Tips and tricks for a natural pond

[@NotSureJoeBauers]

Gave me some really good ideas for the pond I'm planning. Basically going to plant out an existing swale but also incorporate a natural ephemeral styled pond and water cascade. In such a way that the pond can go dry or I could keep the pond filled or I can have the water circulating through the system. Having an unlined basin in the swale right before it overflows into the lined section of the pond

[@Ozponds]

Awesome 👍

[@scorpohead]

I built a retention pond to stop a rain water river from flowing through the middle of a very old barn. I ran a 24 inch pipe under the barn. I didn't plan the pond, I just started digging in the North Carolina clay. There is a lot of water that flows through it when it rains. All of the water from the roof of the barn plus a few acres of land. It is becoming a habitat. Thanks for the video. It covered a good deal of what I have been thinking about.

[@MrThatguy333]

does it stay throughout the summer?

[@scorpohead]

@MrThatguy333 oh yes, a half inch of rain probably raises the pond a foot. I bet 3 acres of land flow into my little 1/8th acre pond. I have a valve where I can drop it down about 16 inches from full. One good rain and it is full. I built a bog filter this summer. The pond is full of fish and turtles. Im thinking about building a little water tower from an old 500 gallon oil tank so I can save more water when it is raining. To supply a clean up sink in the barn/shop. So many ideas! Most will never happen.

[@diquadhumungersaur492]

in UK..I decided the best way to have a natural looking pond was to visit my local angling lake and borrow some of their plants ,iris lily pond weed and several flowering "weeds", and also a good scoop of bottom mud n sludge to help natural little critters get a foothold.. a year later and the plants need a prune every now n then.. the water is full of fauna from a dragon fly larvae(only saw 1) millions of tadpoles, all sorts of tiny water critters.. I feed the fish,5 goldfish and 2 perch, infrequently as they seem to find lots of natural stuff in situ.the perch will eat worms from my hand tho which is cool, dangle a worm and they smash it like wannabe tarpon

[@Ozponds]

Great stuff 👍👍

[@Carol-oc7mx]

That's not 'borrowing' plants 😮 and you shouldn't be taking things from the wild surely 🤔

[@SherrickDuncan]

​@@Ozpondssounds like Father Fish kind of. 😊

[@thesolaraquarium]

yes taking plants from the wild is the best way. That way, with a bit of research, you know they are native to your area, not invasives. A few is all you need. They will multiply. You have increased their range, just like the waterbirds do when they transfer them between waterways. I go collecting wild plants when ever I can.

[@Whywondermous]

Thank you so much for providing such fantastic information and instruction! We would like to make a duck pond and are trying to figure out if there’s a viable way of making a natural-style pond despite the challenge of added waste and their propensity to eat everything. Your videos have been invaluable for helping us learn, plan, and prepare realistically. It may take us a few years, but your guidance will make a big difference for our family and friends. :)

[@Ozponds]

I’m so glad you’re enjoying the videos. I think you can achieve your goal just oversize the filtration and make sure is designed for easy maintenance. I’d love to hear how it turns out once you build it 👍

[@Whywondermous]

@@Ozponds Very sound advice. I just found your Building a Large DIY Bog Filter video and am taking the oversized filtration advice to heart. We’re not sure how many ducks we’d hope to have at any one time and are trying to design an easy to maintain system that offers room to grow.

[@jwest4773]

Fantastic, as usual! Didn't know you are a plantsman as well, though should have guessed considering the abundant, lovely plantings you show in the videos. We learn something new with every video, thanks 👍

[@Ozponds]

Thanks for the kind words mate 👍

[@johnwallace5892]

Thanks very much! I have an existing pond and your advice is wonderful. Vermont, USA

[@Ozponds]

I’m glad the video is helpful 👍

[@hadleyhegg8978]

The information I’ve been desperately searching for! Thank you !

[@Ozponds]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ianbrown9578]

Great "Lessons Learned" advice! Geotextile over clay with gravel on top is a real winner. This made me wonder about clay/geotextile/cheap pavers. Maybe 2 layers of cheap pavers overlapping each other to minimize gaps with fine sand just to fill any gaps between the pavers. My thinking is you could swim/wade in it regularly with no worries regarding messing up the clay layer. Especially if you used larger pavers. Thank you! :-)

[@Ozponds]

I’d love to hear the results if you give it a go 👍

[@ianbrown9578]

@@Ozponds It's in the master plan but is many years away! :-)

[@Ozponds]

I was the same. It’ll happen 👍

[@shahnawazvlog6266]

1 Like great video always best fun to watch so much to learn from you.

[@Ozponds]

I’m happy you find the vids helpful 😊👍

[@lessemmens9427]

About to build a pond soon thanks for the tips cheers

[@Htrac]

What is the liner called that you mention? Something textile?

