bwgan

Hi guys, Been talking to various people about ponds, springs etc. If I keep the pond as it is I can put Koi in it but won't be able to see them as they will cloud the water up quickly. I would need to put a filter on it, but it will clog up with clay etc quickly, so was told to put nothing in it. The pond has now completely filled back up again, but it never overflows (touch wood), this must be to do with the pressure equalising, think its called table-ing. So todays question is if I were to put a liner in the pond, would the weight of the water pushing down equal the pressure and stop further water leaking aorund the liner? Cheers

We discussed the pond tonight, and think that if the French drain doesn't work we could end up with problems, so we are going to go down the lines of a pond!!! Who knows anything about ponds?

Hi Richard, The dog is called Oshy, but his nickname is bwgan. The breed is nicknamed "Grey ghost" which in Welsh translates to Bwgan Llwyd, so yes you were right. A good slope on the pipe won't be an issue as it will be coming down a hill. What size gravel would you recommend? I would love a pond but the wife doesn't and we have future plans for some decking where the pond is now as that is the last part of the garden (back yard) to catch the sun in the evenings. Paul

You can see from the last pic that I was starting to dig a drainage ditch and putting it into a soak away near the rickety fence. I clearly wasn't expecting that amount of water to come from the pond! I've been reading bits on the web and this is my plan. If I excavate the pond into an inverted triangle shape and put my drainage pipe at the point of the triangle (bottom of pond, then fill with gravel and then soil would that work. Then run the pipe down the garden into a drain? I've attached quick plan, please excuse its crudity Image Insert: 590.35 KB

Bore dda, Diolch i bob lwc Bill. We had quite a bit of rain yesterday afternoon and evening, which wasn't too bad as I got to see the football and have a beer or two. This morning after walking the 'ghost' I went to check out the pond to get some more photos. I nearly had an MI, the pond was completely full! Image Insert: 922.12 KB Image Insert: 922.12 KB Image Insert: 922.12 KB Image Insert: 922.12 KB

You are rigt, garden encompasses the whole area to the rear of the house! The picture was stood at the patio area by the dinning room where there is about 3m of concrete then the excavation. That is as far back as the excavation is going to go. I'm then going to build a 1m wall out of 6" soilds and then build a second wall out of limeston in front of it. I understand all the drainage asepcts of building a wall, land drainage pipe sloping downwards at the rear of the wall with small pipe coming through the wall. This will probably be directed into a storm drain. The mud collected will then be used to level out the garden, probably into two terraces. The fence was put up by next door and I'm just waiting for a big storm for it to blow down and the hyena will escape and eat small children! Its Britain, it always f-ing rains. I was digging last night and it was blue sky above me and it was raining! I would love to pay someone to come and do it for me but money won't allow and with the addition of a baby in the next few months I don't think I'll ever see my cash card again!

Cheers for the comments. The dog isn't a hyena, but a weimaraner. He has been a great help with the digging, except he chucks the dirt the wrong way. I live in North Wales in UK. I'll try and get some more photos today.

Hi guys, I've got one or two problems with my garden. We bought our house last year from two elderly people who haven't been around for a while ([:-angel]) and the garden was left to grow wild for a few years. The garden is on an incline and the plan is to cut everything down (which I've done and pulled out all the roots). My brother and I have started digging the land back to build a wall and then throw all the soil behind it. My problem is the earth at the bottom of the garden is fine, really loamy but at the top it is quite clayie. To make matters wores there is a large pond at the top. I've emptied the pond and found new homes for all its locals. Once I'd cleared all the cr@p out of the pond I found out to my dismay that there is no lining to the pond, just clay. I've staretd to dig a drainage ditch going length ways across the pond and have started to fill the pond in with the soil that I've dug out already. The problem is that the soil that I throw into pond is turning into thick gloopy mud. What can I do to stop this turning into some sort of quick sand pit that Tarzan would have to come and pull you out of??? ( Image Insert: 922.13 KBI've tried to attach a picture of the garden. The pic is taken from the bottom of the garden and the pond is up at the top behind the dog. The hole you can see is where my brother and I have started to dig out) Cheers and sorry its a long question