I put all the new plants in the pond today, and while I didn't plan to do it today, I did a rough build of the waterfall. Nothing elaborate. I'll live with it for a few days, and if I still like it, I'll put pond foam between the rocks and fill the small voids with river stone.

Once finished, I will taper off the sides and the back, and then start laying rocks and river stone on the planting shelf.







Here is a brief video of the waterfall:

Here's a shot of the food forest. We're closing in on having the entire 8500 square feet covered with cardboard and wood chips.

When are you going to put fish in it? Or are you not going to stock it?

I may put a couple of fish in from my other pond by next weekend and see how they do. If they seem to be all right, I will add a few more, but not many before the winter.

How deep is your pond? In SD winters, the ice on bodies of water can get two and a half feet thick (sometimes more), so putting any animals in a pond is tricky business here. Plus, I was reading that the shallower a body of water is, the thicker and deeper the ice will get.

It's gonna be a great looking pond . Very nice water lettuce I like it . It will fill the whole pond by the end of next summer if it not to cold. Like the falls too it's working really good. So many beautiful plants your going to add..
Oh yes add some fish …what's a pond without fish…?
Isn't is nice to see your plans finally coming to fruition.
It's been a long haul..

Johannian said: How deep is your pond? In SD winters, the ice on bodies of water can get two and a half feet thick (sometimes more), so putting any animals in a pond is tricky business here. Plus, I was reading that the shallower a body of water is, the thicker and deeper the ice will get.

I can see that happening in SD.

It's just about 32 inches at the deepest spot. The fish should be ok once I put them in. My raised pond is about 25/26 inches deep and more prone to freezing since it is above ground, and the fish have made it through the winters since 2017. I keep the fountain running all winter and if it gets cold enough where the ice starts to inhibit the fountain, I break up the ice or put a small deicer in it if we get a really cold stretch.

Today, I used some concrete pavers to raise an area of the pond that was a bit low and probably filled about another 100-150 gallons of water. I figure the pond is 1600-1800 gallons now. I'm going to take depth measurements to narrow that gallon capacity down a little closer. Also finished the rock work on the waterfall and trimmed the liner so it overlaps the pond by 18" all the way around. I also placed the overflow pipe, but I still have to foam it in.

Next up will be to imbed some heavy-duty landscape plastic edging on the low side to make sure we don't get run-off from the hill. This will be covered on the pond side with rocks and on the garden side with wood chips.

Once that is completed, I will lay the flat rocks all around the edge of the pond.

No pics today. I will try to take some tomorrow.

Today, I washed and scrubbed about 80 rocks and put them in the pond. Most were placed near the edge of the shelf that surrounds the pond so when I add the gravel, it won't fall into the deep area. The rest were placed randomly on the shelf so when I add the gravel, it will look more natural with rocks projecting up through the gravel.

I also forgot to mention, I put 2 of my goldfish (from my small pond) in the FF pond a week ago. They are doing well. So, I bought 8 comets the other day from the nursery. They are trying to get rid of them because it is the end of the season. I paid $28 for all 8, each about 2" long. So far, all 10 fish are thriving.

The sun came out yesterday afternoon, so I did some more work at the pond. I spread 8 bags of river rock along 2/3's of the shelf. I need to buy 4 more bags, and I think I will buy 4 bags of river stone, larger, to vary the composition on the shelf. After that, I will work on the surround area.

I went to Lowes today and picked up a few more bags of river stone and "egg stone" to finish the shelf of the pond.

All I have left to do is put the rocks around the pond on the outside as a "surround".

I created a "beach area" where the stones rise up out of the water so any critters that fall in can get out (like the mouse that fell in last week that I had to chase with a shovel to get him out) and other critters can easily go down into the pond for a drink of water.

Got the first course of rocks placed around the pond today except for the area where the overflow pipe will be. Set the overflow pipe and will set it in place with pond foam and dirt tomorrow.

Can't forget your overflow pipe! Great job on the pond, Jim. You've put in a lot of hard work and it's paying off.

Thanks, Johannian. I appreciate it. This last phase had gone rather easy. As a natural born pessimist, I am just waiting to see what I may have done wrong. Hopefully, nothing, but we'll see come Spring once the ground has frozen and heaves. I'm sure I will have to make some adjustments, but from what I have read, that is not all that unusual. In the meantime, I am just enjoying it.

Today, I got the pond overflow pipe buried and put pond foam all around where it comes out of the pond, so the water runs through the pipe and not under it.

I brought down a lot more rocks and started finishing the "surround". I have one more day of placing rocks, and the pond will be finished. After that, we can put wood chips right up to the edge of the rocks.





This is the area I have to finish tomorrow.



And I spotted this little guy in the pond while I was working today.

Looks great Jim!

crawgarden said: Looks great Jim!

Thanks, Rj!

FOOD FOREST POND FINISHED!

Today, I finished placing rocks around the FF pond and covered the perimeter with chips.

Project started June 11th:



Finished September 16th...just a few days over 3 months:

Awesome, Jim! Great work!

Johannian said: Awesome, Jim! Great work!

Thank you, Johannian.

Today I got the weatherproof box for the electricity to the pond mounted on a 4x6 post and wired the outlets. I need to move it down to the pond, dig a hole for the post, and then bury the wire back up to the tool shed, and eliminate the extension cord I am using now for the power to the pond.