. Pond seemed the logical choice to make it happen. Started with a modest 150gal 'hole in the ground' and kept getting bigger.

My wife was pretty reluctant at first, worried about it smelling funny, and the kids potentially falling into the water.

Several years later, she enjoys the sounds of the waterfall, the windchimes and the fish feeding. (Although we are starting over with the fish this year after a horrific incident that caused their untimely demise).

I've always liked lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds, etc. and have had aquariums since I was about 10. Once I learned how easy it was to make and operate a pond, I put one in the backyard.

No one mentioned the fact that there is no nasty weeding and mowing in a pond! And you get to play in the water when cleaning......

atokadawn, that was what I told my DH, when I asked him to dig the 5000+ gallon pond by hand. I told him it was less lawn to mow. I don't think he thought it was a fair trade.

I was asked to design a small pond for the gardens at the local Extension Offices. I tried out various things at home before submitting three designs. It kind of expanded from there.

My home pond is still not finished after 10 years and probably won't ever be finished. There is always something different I want to try.

I'm a former city girl that got dragged out in the woods kicking and screaming all the way. New Husband new house. There happened to be a little pond, a bid feeder and a Blue Bird nest box. It's just a 500 gal preform with 2 smaller ponds above it with long slate waterfalls. It was neatly surrounded with pavers and some plantings. I have always loved to be out in nature, just didn't think I wanted to live in it. That quickly changed when Blue Bird babies started peeking out of the box,all sorts of birds were bathing in the waterfalls, my fish had babies and I learned how wonderful the sound of frogs at night can be. The pond has been transformed to look like it is natural with rocks moss and native river plants, I have 5 nest boxes, 5 feeding stations and have become a crazy bird watcher. Now they will have to drag me kicking and screaming out of here. I do insist that I go to a nursing home with a pond and bird feeders! LOL

I grew up on the shores of the "Queen of American Lakes" (per Thomas Jefferson), Lake George, NY, in the beautiful Adirondack Mtns. I think I was born with water in my veins :-) Whenever I have lived elsewhere I have missed it greatly.

When I lived in Houston, I went to a client's house and she had a pond. It had been a rough day, week, year and I sat by it and took deep breaths and RELAXED!!! I told myself that some day I would have a pond.

Twenty years later I finally built one thanks to my sweeet BF. I can have a very difficult day, come home, go sit by the pond, take a deep breath and RELAX!!!

I doubt that I will ever tire of running water. It may change form (into a pondless water feature) as I age, but right now my little fishies are providing me with great joy.

Anne

My first pond was over 40 years ago when I was in the 4H Garden Club. I made a rock garden in the farm yard complete with an old sunken bathtub. The bathtub basically held stagnant water and salamanders apparently as my Mom liked to tell before she passed away of me reaching into the tub to clean it out and grabbing salamanders and screaming my head off. I was about 12 at the time. I'm not afraid of slimey things just when they are unexpected. I graduated to aquariums then ponds when I bought this house.

Well, as a kid, my family had an aquarium with tropical fish. After we moved from the city (Birmingham, AL) to the country (Hemitage, TN), I discovered a farm pond over on the property next to ours. The man had given my Granny permission to fish there which meant that I got to tag alone. I then took and buried a kiddie pool, put a brick wall in it filled with dirt, and planted cattails from the pond. I also put Bream and mosquito fish in it.

Prior to the end of my first marriage, I worked with my dad, in plumbing, and we did this renovation job on this big expensive house that had a semi formal pond in back that needed some lilies and anacharis thinning. I asked the man if I could do it for the plants and he agreed. I went out later on and bought three preforms and connected them together. I found plants at a local pet store and bought them to add to the lilies and anacharis and lilies.

I divorced my first wife, moved to Florida where I met my second wife and married her and began collecting plants from the wild, pond shops, friends, and trades.

Now I'm back in Alabama, got a large collection of plants and seeds, and still find new ones to add.

