How To Create A Small Pond On The Site

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

For many years there was a "blank spot" at our dacha. A complete picture of the area between the gate and the house did not form in the imagination. Initially, there was a funnel in this place from the time of the war. Then, for five years, it was used for storing sand, gravel, boards and other building materials. As a result, later it turned into a trash heap: there were pieces of clay, broken brick, branches, roots, weeds. Gradually the land there was overgrown with willows, willow-tea and wild raspberries.

There was another feature of this site. We added a utility block to the northern corner of the house. There is a need for a site for small works:

- I have for planting seedlings in temporary containers, preparing labels, sifting

ash;

- at my husband's for repairing equipment, planing, etc.

And so I wanted to see a well-groomed, blooming and eye-catching area from the bedroom window! There was also a dream - to make a small reservoir surrounded by flowers and beautiful ornamental plants. The compositional solution came to me when I realized that we were able to make a reservoir, and there are several available ways for this. Both functional and aesthetic tasks helped to determine the location of the reservoir:

1. When entering the gate:

- the porch should not be visible (this is how a place appeared for planting one thuja);

- I didn't want to see the monotony of the wooden walls, the wall of the house, turning into the wall of the utility block (this is how the idea of a stone pot for hops at the corner of the utility block appeared, so that over time it would completely braid it);

- it was necessary to leave room for maneuver with a wheelbarrow, boards, furniture or something else (this is how the idea of a small lawn between the paths diverging at an angle of 90 ° and the future reservoir appeared).

2. I like to relax in the cool setting sun:

- there was a desire to put up a comfortable bench with a back;

- realized that an additional sense of comfort will be created by the proximity of water in front of the eyes

3. The working area near the utility block should not be visible from the resting place and compete with the reservoir, as well as with flowers and plants around it. Therefore, there was a need for two more thuja plants.

Thus, the layout of this part of the site was fully developed.

We started by clearing the rubble. Branches and roots were removed, willow and raspberries were grubbed, a hill was dug, and the site was cleared of the remains of old brick and rubble overgrown with roots and grass.

Bought at the manufacturing plant, just like before buying molds for casting tiles, a plastic mold for a reservoir. The delivery of the form was provided by the plant.

Our garden plot initially had no land, only blue and white clay. All plants, including fruit trees, grow on mounds or high ridges. Therefore, the installation of the reservoir turned out to be unusual. The plastic pond itself has 4 levels in height. A recess was dug in the clay in the shape of the reservoir so that:

- the natural level of the site reached the middle of the height of the plastic container;

- the size of the pit made it possible to make a sand cushion of 15-20 cm under the plane of the mold and lateral filling with sand of at least 10-15 cm;

- from the paved arcuate path, at least half a meter is left on one side for planting ornamental plants around the reservoir.

After installing the plastic mold, water was partially poured into the dug hole with a sand cushion at the level with the natural plane of the site. It should be noted that, having made a sand cushion under the bottom of the mold, the sand was leveled using a building level. Having installed the reservoir, we checked the horizontalness along the bottom of it, and then, putting a flat board on the sides, we again checked the horizontalness with the level. And only after that, the cavities between the clay wall and the mold were covered with sand, gradually filling the reservoir with water to the natural plane of the site.

Then they began to create a retaining wall for the upper part of the reservoir. The contour of the upper part of the plastic container was projected onto the clay. We retreated along the entire obtained perimeter of 15 cm and received the inner contour of the brickwork for the retaining wall. These 15 cm were needed for the subsequent filling with sand between the retaining wall and the wall of the plastic mold, i.e. to create sandy vertical backfill along the entire outer perimeter of the reservoir. When the brickwork was dry (we made it flush with the top of the mold for the reservoir), we began to fill in the sand in stages and add water to the container. To the edges of the plastic mold, sand was poured under the very

side, but the water was not refilled by 8-10 cm. This was necessary because it was necessary not only to make a cement-sand screed over the filled up sand, thus connecting the brickwork of the retaining wall with the plastic form of the reservoir, but also to lay out stones hanging over the water on the solution.

And then creativity began! I don’t know what you can compare with the excitement that you experience when you pick up stones and plants:

- how to arrange them by size and color;

- how they will look from different points of the site (from the gate, from the bench, from the bedroom window, from the utility block, etc.).

The work had to be finished because it was getting dark - August had already begun.

Our gardening is located on the border with the Novgorod region, so there are a lot of swamps, but finding stones is a problem. The stones on the site appeared from sand and peat, which we bought every year to improve the clay soil. We put them in one place, and now they come in handy. The stones turned out to be different in color, shape and size. But what scope for imagination!

My creative anguish was followed not only by my husband and dog, but also by friends and neighbors. As a result, gifts appeared from them in the form of stones. Many thanks to them for that!

It turns out that they closely followed my work on the reservoir and all God's creatures. On the very first evening, as soon as the reservoir was completely filled, a swimming beetle appeared on its surface. During the day, dragonflies, butterflies and lizards began to fly, to the great joy of my dog and me. Regularly, various birds began to fly to the stones hanging over the water and drink water. I'm not talking about frogs.

The reservoir came to life! Her husband also contributed. He went fishing and brought four perch. It is a pity that only two fish survived, but they also swam there in December.

The result is a living body of water with a miniature alpine slide. There were not only enough stones, but a lot of small ones remained. And then the idea arose to turn an ordinary strip foundation into a stylized masonry. Happened…

The remains of small stones also covered the side surfaces of both the cast concrete steps in the utility block and the supports for the benches in the working area.

Until the end of the summer cottage season, additional paths were laid out to the utility block, around the reservoir in one tile to serve it and the rock garden, and also paved the working area.

Then they planted the thuja on the mounds, and I planted the space between them with Veronica creeping to get a solid carpet blooming in spring, and not a kingdom of weeds.

Now there is a desire to put in order the utility block.

So the "white spot" in our garden area disappeared and my dream of a reservoir came true.

Seeing the end result of my work, my husband made me a royal gift - he bought a car of stones! So I have enough material for stone creativity for the next summer season.

We wish creative victories to all gardeners. We hope our experience will help you.

Inna Nesterenko, gardener

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