Empty pond - Fill up

[kashgenius]

Hi all,

I am looking for ideas on how should I fill up the garden pond that I recently got emptied. I do not wish to pump water in and out anymore. So I am planning to fill it up with something to make it look good and easy to maintain.

The ideas that I have toyed with are:

• Concrete and pebble mosaic - never done anything like this before.
• Convert it to veggie patch - The pond base is quite hard (probably concrete?) so not sure if this will work if I fill it up with soil.
• Fill it up with pebbles - Worried that rainwater may collect below the pebbles and then cause issues. - I want to do this as it is the easiest but do not know how to make sure that water does not collect. Any tips?

You can look at uploaded photo to give any ideas that you all can.

[Jason]

Welcome to Workshop @kashgenius and thanks for making your first post. I'm sure our clever and creative members will have some useful suggestions for you. 

Please let me know if you ever need a hand getting the most from the site. 

Jason

[Stuardo]

Hi @kashgenius ,

I would love to have a fish pond like that but I guess they take a lot of work to maintain.

If you want a garden or vegie bed you could convert it into a "wicking garden bed" (google it) and then you would only need an overflow pipe/hole so it does not get waterlogged.

Cheers,

Stuart.

 

[dayles]

I  am thinking, @kashgenius,  that's not a pond, it's a moat!  I'd love a moat. Imagine the dragons you could slay... 

Back in the real world, I think a wicking garden bed is an excellent idea, and there's bound to be a YouTube video to match your level of interest....  from just the basics  to  full production aquaponic systems.  http://bit.ly/38PJgnW

[kashgenius]

Thats a great idea. I already have a PVC pipe that may have been used by the previous owner to setup the same. I could re-purpose it to convert it into a patch. Thanks for that.

[Shane]

Can I ask why you have been needing to pump water in and out of the pond? 

[MikeTNZ]

Hi there kashgenius,

My advice would be, if you don't want to use this structure as a pond anymore, get a masonry drill with either a large bit or a core-bit on it and drill through the concrete at the low point of the pond and a few other points around that.

That way it will drain, should it rain.

If you installed some fine mesh on rebar chairs and installed some low voltage uplighter lights, in the mesh and then installed some coarse stones/rocks around them light fittings.

This is only a ball-park thought on my part, before you do anything, you need to take to that pond with a water-blaster.

[kashgenius]

Hi Shane,

By pumping water in and out, I mean change water in the pond using the pump. Plus we had fishes in the pond before that we have given away. So we no longer use the pond or need to pump fresh water in and out.

Cheers,

Kash

[kashgenius]

That seems like a brilliant idea. Since I have shrubs in the middle, uplighter lights can create a brilliant ambience in the garden. Thanks for that idea. I will see if I can put that into action. 

[Ecojon]

How about some native waterplants and native fish, Murray river rainbows are awesome, a solar powered water pump voila, just a suggestion.