I need a bit of advice for my soon to be made Japanese garden. I was clearing a space in the garden that I have set aside to be created in a Japanese theme when I was stopped by a concrete lump in the ground. Before anyone comments this garden is in an early stage and I'm just clearing the space and designing the layout at the moment. I'm a bit of a stickler for detail and so when I came across a concrete mass in the ground where I was clearing I had to investigate so I could clear the whole lot. This turned out to be a bit of a mammoth task as the lump of concrete was 12ft long by 8 ft wide and 3ft deep. One on the previous owners must have had a pond at some time and then another owner had filled it in. What a waste of a good pond ! What I would like to know is, is this pond saveable ? I was going to break it up and clear the site, but after I had finished clearing all the in fill and rubble away I wondered if it could be kept. If anybody has done anything like this before your advice would be welcomed. Basically on one of the pictures the liner from the second pond is visible. I had thought of removing a section of the concrete pond and joining the two ponds together to have one large pond. I would then add filtration and a pump. At the moment the large pond is a wildlife pond and has no pump or filtration. My long term goal would be to have fish of some description in there. If possible Koi carp.
This is what the area looked like before I started messing around.
I took this shot later after I had cleared the area.
If these pictures come out ok I'll post more later.
Regards
Jon
PS If anyone knows how to create the smaller images that the user clicks on to get the image full size could they let me know. I only know how to link to larger versions at present.
Hi Jon,
Looking at the photo of the concrete pond it doesn't look deep enough to keep koi ,if it was me I would dig it out and start from scratch and use that concrete to build the garden up at the back to have a waterfall down to a new pond and place the filters behind the raised garden.
Take a look at my website it will give you some ideas of what you can do especialy the small pond behind the bridge.
George.
Anyone who never made a mistake never made anything
Thanks for your advice. The concrete pond is 3ft deep in the centre. I'm not sure how deep a pond has to be for koi ? One thing I am short of is time so I need to keep things fairly simple. The larger pond is also 3ft deep in the centre and 1ft deep elsewhere.
If joining the two ponds is a viable option then I may settle for less demanding fish that don't require such deep water.
One question I wanted to ask was whether the two ponds could be joined ? I had in my mind an idea of partially emptying the larger pond and clearing the vegetation at the end. Then cut out a section of concrete and fold down the liner over the concrete and seal in place with silicone sealant or something else similar. I'd then have one large pond that I could add filtration and a pump to.
I liked your idea for a waterfall as a feature and a place to hide the pumping equipment, but I just don't have the time. I have a young family and I'm made to feel guilty if I spend too much time in the garden. I'm also a pond novice so I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.
I've seen your website (great btw), but I'm looking for a simple option in this case and something I could have 90% there by the end of the summer. I'll be buying trees, stones and ornaments in so I just need to get my design finalised and make sure I run any cables before I put down the hard landscaping or paths.
Hi Jon,
To join a liner to a concrete pond even using sealant is a very dificult job and you can never know once it is done if it is going to last so my advice would be stick with either one or two ponds but don't try to join them.
also seeing you are restricted on time stick to what is the easiest until you have more time to really do what you want.
Koi really need a minimum of four foot depth of water.
So my advice for the moment would be keep it simple.
George.
Anyone who never made a mistake never made anything
WOW! what a find. Finding something like that was surely exhilirating! I love to find treasures in my yard.
I agree about joining the two ponds though, sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Is getting rid of your other pond and keeping just the new one an option? Would getting rid of the old one be more work than breaking up and hauling off all that concrete?
Could the concrete area be a great place to plant bamboo for your japanese garden? The concrete would be a great barrier for those runners? I'm new to japanese gardening so Im not sure the depth needed for bamboo.
Well your area looks like fun and Im sure you will figure out something fabulous to do with your space! Good Luck and I'd love to see your progress- share photos!
Jon how about goldfish!! after all they are only small carp. I think it would make a good plunge pool for a waterfall, if you built up the back edge fitted a pump. Alternatively if you do decide to break it up at least you still have the beginings of the hole for a new pond.
Colin
When confronted by a difficult problem, you can solve it more easily by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?"
After reading the responses received so far and based on a realistic appraisal of my ability and time I'm going to go for one pond and remove the concrete one.
I reckon I can break up the concrete in a day and shift the rubble out of the way. I have soil and compost to infill the space left, which if ever I need to dig out again in the future won't be too hard to do.
One I have trimed the edge of the old pond with granite setts and fitted a pump and filter the whole area will look a lot better.
I can then set out on my initial task of making my Japanese garden.
It strikes me that the concrete pond would be a good place for a bog garden beside your pond
Lots of great plants can be grown in a bog garden to enhance your pond
BOG GARDEN!! what a great idea! I second that suggestion. Since the concrete is already there you could 'try' a bog garden for a bit - which by the way would look like a natural progression extending from a pond.
If you end up not being too happy with the bog garden you could always go back to the original plan of the japanese garden. Thats a lot of concrete and it makes sense to utilize it for a while before tearing it out. Then again I already have a japanese garden so to me a bog garden sounds like fun.
I feel like a dork~! Of course a bog garden would be a japanese garden staple - considering ponds and waterfalls are such a main feature of so many - I'm new to this Japanese garden style, please forgive my obvious ignorance of the subject.
Of course a bog garden would be a japanese garden staple - considering ponds and waterfalls are such a main feature of so many - I'm new to this Japanese garden style, please forgive my obvious ignorance of the subject. 