Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The pond project part 1

The picture above is part of our "remodeling project" aka the ongoing pond project aka Kevin's folly aka how-much-money-will-this-cost aka the money pit.

Just kidding. But this has been Kev's summer project, and it has taken A.L.L. summer. Kev's putting in two ponds and landscaping the hill that's on the north side of our house. Our house has been here 10 years, and no one ever figured out what to do with this hill. Kev has a vision. I'm starting to see it, but it's still a work in progress...

See what he's done so far!

We wanted steps leading up to the front of the house instead of everyone thinking they have to go to the basement door. And, the doorbell is up on the deck, not at the basement door. So, Kev dug out the hill and put in these steps. We had to frame them, then we filled in the frames with some red dirt from the farm. Finally, the steps themselves are flagstone.
This is a closer view of what we did to fill in the space between the steps and the pond. The rock is moss rock. The big rock in front is the one I bought Kev. We were going to use it for the waterfall, but he didn't like it. instead, we moved it here, and have other moss rock stacked behind the big rock. Kev got this rock from the Ranch where Dad works. There's lots more when we need it... The cat is stalking a frog.
This view is from the chicken house looking up towards the front of the house. Here you see the wall that Kev built. It levels things out and is part of the pond wall. The rocks in front are probably going to be more strategically placed later...when and if we ever finish. Note, there's a shorter wall above to the right side. It is where we are putting the firepit and our bench.
Looking down from the deck at the big pond. The bucket to the right is the approximate site of the waterfall.
This one is the little pond and the stream. The water will run from this pond, down the stream, over the waterfall and into the big pond. The rocks lining the upper edge in this photo are cleache rocks that we got from Dad's farm. The river rock in the stream came from there too, and some came from walks down the road by our house.

This last photo is looking towards the little pond with our bench to the far left. Our bench will look over the big pond and we will be able to watch the water go over the waterfall. We've still got a lot of work to do...bury the hose, fill in the ponds with more river rock, get more rock for the outside edges, plant some plants next spring, get water plants and some fish. I'm not sure what else Kev has planned...this is his project, I'm just the underpaid laborer.

Actually, Kev's done most of the work on this project. I've helped set rock and I've helped pick up rock, but this is HIS project. It's his vision. I'll keep you posted...if it ever get's finished.

1 comment:

agent713 said...

Wow that's a HUGE project!!! My friends parents just finished a "water feature" in their backyard, similar to this one. It is spectacular but I can only imagine how much work went in to it. Good luck with this project!