PondCraft 101

A Pond After Dark
A surprising number of my clients come into the pond-buying process without having given any thought at all to how the watershape will look after the sun goes down.  That probably has something to do with the fact that the big natural ponds they've encountered in their lifetimes have not benefited from any kind of illumination beyond the occasional pole-mounted floodlight. So they're in for a treat when we complete their pond and they watch it
2013/12.1, December 4 — Using Reflections, Liner Repair ABCs, Soil Basics and more
December 4, 2013 www.watershapes.com ESSENTIAL Graceful Reflections The potency of water’s reflective nature is a…
2013/11.2, November 20 — Behind Disney’s Magic, Rocking a Pond, Olympic Vistas and more
November 20, 2013 www.watershapes.com ESSENTIAL Riding a Golden Wave Completing the fountain for Disney’s California…
Rocking and Rolling
I've often seen rock placement described as an "improvisational art" by others who've written for WaterShapes, and I couldn't agree more.  Once the liner's in place and it's time to dress it up with everything from large boulders to tiny gravel, I get the sense that this is less a construction task than it is an exercise in creative manipulation. You'll see some of that creativity on display in the two videos linked below, but what you'll also see is that experience really does count:  In setting rocks in place, you end up handling and rotating and flipping and fine-tuning the positioning of dozens or hundreds or even
Rocking and Rolling
I've often seen rock placement described as an "improvisational art" by others who've written for WaterShapes, and I couldn't agree more.  Once the liner's in place and it's time to dress it up with everything from large boulders to tiny gravel, I get the sense that this is less a construction task than it is an exercise in creative manipulation. You'll see some of that creativity on display in the two videos linked below, but what you'll also see is that experience really does count:  In setting rocks in place, you end up handling and rotating and flipping and fine-tuning the positioning of dozens or hundreds or even
2013/11.1, November 6 — Shimmering Island Delights, Pond Skimmer ABCs, Deck Engineering and more
November 6, 2013 www.watershapes.com ESSENTIAL Shimmer and Shine Looking for a surface material as unique…
All Lined Up
With the excavation of the main pond area complete - that is, with all shelves cut and compacted and niches prepared for caves and hiding places - it's time to insert the underlayment and place the liner. The underlayment is something of an unsung hero in pondcrafting:  It keeps sharp stones from gouging the liner as it's being set in the hole and, longer term, deflects roots that might try to penetrate the liner to get easy access to a huge source of water.  Our goal is to prevent any such problems, so we
All Lined Up
With the excavation of the main pond area complete - that is, with all shelves cut and compacted and niches prepared for caves and hiding places - it's time to insert the underlayment and place the liner. The underlayment is something of an unsung hero in pondcrafting:  It keeps sharp stones from gouging the liner as it's being set in the hole and, longer term, deflects roots that might try to penetrate the liner to get easy access to a huge source of water.  Our goal is to prevent any such problems, so we
Safe and Secure
One of the requirements of pond ownership is a willingness to see to the safety of the pond's inhabitants - especially the fish, which can represent a substantial investment in any pond, no matter its size. That's why, in every project we install, we include an appropriately sized fish cave (or two or three):  These give the pond's residents places to hide in the event a predator appears at the water's edge or lands on the water's surface.  It doesn't take much to provide one:  just a big piece of drainage pipe will do the trick. They key is thinking about these features from the planning stage forward:  There are few miseries with pond installation that are as gruesome as
Digging In
All too often, do-it-yourself pond installers will jump the gun, apparently unable to resist the urge to start digging right away.  My guess is that they want to get the intense labor involved in excavation out of the way, not to mention all of the grunting that comes with using a plate compactor. As the pair of videos linked below indicate, there comes a time when there’s no avoiding shovel and spadework – but it shouldn’t happen first.  Instead, the installation process should begin with the