[@Ozponds]

Geo-textile. Non-woven

[@BloodyKnives66]

I have an half acre pond my yard is kinda a bowl and hilly so it stays full pretty much year round. Can't really do an over flow, also is it a problem having a ton of trees around it dropping branches into the water?

[@Ozponds]

It’s not ideal. But it does happen in nature.

[@gerriepretorius4642]

Hi Kev, I might be your biggest fan! hahahaha (from South-Africa). I would like to get your opinion and advice on something. I am building a semi natural pond. The whole pond is on a massive natural rock. I needed to build a 5m long dam wall where the rock was to low. the dam wall also doubles as a path along the pond. I would like to put a type of soil against the dam wall, so that it can slope in to the water, and make the damn wall kind of disappear, and then also have soil ontop of the damn wall, and have plants in all around that slope going in to the water. The solid that I dig out is river sand, with bands of clay in between. I started separating the clay and the sand as I dig it out. so now I cant either use the clay or the sand, or should I use something else? I would like to still have clear as possible water.

[@Ozponds]

G’day Gerrie. Sounds like an epic project 👍. I wish I could give you some personal advice but I’ve never personally tried something like this. I can only offer what I’m thinking would be best. Because you want clean clear water I feel like the sand if it’s washed really well might be the better option. The clay, I feel is going to release lots of nutrients into the water. I know here in Australia it’s recommended for people with clay dams that want excellent water clarity to add a geotextile over the clay. You could cut some holes to allow plants in and that would hopefully consume some nutrients. The geotextile would also help keep everything stable until the plants establish. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful to the #1 fan in South Africa. I’d love to hear what you decide and how it all pans out 👍

[@bygraceonly182]

Wonderful information! Thank you!

[@micheleromanutti7188]

You are the numer 1 .

[@TheGuyOutdoors1]

Do you put geotextile before or after clay? I live in Northeast, NY and am interested in building a 10*20*3 ft pond on a budget. I know where to get clay and like the geotextile because of rocky soil. I was thinking maybe clean the hole well of rocks, adding a layer of sand to absorb rocks left over, then the clay, then geotextile. Or geo then clay? Idk. Hopefully that would be good to hold water without a liner? Any ideas appreciated thanks

[@Ozponds]

Geo then liner.

[@basitraza3688]

Hi really thankful to all your videos I also have koi pond your videos helped a lot regarding filtration Now I want to make 20 by 30 feet mud pond and 4 feet deep For fish to eat What are your advice before starting such project to keep fish healthy and organic

[@Ozponds]

My main advice would be not to overstock it.

[@tzenophile]

@@Ozponds If fish are healthy they do tend to overstock themselves.

[@Carol-oc7mx]

I'm from the UK and in days gone by Capability Brown the famous land Scape gardener when creating his sometimes vast lakes would get the local farmers to drive there sheep/cattle the wetted area after rain to pummel the clay and form a seal.......... So off with the socks and shoes and get puddling. You could recruit a bunch of kids to do the job and get themselves messy, not 0:00 how much more controllable they would be in comparison to the a herd of animals but much more fun I suspect.😂😂😂

[@Ozponds]

🤣 I like it!

[@jonmatthews4254]

Useful lessons thanks. Baby fish are called fry, don't be afraid to educate all the way, we're not all Americans.

[@carralumsden8853]

You are so correct. Instantly I was like. That water is going to get algae. Have you tried a electric free pump with bubble stone? Maybe you could get an inlet air pipe put on the outside earth of the pond and feed it through the stone which in turn releases fresh air into the pond. A half U bend pipe with some form of filtration system (for air inlet only), feed into the stone from the solid earth side of the pons allowing the bubbles to release through the stone inside the pond. I hope that makes sense. Thanks for sharing. Peace and Blissings

[@Ozponds]

That’s a very interesting idea.

[@carralumsden8853]

@@Ozponds Thank you. There's more to it however someone will certainly have the answer. Peace

[@thesolaraquarium]

I think the critical feature of a natural clay pond is the fish. A fish like carp will stir up the bottom and the water will be brown and turbid. Something like a mosquito fish will not have this problem. Carp are a real pain where I live. Once they get in a dam it is game over for water quality.

[@Ozponds]

Here mosquito fish are very much illegal, so are carp. But I agree the clay getting stirred up is a problem, it just doesn’t settle, something about ions and the particles repelling away from each other.

[@thesolaraquarium]

@ actually mosquito fish are legal in NSW, in Sydney and suburbia. You can check with the regulations. It is illegal for me to keep mosquito fish as I live in rural NSW. The irony is that where I live mosquito fish are everywhere. Every puddle has one. That horse bolted about 100 years ago. It is a ridiculous law. I live with millions of mosquito fish :( . i was using mosquito fish as an example of a type of fish. i am not a fan of mosquito fish. they are plague in NSW.

