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Some pics would be great, am looking to do something similar.
Well I put it together earlier... initial observations/tweaks:
- The pond seal seems to have worked brilliantly - so thanks again to all who recommended it. I certainly can't see any signs that the water is leaking out anywhere which I'm super happy about
- My macguyver'd bird bath also works fine, although the initial design pictured above with the two plant pots underneath was way too tall (should have seen that coming really), so in the end I took the lower pot away (but that was actually too short so it's stood on a few bricks!
- After messing about for some time trying to get it to be perfectly level I've concluded that it's going to be very tricky to do so (it doesn't help that the "floor" of the barrel is far from level) and even things like the gusts of wind we had today are enough to affect where the overflow happens. I've gotten it close and that's fine for me
Looks pretty good to me I may have to steal your idea! What pump did you use? and can you hear it running?
Slight thread bump
Well done, a splendid project indeed.
I have acquired a 91cm diameter half barrel from a salvage yard and am wondering how best to spread the weight of the water across the entire base of the barrel, they have a rim underneath that is perhaps 25-40mm proud of the timbers forming the base. It's for a wildlife garden so would prefer not to use gravel as I wish to surround the feature with plants. Any ideas chaps.
Those barrels normally seal themselves over time being out in the wet. I did a similar thing and needed a liner at first, which kept leaking, but after 6 months of being soaked over winter found it held water on its own. Don't know it that really helps!
Not sure if I'm fully understanding you but my one did use gravel, only I found a tree ring that was basically the exact size of the barrel - so looking at it you wouldn't know that it's stood on a gravel base. I didn't concrete it in or anything just dug out the area, shoved the tree ring in and poured in the stones
Those barrels normally seal themselves over time being out in the wet. I did a similar thing and needed a liner at first, which kept leaking, but after 6 months of being soaked over winter found it held water on its own. Don't know it that really helps!
It's hard with smaller ponds to get a balance that will stop blanket weed. Like you said, get a load of oxygenators in there and you will start to get it under control. Make sure there is a level nearby for animals to get to it too and before long you will have a thriving eco system in it, normally with newts sitting at the top of the chain.
Excellent, that's a good idea. So I just need to find a strong circle, ideally a good fit for the bottom of the barrel.
I have a load of pond liner in the garage, I was wondering if that Gold Seal stuff could be used to glue down the folds in the liner to neaten it up.
That tree border is a very ingenious solution indeed!
Thank you very much.
I think it might have done during the wet winter we just had, better than it was before at least - you always lose a surprising amount to evaporation in the summer as well. My biggest problem now though is that it's difficult to keep the water clear - towards the end of the summer last year and over the winter it has filled up with horrible blanketweed. Last year I took it all apart and cleaned it out about this time, quite laborious and annoying particularly scrubbing all the weed/algae off the rocks - I might try and get a power washer this year and just chuck them in a bucket and blast them.
My understanding is you need to put enough plants in the pond to absorb maximum nutrients out of the water, otherwise the weeds go crazy on all the excess - so assuming I can ever leave my house again I'm going to pack as many underwater plants etc. into it as I can this year and see what happens