Long ago my DH's country town family in N.C. had a small fish pond and their favorite story was always about the dark night when the preacher cut across their back yard toward the kitchen porch where he saw a light on, and ended up in the pond.
My own first pond was very small but I loved it and so did the birds. It might have been DH's idea - I don't remember, but neither of us had any idea we would dig ponds at every house we ever lived in and would finally end up with three of them here. Min

When I was a kid many many moons ago there was a farmer's reservoir behind our house and the kids in the neighborhood eventually discovered it and played on it and used to slide down the slanted slopes on cardboard. It was fun and then someone hit upon the idea of building a raft and so we nailed together pieces of wood and tried to stand on the "raft" but the first time it started to sink and so we kept on adding more wood until the raft could support our weight and we used poles to push us out and across the reservoir. It was really deep, probably about ten feet or more at its deepest. Someone threw in some goldfish and I believe there were minnows in it too.
It was such a neat place to find frogs, snakes, and lizards. Saw mudhens and occasional ducks and even a loon. It was a great experience to pole out into the middle and let the raft drift with the wind pushed current. Not a memory soon forgotten.

Much like you Davin, we used to go backpacking in what has sometimes been called 'the well watered Serria' near King's Canyon Ntl. Park in California. My favorite thing was to always stop for lunch by a stream and dine within the ambient gurgle.

I built a stream and pond that wraps around 2 sides of our patio in order to replicate the lunch by the stream. GURGLE.

Davin.
Now this is a great thread I don't post to much on here but this is good. When we had are house built 1/2 acre lot I told
my wife & neighbors I was going to build a fish pond. so
when I did my landscaping I ran my water & electrical out to
where my pond is going to be.
I always enjoyed ponds & lakes with waterfalls my dad took me
fishing all the time when I was little so I really love the
outdoors. Thanks Dad for all the Wonderful memories.
Thanks Kelly

I went to visit a cousin of mine, whose home I had never been to. When her husband, David, asked me if I wanted "a mess of fish", I said sure, thinking he meant to take home for dinner. He said follow me and I obeyed. I wondered where we were going when we went out a door onto a little porch that sits about 8 foot off of the ground. He took his hand out of his pocket and threw something and said "look down there!". Below the porch was a little pond and the water was literally BOILING with goldfish of all sizes. I was shocked and David was laughing. He said, you build a pond and I will give you the fish and some lilies. That's all it took...lol My husband was skeptical of my ability to build a pond, mostly of my ability to dig the hole. Of course I didn't do it right, no real planning and such, and of course, I'm still fixing that...lol But, I did dig the hole myself (there are a lot of wheelbarrow loads of dirt in a hole!) and did pretty much everything else by myself, with very little help from my husband. I love my little pond, however imperfect it may be!!

Carla

Yes Davin, this is a good thread! And Carla, I love your story.

About 20 years ago, my dog and I were visiting with friends in Texas between the huge Houston dog show circuit and almost as huge San Antonio circuit. We were chilling out and winding down in their lovely backyard. My dog and her youngest dog were romping around playing together. Then her dog showed mine the lily pond. Watching 4 pointy ears herding goldfish was totally priceless. From that moment, I wanted a lily pond.

About 10 years ago we upped and moved to California. Our older house had just the perfect spot for a pond and fountain. Except the house electrical supply was maxed out and expanding it quite costly. Sigh .....

About 5 years ago I was living in our front room in a hospital bed. I was referring to our neat home (back to Florida) under the oaks as stair-zilla. My goal for each day was to get out of the hospital bed, out the front door, down the sidewalk to the driveway, down the driveway to the street and back again. This was a multi-hour process that required much stopping and regaining energy. The rest of the house (stairs) and the back yard were inaccessible to me. My not-a-gardener husband had his hands full with me, let alone tending to my 20 year old orchid collection. Hubs had the idea to put a pondless water garden outside the front door. Where I could see it from the front room, and as I undertook the daily grind. For some reason, it didn't come to pass.

