House Project: Pond Work (part i)
Who else is planning on spending time in the water on Memorial Day?
Ha ha!
I’ve mentioned our pond is a bit scummy and we need to clean it out. Our number one reason for getting it healthy is so that it’s not a mosquito (and filth) breeding ground, but it would also be great if it became something nice to look at!
Our long term plan is to clean out the brush on the left side of the photo below (and maybe the right, too!), and do some landscaping there for a seating area. For now, we’ll begin to clean that area out so we can put in power for a fountain. (Major landscaping will wait a year or two.)
click to see larger
We’re currently testing a fountain proof of concept, made of a rubbermaid box with holes drilled in it, an old sump pump, and pvc pipe. We wanted to see if the sump pump was powerful enough to move the water around. The pond water needs to be circulated via the fountain, because there is no water flow there, and sitting water is bad news.
Steven is still figuring out what the final design will be. He’s doing a lot of research and is willing to try out different things to figure out what works best for our pond. And he likes making homemade stuff, too. He was happy with proof of concept and got some good ideas from it.
And I had fun playing with it.
Ha, funny thing – I had to “create” a proof of concept type thing for training at work this week. Yeah, I found out Monday (only because a coworker text me – I was off for the day) that we all needed to be in the office for three days of training Tuesday-Thursday. After that much training last week, and a hella busy personal life schedule, I am so freakin’ spent and beat down and frustrated. Anyway. This was WAY more fun than what we did in class.
Since I was in the pond, I also got some sticks/dead trees out. Hopefully I won’t find them all floating in the middle of the pond tomorrow.
This particular tree (below) makes me laugh. It floats all over the pond depending on the water level. When I’m away, Steven will take pictures of it in different locations to let me know it’s on the move again.
It better not find its way back in! I bet Freddie and Bill will miss it, but hopefully they’ll prefer a cleaner pond over a nasty old log.
Themocracy
Wow your pond is so much bigger than I imagined! That is quite the project!
It definitely is! I really hope it does turn in to something nice! 🙂
That is a big pond! Do you have room on your property for a bonfire? I can see the sticks from the pond being repurposed for something fun like that later in the summer…
I think we do have room for a bonfire! We just need to figure out where to put it! A fire pit would be a fun project, too 🙂
I’m so impressed with Steven’s proof of concept. I don’t think I could construct something like that at all. He’s so good at tinkering! I will admit I was kind of horrified at how black the water was when it started spurting out of the tube, but I mean…what did I expect??
I can’t make things like this either! And don’t be too grossed out! It’s just so dark because a hole in the bottom of the container was sucking up a ton of mud. Once it got through that it was clear. Just not in the vid 😉
That is a big pond. Do you guys have a boat?!
Ha ha! Nope, but I asked for a remote control boat for my birthday in July 🙂
Wow you are a brave woman 😀 It’s a huge project but I think long term it’ll pay off for years. Plus if you spend the time cleaning it out you know exactly what’s in ther
Yeah! I haven’t found any dead bodies yet! Just lots of sticks. Lots and lots! Ha ha.
holy crap, i’m so impressed you guys can BUILD YOUR OWN FOUNTAINS!! this is so beyond my level of DIY 🙂 🙂
Thanks 🙂 It’s really not that hard… for me. Ha! My husband does all the planning 🙂