Take the Plunge

As the dawn breaks, you sit and watch the water reflecting the first few rays of morning light.
Green lilies and red lotus flowers mix with the vibrant orange and white koi, who are playfully battling over breakfast pellets. Soon, paddling drake mallards come quacking for your attention (or is it the bread in your
pocket?). For many landowners, a water feature — such as a pond or water garden — is one of the best things about
getting up in the morning. It can be the center of attention around a big estate. An ice cool pond can easily relieve the stress of the workweek and bring a part of nature to your backyard, not to mention increase your property value by 8 to 15 percent.

Like any large landscape or home construction project, designing and building a pond is not a job to be rushed. Constructing a pond takes careful planning and, of course, the right tools to build it. When you’re working around a nice residential estate, smaller and less intrusive machinery — compact excavators, compact tractors, skid steers or compact utility loaders — can be great machines to spearhead your new pond construction operation.

“Usually, you’re trying to get in through a backyard fence or building close to a house and you can’t do that with big equipment. You need a compact machine to get in there and do the job,” says Mark Carter, owner and lead designer of Carter’s Nursery in Jackson, Tenn. “Investing in equipment will pay for itself in productivity. It’s like an employee that won’t call in sick.”

Carter, who also sits on the advisory board of Certified Aquascape Contractors (CAC), an organization created by Aquascape Designs that trains contractors in proper water feature design and construction, utilizes a Kubota L-Series tractor with a front-end loader to move large quantities of dirt and large rocks, a Ditch Witch compact excavator for digging and rock placement and soon plans to invest in a Toro Dingo compact utility loader for faster, more efficient movement of materials and dirt.

“The use of equipment such as a compact excavator is essential in the construction of a large pond project.

Hand digging that size pond is really not an option,” says Rich Damko, president of Landscape Professionals, a CAC contractor in Chesterland, Ohio. “Compact excavating equipment will also allow you to use large rocks that are unable to be moved by hand within and around the pond.”Pond sizes vary according to the owner’s budget.

While small ponds and water gardens with a small waterfall may only run $4,000 to $5,000, larger ponds can cost an owner anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 and up, depending on features. For the adventurous do-it-yourselfer, pre-packaged pond kits, which include a liner and plumbing hardware, are available and cost $1,000 to $3,000 according to size of the pond. Despite the hefty price tag, Carter admits that the No. 1 complaint he receives from owners is that they regret not making the pond larger.

The Coming Attractions

First things first. You must find a plot of land that fits the requirements of a typical pond design. Most ponds are built on an acre or less of land and close to the house for viewing. Depending on your preferred depth, the deeper you dig, the harder the soil is. While clay soil can be used to create other features within the pond, sandy soil may be used to build walls and levels with the use of a rubber liner. Ponds can be as large or small as you like, but remember to keep your pond applications in mind.

Your ideal patch of land will also have room for proper drainage. You must have either A) drainage water emptying into an area from a downspout or drainage pipe, which requires a water overflow drainage pipe system to be installed to allow for the proper drainage of water during heavy rain, or B) an area that allows for an elevation change below that of your pond elevation to allow installation of an overflow drainage system (such as skimmers).

Once you carefully consider your pond area, we also
recommend you get proper engineering consulting from a professional. If you want to build the pond yourself, that’s great, just make sure your drainage and pond design is
feasible. Always remember your five Ps — Prior-Planning-Prevents-Poor-Performance — suggests Matt Hendry,
product sales consultant for excavators at John Deere’s Construction & Forestry Division.

“Depending on the location of the pond, you may need to deal with groundwater, which means having a pump available,” Hendry says. “If digging out a wetland area for the pond, you will need wide tracks and, possibly, timber mats. If you are in sandy soil, you may need a liner to retain the water.”

Besides choosing the proper site, many cities require a building permit. Some cities even require a grading permit for excavations exceeding 500 cu yds. Furthermore, if your site is in a low, wetland area, you may need a permit from the Army Corp of Engineers. Also remember to call your local utility companies or one-call services; you don’t want to dig up any gas, water or power lines.

As you begin the excavation process, remember to construct “shelves” within in your pond to allow stones to be placed within the pond and be sure that your pond is a minimum of 2-ft deep for decorative fish such as koi to survive the winter months. Large pond depths will depend on your application and your budget. If you are going to stock the pond with fish, you’re going to need to dig deeper ( at least 6 ft for game fish), but, if your pond is more backyard eye-candy than a local

fishing hole, a depth of 2 ft will work just fine. You can also use the dirt you dig up in the construction of your waterfall.

Keep in mind that the dirt for your waterfall needs to be
non-permeable soil, most likely workable clay.

When using a compact excavator, Hendry recommends digging from the edges to the center of your staked-out pond. By digging outside in, the operator can cut the slopes and curves of the pond shape in one step. If you have a quick-coupler on your machine, you can quickly switch between a large-capacity bucket to get the majority of the dirt out, a hydraulic tilt bucket with a serrated
edge to finish the side of your slopes and shelves and a heavy-duty excavating bucket to dig your plumbing lines.

Speaking of excavator attachments, a hydraulic thumb is a must for pond construction, as it allows you to grasp
and place large rocks precisely where they are needed.

Without a hydraulic thumb, you might need five to 10 friends who can work weekends for the next month (and that’s a lot of beer and pizza). In the long run, a thumb is a wise investment.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before the rocks are placed, you’ll need to install your pond liner. Not only does the liner keep the water in your pond, but also promotes the development of your pond ecosystem.

