We had a pond dug…   I know I talked about that already.  But if you have been following along on social media, you know it’s ALMOST done.  I have had SO MANY of the same questions being asked so I thought it would be best to answer them here.  Keep in mind, we have both lived by ponds but never dug a pond before.  So this is a first for both of us.   I will share everything I know THUS far in this post.  And, I will update it with any other questions you may have.

I think this was the NUMBER ONE question I received over and over….  It makes me laugh because I don’t think I have ever thought of it before.  But, it is very fascinating actually.

Q:  How does the pond hold water?  Why doesn’t the water just seep into the ground?

A:  I don’t know.  LOL  The only thing I can explain is that Bulldozer Boy removed the top soil and got down to the layer of clay.  Clay soil holds water.  So, he made sure it was packed on the sides.  That’s all I know.  And, it’s holding water.  LOL

Q:  How did you get the pond to fill so fast?

A:  We had absolutely NO CLUE you could fill a pond with a garden hose.  And, you have to remember that our pond is very small.  Bulldozer Boy mentioned it to us and we were shocked.  He said he knows a guy who filled a HUGE pond with his well and it took 3 months.  ????  Obviously, we have a brand new well so we wanted to ask Well Boy.  He verified that it isn’t a problem at all to fill it with our well.  We just needed to make sure the pressure was full force so that the pump wasn’t going off and on all day long.  He said it would take 10-15 days for our pond to fill.  This is day 8 and I would say we have MAYBE another day.  It’s filling up nicely.  (These photos were taken several days ago… today, it is almost full.)

Q:  Wasn’t it expensive to fill with your garden hose?

When you have a well, you don’t have a water bill.  You have the well dug and the water is yours.  The only expense will be electricity for the pump, which I don’t foresee it being that high.  

Q:  Why did you add rocks to the sides?

A:  Adding rocks along the sides help with erosion of your land.  Not only that, but it looks way cleaner and prettier.  I bet you will now notice all of the ponds that don’t have the rocks.  Look around.

Q:  Can you swim in the pond?

A:  Yes, we will be able to swim in the pond.  However, neither one of us love to swim in ponds.  We like to float.  We wanted to have this dug for the beauty of it.  And, because we didn’t want hours and hour of mowing every week.  That took a large chunk of space outside of the woods that would have been grass.  And remember.. we love creating lots of outdoor spaces that we can enjoy.  This will be a perfect “sunny” spot where we can enjoy the sunshine which you don’t get a lot of when you live in a woods.

Q:  Will you add fish to the pond?

A:  No.  We know that some fish keep the pond clean but nothing freaks us out more when we are floating in a pond and something nibbles at us… NOPE.  We will have to add chemicals to keep it clean and I’m fine with that.

Q:  How will you keep the water from getting stagnant?

A:  We will be adding a pretty fountain to the middle of it.  I didn’t know this until Deb told me but the fountain floats and you hold it in the middle with ropes attached to the sides.  That was a new one for me.

Q:  How did you get the water so blue?

A:  We added a gallon of Lake and Pond Colorant, in the shade Midnight Blue.  There are different brands but it’s what Deb grabbed at Tractor Supply.  These photos were taken the day we added the color.   Here is what I know from their website.   It is safe for animals and pets and also fish.  It last about 4-6 weeks and it comes in lots of different colors depending on the mood you want.  I find that so fascinating.  So next time, we may try something else.  I believe it comes in different blue shades, black, and green.  It really adds so much to the water and makes it almost look like a mirror.    And, it does not stain your clothes after the water dilutes it.

Future Plans for this Area

This entire area outside of the woods gets full sun.  Therefore, we want our garden out there probably to the back of the property.  We are going to make raised beds because again, we are trying to get this property to be as easy for us to manage as possible.  We also would love a green house between the pond and garden beds.  It will be a place to store garden items and pond supplies.

We have a beach on the one end of the pond so we will be grabbing some lounge chairs that we can keep out there also.  We have SO MANY fun projects coming soon.  And so many that we are in the midst of that I need to share here yet.  

Did you catch the start of the pergola swing project?  We laid the brick around it this week so I will be sharing that soon.  And, did you catch the back deck project?  It is now all decorated so that’s another post that will be coming.

Let me know in the comments below if you have any other questions about the pond.  I will add them to this posts.  I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the part of our land being done and I found it very fascinating.