Help!!! want to get rid of our fish pond...

N9eav

scheming_gypsy wrote:

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Getting rid of the fish is easy enough, just eat them

Goldfish Cakes Recipe #54039

I was looking for a way to get my little one to eat fish..anything other than macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese for a day. Maybe this will work for your little one too! Not so bad for grown ups either!
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening 1/4 cup flour 2/3 cup milk 2 tablespoons finely chopped onions 1 tablespoon parsley 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1/3 teaspoon salt 1 dash pepper 1 dash paprika 2 (7 ounce) cans tuna, drained and flaked 2/3 cup dry breadcrumbs 1 egg, beaten

tru

hawkwinddotcom wrote:

Wanna fight about it

OK



................

Becles

You might want to consider keeping it, but you'll need to do a bit of work!

Find a safe place for the fish, then drain the pond completely. It's probably smelly because it's full of rotting leaves and other rubbish.

Go to the garden centre and buy some new aquatic plants. They will advise you, but as a minimum you'll need some oxygenating plants (dark green and looks like telephone wire!), and some lillies (big leaves provide shade in the summer for fish). Plant the plants in baskets (garden centre will show you) to stop them spreading and taking over the pond. If the pond has a shallow shelf, you can plant up baskets with a mossy plant (don't know it's name) and to make "islands". These will attract birds and frogs, as it makes easier access to the water. Plant some leafty plants to provide shade round the edge of the pond (for frogs to hide under!).

If you can afford it, get the pump fixed/replaced. Not essential but it does help to keep the water clear.

Fill the pond back up and add the fish.

From then on, it's just minimal effort to look after it. Once or twice a year, lift the baskets out and give them a trim so they don't over run the pond. In the autumn you need to clear out leaves as they fall. Either put a temporary net over it, or scoop them out frequently with a fishing net. In the winter, leave an old ball floating in it, to keep an air hole in the ice. And that's it!

On the plus side you'll have a lovely peaceful water feature that will provide hours of free entertainment. My parents have one and it's lovely watching the fish, they have a wild frog community that live there and lay spawn each year and many birds come to bathe. It's really good for the children to watch, especially the spawn/tadpole/frog cycle. Mine get excited about that every year!

FirstClassMale

I would suggest that, once you have drained the pool, you have a look at the liner before filling it in. If it is concrete lined then I would say to smash a few holes in it before you use any infill, what you dont want in a couple of years is to find that any surface water from your garden has been trapped making the whole thing into a bog, trust me, that will smell a lot worse than any pond and cost a huge amount to have all the muck removed. Imagine a blocked sink then look at the size of your pond.

dii_2

Ok, I've decided to go on a search for getting top soil and hard core so wish me the best on my D.I.Y search. any clue on where to get it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

Dii.

dsdl23185

If you have young children how about filling it with sand.

Btw did exactly the same thing last year(not filling with sand but getting rid of a pond),took me a couple of weekends,getting rid of the pond itself.

The first thing i did after getting rid of the fish was to puncture the liner with a garden fork,left it for a week and then removed the liner,left this for a week lying on the garden so the frogs could find somewhere else to go ,and then moved the old rotten carpet that was underneath the liner.

Then I levelled it,put a ton of ballast down and then laid a stone circle on top,bedded onto cement.

By the time I had finished it had taken me around 3 months,but it was done over winter so the garden was'nt being used.

Saved a load of money doing it myself so could afford to have the best quality circle.

We had had a quote for doing the garden to our spec for over 4k.
It took me a year working weekends only,to do it(high learning curve to start with).

The total cost was less than a grand. :j

Sybarite

I don't think you stated if this pond is formed of a liner or concrete?

The quotes actually seem reasonable to me (I'm a landscaper btw) if the pond is concrete and they include disposal of refuse/balast. A reputable firm will use a recycling company so the balast can be re-used. Labour for something of this nature will typically be 70% of costs.

Depending on the size of the pond, its location and what you wish to do with the site once cleared will determine whether you backfill or seek an alternate use for the lower level you'll inevitably create.

If returning the area to planting, I'd try to match the levels of top and subsoil (which you'll see once the pond is removed) othewise you may create a different drainage pattern in the newly backfilled area; this may be more susceptable to drought or act a water trap.

You could of course fill the empty pond with soil and create a bog garden, rather than a pond.

3/4 of people aren't bothered about their gardens, they're just green patches where the washing line goes. But even if you just want the problem solved and are simply going to turf over the site, please don't just dump in hardcore and an hope for the best. Top with a decent layer of screened topsoil to give the turf a chance.

I spend a great deal of time having to remove builder's hardcore and concrete features. Obviously hardcore it isn't really beneficial to gardens in general. Getting the condition of the soil to a good fertile state is the major battle in a garden, which most people try to avoid, as quite frankly, soil isn't very exciting whereas buying a nice new plant is. Soil is the best investment though; it'll save you loads of time and effort in replacing diseased or poorly performing plants.

Your local council may offer garden waste compost at a competitive rate, this can be mixed with soil, but not just added by itself as it will shrink too much. Do keep in mind that what you've backfilled needs to be trodden down and will still settle slightly after this. If you need topsoil this can be bought in cubic yard bags (try a local supplier for this, if possible you want screened loam) topsoil from DIY type places is usually very expensive.

I hope that this helps