While there are some pond liners that are available
pre-shaped and would dictate your excavation, most come in sheet-like packages you can mold to fit your specific design. It is also important that your liner is fish safe, if you plan on stocking your pond. The CAC recommends a
45-mil EPDM rubber, fish-safe liner, as well as underlayment below the liner to protect the liner and allow gases
to escape.

Once the liner is in place, you can start to put your rocks in, starting at the bottom and working your way up.

Also, remember that you will need extra rocks around your wet well location that supplies water to your wetland or biological filter system, which filters your pond water, and rock in your waterfall and retaining wall, which will
support the waterfall feature.

“Be creative in your rocking by mixing in large and small stones,” Damko says. “We suggest either the use of a rock pad, scrap underlayment or scrap liner beneath any large stone that may accidentally rip a hole in your liner. If you do drop a stone on your liner by accident, inspect the area where it struck the liner to make sure no damage was done. If your liner was accidentally damaged, just make sure to properly patch the area before continuing the rocking process.”

The waterfall lets the designer be more creative than when building other pond aspects. While smaller ponds may
feature a less-than-spectacular waterfall, larger ponds may be designed with a multi-level waterfall or even multiple
waterfalls flowing into a single pond. The sky is the limit when it comes to waterfall construction, but remember that the wet well system is installed under the water level at the pond’s edge to draw water and pump it up to the falls area where it returns to the pond, so your waterfall size might be limited by the power of your wet well.

After you’ve engineered your pond features, you will need to connect the plumbing between your wet well and biological filtration or wetland
filtration system. For most ponds, a biological filtration system, which uses bacteria to break down pond wastes and converts it into harmless elements that can be used as aquatic plant fertilizer, is adequate for pond water filtration. For larger ponds (3,000 sq ft or lager) a wetland filtration system can filter huge amounts of water in a way similar to the biological filter and is a more economical choice than developing a biological filter system to handle a pond that size. Then have a qualified electrician supply the proper power requirements for your pond system and allow your pond
to settle for about a week or so before adding any fish.

After that, pour yourself a glass of lemonade, kick your feet up and enjoy your new pond.

The Feature Presentation

If you don’t have the confidence to tackle this not-for-the-faint-of-heart project, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have your own water feature. There are plenty of landscape contractors itching to do the job. Let’s face it — that way you can have the lemonade and relax while the job is being done. Much like picking out that all-important excavator, you don’t want just any landscaper coming in and digging up your land.

“Landscapers are regarded as jacks of all trades, but you want to find someone who specializes in water features, who knows water quality and fish principles,” Carter advises. He recommends that you do the legwork and
shop around.

Go ahead and ask landscapers for references and ask to see examples of their work. Many landscapers and
contractors will have their work displayed at their stores. Of course, you can always look forthe CAC seal of approval, which shows that the contractor is a certified aquascaper, when investigating landscapers.

“Since 9/11, we’ve seen a huge amount of increased interest,” Carter reports. “People are cocooning. They are staying at home with their family and only traveling within the states. A water feature brings nature to their back doors and gets them out of the house.”

As a result, the water feature is one of the fastest growing segments within the green industry, according to Carter. This sudden popularity makes the contractor selection process all the more important. Be sure that the contractor has a strong history of support and maintenance after the project is done. Carter reports that oftentimes, customers will come into his nursery with a problem, maintenance questions and stories of other landscape contractors not returning their calls after the check has been signed.

In addition to quality service and support, a contractor with the right qualifications can offer versatility that
the private user might not be capable of. Oftentimes, Carter will design a pond or waterfall that is as close to the house as possible and has a few extras. Designing a deck or dock that allows the kids to dangle their toes in the water while feeding the fish or an extra waterfall that is viewable from the breakfast room will definitely make your water feature the center of attention (and the envy of
neighbors).

With constant innovations within pond construction and contractors pushing their imaginations to no end, it’s easier to maintain your water features as well (no one wants a stagnant body of gathering algae). While a good filtration system will take care of most maintenance needs, it is important to keep the filter clean and empty the skimmer daily. It is also recommended to do a full clean out once a year — remove the fish and drain the water to clean the rocks and pond liner.

Today, waterfalls and incoming streams play an important part of the pond experience. An ornate, multi-tiered waterfall plunges into the pond, creating a mesmerizing spectacle. In fact, these features have become so popular that they are available without ponds. Pondless waterfalls and streams flow into a rock bed that circulates the water and eliminates the need for a pond. For those who want to accent tight areas around the house or turn their property into a multi-water eature wonderland, the pondless
waterfalls and streams add the ambience of a pond.

Despite the fact that there is no pond involved, that does not limit the size of the feature. Massive pondless waterfall designs are possible as long as you design the system
correctly to make sure you will have a sufficient water
supply within your basin. Pondless water features also require less maintenance and, because there is no ecosystem to support, the pondless water feature does not need to operate 24 hours a day. A pondless feature can also go easier on the wallet, as it generally is less expensive than an equally sized pond — between $4,500 and $7,500.

The allure of a pond or water garden is enticing for any large estate owner. The shimmering water, the lily pads and the game fish all add a refreshing reprieve from the week’s work woes and the house chores on a warm summer
afternoon. With the right balance of design and
equipment, your pond can be ready just in time for those lazy summer days and late evening barbeques. Just be sure to invite us over.

Jason Morgan is editorial assistant of Compact Equipment.