Pond project - wet drystone walls etc

Thanks Roadrage. I'll check those vids when I get home, bcos work doesn't like that kind of thing! I think I know what you mean - use cheap concrete blocks to take the main weight, and then face it with smaller blocks. That might be a plan.

Yeah, concrete would be good generally. But getting in the experts costs a lot more money, and I'm not confident on my concreting abilities. We're in pretty heavy clay soil so minor leaks are unlikely to be much of a problem, but still, it may be a step too far.

Keeping the dogs out would be plain cruel though. I mean, how can you deprive a spaniel of access to water?! It's positively inhuman! ;-)

 

Grab, Ive sent you a PM with a link to a website that might be helpfull.

 

Not really, ponds are for fish, not dogs.

Or look at it the other way, your dog will frighten the fish.

 

It's tempting to go for the "dogfish" gag... ;-)

We're not really into fish though, and we prefer native wildlife. So the dogs might scare the water-boatmen and the diving beetles, and the occasional frog, but I reckon they can deal with it. Besides, there aren't many things funnier than seeing your dog step closer to the edge of the water than they planned, and vanish with a loud *PLOP*! Cocker spaniels are also great when they're swimming, because the ears float on the surface like big furry water-wings.

Thanks for the PM, PG.

 

Thanks road rage for the link to gardeners world etc, it was brilliant! I am hard of hearing and it was great to be able to watch the subtitles so i wouldn't miss anything. I was able to pause it too, so i could take in ideas for my garden.
thanks again

 

Road rage, just checked those links. Wow - what a great idea with the pond in the pipe! Yeah, if I could find a suitable bit of tube then that'd make life much easier - the stonework then would only need to be a thinner facing, instead of the full-on load-bearing kind of thing. Of course mine would be sunk into the ground instead of raised, but the principle still works.

Hmm, and maybe this could kill two birds with one stone with a concrete sewer pipe instead. Then I'd just need to concrete the floor, and that's job done.

 

Cool glad I could be a help. Keep us updated

 

Drystone wall, viewed from the front



Drystone wall viewed from the "side"



My point being drystone walls need to be wide (or thick) to give any support, which would also take a lot of space from any proposed pond. It will be pet proof, but look at all those little spaces for algae to acumilate in. Not going to be easy to clean.


I saw this wall on 02 06 09