my Zen Water Garden and Koi Pond

[kien]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Nice yard... even stepped! Did you do all the work back there with the deck, patio etc too?

Thanks, and yes I did. Along with landscaping the third tier. There's a lot of yard :-(. Will have you guys over before the summer is out and I've cleaned up the somewhat neglected yard a bit..

[Dez]

Love the pink lily. I'll have to get me one of those after my pond is built.

[Dez]

Nice Kien. I'm debating renovating my front pond this year, but dread digging. I got my backyard pond up and running last weekend. I lost a few fish over the winter , but 35 of them survived. I found a baby that survived too!

I say you keep digging that 2 feet in length. It'll be worth it in the end.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Dez

Nice Kien. I'm debating renovating my front pond this year, but dread digging. I got my backyard pond up and running last weekend. I lost a few fish over the winter , but 35 of them survived. I found a baby that survived too!

I say you keep digging that 2 feet in length. It'll be worth it in the end.

35?! Wow you have a lot of fish. I suppose you have the room for them. I've been pretty lucky. Over three winters outside and I've only lost two. No losses this past winter. Last summer I did something different and that was to feed them more! 4 times a day with an auto-feeder. They got really fat LOL. Some are just simply too weak to withstand winter and you kinda have to accept that if you over winter outside.

Did I mention I hate digging?! I got to a point where my right forearm started to spasm and the muscle seized haha. Had to rest and massage it to loosen it up before I could continue. Ya, I have a desk job and I'm weak :-(

[Dez]

What kind of auto feeder did you use? I only fed mine twice a day in the evening after work.

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Oilers

Thanks for the info. Your pond and Dez's are my inspiration of getting a pond myself. I will probably have tons of questions for you when I do have the courage and $$$ to get it started if you don't mind.

In terms of rock, my pond in the front yard is a 5 x 10 pond 2 and a 1/2 shelf high with a 19' stream bed and I didn't pay for a single piece of rock. My wife and I drove around a couple of nights a week to new neighborhoods and looked for freshly excavated sites for houses to look for rocks. It took a little while, but free is better than spending $$$$. I'm not sure how much rock costs, but I'm sure it ain't cheap.

[Oilers]

Originally Posted by Dez

In terms of rock, my pond in the front yard is a 5 x 10 pond 2 and a 1/2 shelf high with a 19' stream bed and I didn't pay for a single piece of rock. My wife and I drove around a couple of nights a week to new neighborhoods and looked for freshly excavated sites for houses to look for rocks. It took a little while, but free is better than spending $$$$. I'm not sure how much rock costs, but I'm sure it ain't cheap.

Thanks Dez. Now I know what I will be doing during my free nights then

[MMAX]

Originally Posted by Oilers

Thanks Dez. Now I know what I will be doing during my free nights then

Just like mine too. Countryside ditches, trips out west to the mountains and best of all co-workers with huge rock piles on their land. I would be interested to see how many pounds of rock I hauled to build mine--probably a couple of tonnes at least. I have nothing against Burnco but do yourself a favour and save yourself a pile of cash. Rock from these places cost a fortune.

[kien]

Originally Posted by MMAX

Just like mine too. Countryside ditches, trips out west to the mountains and best of all co-workers with huge rock piles on their land. I would be interested to see how many pounds of rock I hauled to build mine--probably a couple of tonnes at least. I have nothing against Burnco but do yourself a favour and save yourself a pile of cash. Rock from these places cost a fortune.

+1

I also dug up a lot of medium sized boulders when I dug out the pond that is good for landscaping. I also found a construction site near my house that had a pile of boulders that they dug up and needed to get rid of. They were dirty and covered in mud/dirt but they were free!!

[Dez]

A long plank is your friend. Back up the truck to the boulder, then roll it up into the truck.