pebble ponds

mralgae · Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 8:30 pm Post subject: pebble ponds

hi all, have a small garden with a shady spot so usless for growing much except moss etc, so i want to turn the area into something useful.
i am planning on the area to be for shady/boggy type plants astelii etc and a small pond feature such as a pebble pond. been searching for pumps and kits and have a suitable container for the water but no pump as yet.

has any one used the hoselock 450 which will be ample for what i need to do. either i will make up a pebble pond or use a small liner to make a small pond.

thanks in advance... Smile

vulkan · Rank attained: Rowan Tree Joined: 16 Nov 2009 Posts: 143

Hi, I have used the hozelock 450. Does what it says on the tin.
I would suggest that your pool should be twice as wide as the jet is high.
So if your fountain jet is going to be say 40cm, the pool should be at least 80cm in diameter, so the wind cant blow the water outside the catchment area / pool.

mralgae · Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:16 pm Post subject:

ah ha, thanks vulkan, i hadnt thought of the wind aspect. i will double check the stats of the pump and make sure the sump i have will be big enough. at the worst i have just thought of another way to make the sump, i could use a large plastic household bin with the lid turned upside down so better the water will run back into the sump/bin underground... Smile

mralgae · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 6:50 pm Post subject:

ok i got the bin this morning €9.99 woodies 100L. all i have to do now is cut it down to size and we on the way...LOL only other thing now is decide to go with the 450 or bigger or totally different pump as the 450 only has the fountain spray and i really wanted to be able to change the heads to at least to have the bell shape.

MMMmmm make my mind up time...

vulkan · Rank attained: Rowan Tree Joined: 16 Nov 2009 Posts: 143

Get one like this

mralgae · Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:53 pm Post subject:

sal · Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:58 am Post subject:

cant wait for the pics!

mralgae · Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:18 am Post subject:

wont be to long Sal.
Already cut the bin but trying to get hold of a pump over here at a reasonable price, the ones from the UK are cheap enough but the cost of P&P put them back up to what i can get them for here from woodies etc. so will prob have the pump by this weekend.
having to change my mind on the hoselock as they only have the fountain head with them and want one with the bell fountain.

watch this space..... Smile

mralgae · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 10:33 pm Post subject:

well i finally started the pebble pond... Smile

first bought a plastic 100L bin from woodies on sale for €10.

secondly cut the bin in half.. WARNING: when cutting the plastic bin be extra careful as it will spring about quite a bit.

thirdly marked out the area of which is going to be shady and wet. also the area that the pond will take

and started to dig out the depth of the pond.

mralgae · Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 10:41 pm Post subject:

i discovered while digging the whole for the pond that the smaller the whole then the harder it is to dig because of the small confined area you have to work in.

any way now the whole was dug i have to get a bag of sand or i will use peat or similar just to put a base layer under the pond so it will sit level and stop any stones etc from cracking it.

i hope to be able to pick up the pump and pebbles etc this weekend so at least i can finish the pond.
the soil around the pond was not intended but has worked out better than turning over the whole area. although it will look a bit messy for a while i will just put down some plants i have as extras for the time being until i get all of the plants i intend to have around it.

will post more once i have the filter etc..... Smile

mralgae · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:15 pm Post subject:

Finally finished.. Smile

Got the pump and gravel to day and ended up getting damned wet finishing the pond with all the rain.

Firstly drilled 3 19mm holes in the lid, middle one for the pump to fit through and the outside 2 for the water to flow back through into the sump.

After testing the pimp for an hr I then dug out the area the width of the lid over the sump so it would fit level with the ground. Added a layer of moss peat as I didn't have sand and placed the sump in the whole, turned the lid upside down and way hey it fitted...LOL
I will see how it settles in but may have to remove to adjust the final setting as it is slightly out on being exactly level as I miss judge the weight of the water going in. 1L of water = 1kg so total of about 40kg sitting in the sump.
All the soil around the pond will be leveled out and raised slightly at the back and planted with perennials such as Astilbes etc around the dug ground.

Mistakes I made during this, was not doing my homework properly as to the size of pump and area of spray it gives off. The pump I got was a 900LPH which is a bit big for the size of pond. I thing the 450 would have been more than enough for this pond but I wanted the bell fountain of which the 450 did not have. Although I am more than happy with the out come as I have the bell fountain it still goes just out side the pond area when the wind blows, so I will have to watch how this works out over the next while. The daisy sprays are far too big for this as they don't even need the wind to blow and they spray out side the area.
I could really do with a larger bin lid or similar shape to be able to use the other sprays.

Any how it all worked out quite well...

ponddigger · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 8:45 pm Post subject: pebble pond

hi mr algae.well done, yours ponddigger

vulkan · Rank attained: Rowan Tree Joined: 16 Nov 2009 Posts: 143

mralgae, very nice, but I would suggest that there are not enough holes for the water to return through. Although at 19mm they are ok, it only takes a small stone or build up of dirt to block one or both.

When this happens

I would also suggest that if possible you lower the height of the riser pipe to the nozzle. This will reduce the risk of wind blowing the water away and make it look nicer too. (trust me)

mralgae · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 9:40 pm Post subject:

@ ponddigger. thanks

@ vulkan. thanks again for your comments. i did take note of what you said last time but unfortunately could only get the 900lph with a bell.

the riser can certainly be lowered as it has 5 steps to it of which it has in the pics plus the extension for the bell makes it higher again. will certainly try with lower hight's and report back. the flow is at present down as low as it can be set.
the wholes again will not be a problem. i added the extra 2 out side ones after the first test filled the lid and then arranged the pebbles in the slot of the handle but was wary of weakening the lid in the center .
i will add another few wholes around the out side of the handle and report back.... Smile

mralgae · Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:53 pm Post subject:

welll my pebble pond did not last long..... Sad

but the good news is below.... Smile

i got the bug after i had put in the pebble pond and although i was happy with the out come it wasnt quite how i had planed so went one step further and took out the pebble pond as it was and got some proper liner etc. and went with this..... Smile