This past winter, I dug out and built our small water garden. Hubs helped with some of the heavy stuff, and my bestest FIL helped me haul rock home. The rest I did myself. Of course, it helps that we have sugar sand.

I love giving the legs a break and taking a seat on my stool by the pond. So peaceful, takes your mind right off the pains of the day!

Enjoying the sights and the sounds and scheming an expansion ....

~dianne

I agree... a good thread!

Turk, a yellow bellied slider was the reason that I built my pond. My daughter found him when he was just the size of a quarter. If I had had any sense we would have returned him to the wild but instead kept him in a 10 aquarium for the first months. Over the years he moved from a 55 gallon, then to a 70 until he needed more room. At 8 years old, he was smaller than a dinner plate but larger than a saucer. We really enjoyed him.

Most of his life he shared his tank with 5 goldfish and lived peacefully together, until -they- came. -They- were 2 red-eared sliders that I was trying to find a home for. After several months in the same tank with Turk and the goldfish, they went on a feeding frenzy in the middle of the night. You just can't even imagine the carnage that we woke up to the next morning. Needless to say, the two red-ears were rehomed quickly! *shiver*

And Turk continued to outgrown his tank. My pond is constructed of landscaping timbers and a liner. 2 ft below ground and a foot above. It is approximately 500 gallons, isn't fancy, don't have the best equipment, but we enjoy it.

Apparently Turk didn't enjoy it as much as I had thought. During his second summer in the pond, he managed to escape and although we hunted and hunted in our fenced in back yard, we never found him. it's been 2 years and I still continue to look for him. As hard as my husband and I both looked, you would have thought we would have found him. Life goes on....

Now my pond is home to 8 comets and sarasas and two other sliders. One turtle is a little over a year old, who successfully hibernated last winter in the pond. A couple of months ago I brought home another little slider out of the pond at work. They aren't Turk, and neither has names, but they're cute. Guess I should work on that name thing.

And yes, if I had to do it all over again, I would have gone bigger. :)

I looked on photobucket but don't have a pic of Turk in the pond, but here he is in the tank, probably about 3 or 4 years old here. Loved that turtle! *sniffles*
{{gwi:229212}}

Moonie, sorry that you lost your turtle. I have six RES's and two yellow bellied sliders. I had another RES but it either got out or was taken out of their pond. I'm hoping that it just escaped as there is a lake one vacant lot over from us. Maybe your Turk found him a nice pond or creek to play in.

Believe it or not, I read a story when I was in first grade about kids whose grandparents had a goldfish pond. Why that stayed with me all these years, I have no idea. But it was always there. I had always dreamed of having a home with a large natural pond, but alas that didn't happen, so I stumbled into this forum quite by accident and "had a brainstorm." The rest is history.

But of course, I am wanting to build a bigger and deeper pond next to the one I have now. I never thought I'd have SO much fun. Love my frogs, toads, goldies, koi and albino catfish. I even have a small turtle that showed up and he is still around. I haven't been able to identify what kind he is. I only know that he is about the size of the lid from a baby food jar. I know where he hides, but not brave enough to stick my hand in there to try and catch him. Maybe one day, I will.

@Moonie: I am sorry your Turk up and left. I had my Mister Big Froggie overwinter with me for two years when I didn't see him for a week. When I asked my neighbor if they saw a frog they said no, but then said they saw this HUGE green frog on their deck and they even took pictures of him! They had no idea where such a huge frog would come from. But I knew... we just get to be wildlife keepers for some of our friends, and they get to wander when they want to. I have another frog in my pond this year but he's not as pretty and for the most part hides.

I started my pond on my wife's whim. We had two hard liners, small (80 gallons?) and large (180 gallons?) we got from a friend and one day she told me that "we" were going to dig ponds. No planning, just started digging in the corner. Once we got water in there then we went for a pump. I added some feeder goldfish and still have some around. Added a pair of Koi too, but lost one last year to some strange disease when his tail turned up sharply and he stopped eating.

I had always wanted a pond so I kept at it and found this place to help me over the initial humps.

Not bad for no planning, the ponds are the bright spot of our yard now.

HI, my son wanted a little pond and so we built one and then it all started..we couldn't keep the algae out and so I researched and found that a stream would help with that well it did alittle, so next came the arbors and then the string algea so we had to used alittle algeafix and liquid barley and now we have a clear and beautiful pond with plants and goldfish, 7 pond comets and 2 fantails....
I just wish I could keep it going year round but I live in Minnesota....and we started to small to leave the fish and plants in year round.....here are a few pictures...
the whole pond system....
{{gwi:229213}}
and this is the upper pond about 150 gallons and about 12 inches deep........
{{gwi:229214}}
and this is the bottom pond that we started with and this is about 800 to 900 gallons and bout 24 inches deep.....
{{gwi:229215}}
and here is the stream that links the 2 pond it tumbles and falls down though the rock garden its about 25 to 30 feet long......
{{gwi:229216}}
this is one of the many water lily flowers I have gotten this year....
{{gwi:229217}}
I hope you like the pictures.....and I hope I can keep my pond as nice next year as it has been this year.....
thanks for looking and I welcome any comments....linda

Nice varied skills (rock garden, pond, arbors, masonry) work there Linda. The ponds are beautifully clear. I see that your stream doesn't have any plants in it. Water cress loves moving water; sweet flag too; they would add to the filtering should you need it.

HI chas045, thanks for the nice comments and the suggestions, I do want plants in the stream, I will have to try your ideas...
I love the pond its so much fun and I know all to well that sometimes it can get to be a mess, but this year it all balanced so good...I just hope I can do it again next year, my goal is to have it all as it is this year and use NO chemicals....Iam hoping anyway...I don't use very much...I just would like to use none....
thanks again.....I will look for the plants for the stream....linda

I grew up with farm ponds, and always liked them. Then, about 5 years ago, my neighbor put in a small pond and inspired me to start digging. Pasha 2006- thank you for your reference to Lake George, because that's what my neighbor calls my pond (his is a 6' round pond, while mine is 14' x 18' not counting the stream and waterfall, and takes up half of my front yard).

I've always liked the sound of moving water and would have a variety of those table top type fountains all over my house. Unfortunately, my cats thought they were fantastic water dishes and I would end up usually putting them away because the pumps would run dry after my cats had a midnight drink fest.

I'd always dreamed of having a water garden but was intimidated and didn't think I could do it on my own.

Then I moved into a house with your stereotypical nosey neighbor who loved to give me helpufl "suggestions" about everything from how I should landscape my yard, paint my house to my dating relationships. And, she loved to wander from her backyard into mine to engage me in these hour plus conversations. Bottom line: My neighbor pushed me over the edge and I finally decided to start researching diy pond building and the rest is history. I figured if she wants to leap over a body of water to get into my yard to tell me what to do with my life, house, yard, etc then I will be willing to listen. LOL

Today, I'm working on my third addition to the original pond. What started as 900 gallons is going to soon be over 2000 gallons total! And, I'm totally and completely hooked!

Jenny

Okay, Jenny, what about the neighbor? Did she ever hop the pond? LOL

Chemgeekponder - I just went on a dinner cruise of Lake George (thanks to our company recognition program) on the Lac du St. Sacrement. Absolutely, totally wonderful. Lake George is the "Queen of American Lakes." I think it is a howl your neighbor calls your pond Lake George. I don't think you've posted a picture of it before. Let's see it. Mine is a tiny little speck compared to yours.

Anne

Anne-

My neighbor never did hop the pond to come over to tell me where we should park our boat or move my raspberry patch to in the back yard or give me anymore suggestions. LOL Apparently nothing says 'back off' like a 900 gallon pond blocking her path from her backyard into mine!!! ;-)

Jenny