[@Ozponds]

@ laws are weird.

[@linseyvanochten2926]

I'm afraid my pond is doomed. The pond is lined and topped of with sand because the horses drink from them and their hoofs will otherwise puncture the liner. We have a combination of clay and sand surrounding the pool and in the summer a lot of that dust falls in the pond. In the fall and winter there is a lot of run off. And ofcours the occasional manure. We have now fenced of a large part of the pool so plants will have a chance to establish but the water is still very very brown. I already applied flocculant and sludge busting bacteria but it doesn't help. Oxigenating plants under water die withing days, but the water bursts with insects. No frogs though. The water level varies so not many plants are suitable. We don't have any power so a filter is not an option either. Will floating plants be able to save this pond or is this never ever going to be okay ever again? :(

[@Ozponds]

Too many things working against you. Just try and fix one thing at a time.

[@linseyvanochten2926]

@@Ozponds Yeah you are right. I'll just slowly add more and more plants and hopefully they will be able to bring balance.

[@thesolaraquarium]

@@linseyvanochten2926brown water. what kind of fish? large ones?

[@emeraldfox7175]

Cheap cat litter is nothing but bentonite clay

[@Norbingel]

Any tips on how to seal a pond without liners? Hopefully low cost and not using stuff like Bentonite clay or other commercial stuff (which are expensive in addition to not being available here)

[@Ozponds]

No sorry. This is my only unlined pond.

[@Norbingel]

@@Ozponds ok ty! I've had very limited success looking for ways to create a natural pond without liners in terms of sealing it enough to hold water. Once I get that, I'll be able to apply everything else I learned from you

[@Carol-oc7mx]

I'm from the UK and in days gone by Capability Brown the famous land Scape gardener when creating his sometimes vast lakes would get the local farmers to drive there sheep/cattle the wetted area after rain to pummel the clay and form a seal.......... So off with the socks and shoes and get puddling. You could recruit a bunch of kids to do the job and get themselves messy, not sure how much more controllable they would be in comparison to the a herd of animals but much more fun I suspect.😂😂😂

[@thesolaraquarium]

the cheapest way to seal a pond is to locate it where there is actual clay. So you don’t have to truck it in. Recommend an expert build it for you. They know how to build ponds to collect runoff which is critical in a country with low rain fall. I have these clay dams. Would have no idea where to locate one or build one.

[@Norbingel]

@@thesolaraquarium There's clay all over but I don't know if it's either enough or the right kind to seal the pond.

[@taylortisaac]

Wait but how the hell do you keep the water in the pond with no liner

[@Ozponds]

How does a lake hold water? A natural pond needs an inflow.

[@taylortisaac]

@@Ozponds ok, so like a hose or something?

[@Ozponds]

No more like a natural spring or positioned in a catchment area.

[@taylortisaac]

@@Ozponds dang :\

[@gundur7193]

Is it possible to explain in Turkish under your videos?

[@Ozponds]

I have auto captions enabled and it seems people watch the videos in different languages. But I’m not sure how it all works.

[@knyghtryder3599]

@@Ozponds I agree though if you could study a bit of Turkish, it would be helpful!

[@itfaria]

Have I lost any part or the pond is just water and some plants? To not have problems with the nutrients and then it being consumed by algaes you need life in that pond Creatures that will eat those decomposing materials that goes to the pond, bacteries and plants to consume the amonia from the decomposing and so on If it's just water and a few plants, it becomes a pain to keep it

[@Ozponds]

Of course there’s aquatic life. Invertebrates, snails, tadpoles, fish bacteria and micro organisms.

[@itfaria]

@@Ozponds that"s nice brother :D

[@back2nature608]

I like this! Not with your face in the vid nor showing off your grass-mower, just pumping us useful info..

[@aerinsaleh]

Ozponds/Kevs, hiiiiiii u so cute ♥ and i like ur Natural pond w/out pump???

[@melissawittner70]

Do I hear a chicken? I swear I do.

[@Ozponds]

Yes. We have them roaming around.

[@richardbilyansky4098]

You missed the elephant in the room how to seal the natural pond

[@ankushagnihotri]

I'm sure when he is talking about a pond he knows that the pond part of it is actually there to work with. If there is no seal to it. It's not exactly a pond is it. It's just a hole.

[@osar2870]

I have a naturally dense clay soil so I think adding some store bought bentonite clay to the bottom to add some extra sealing protection should work well, I haven’t started yet just researching though

[@believer2734]

@@osar2870so did you try it? Just wondering if it worked (adding that bentonite to the clay)?

[@emeraldfox7175]

​@@believer2734cheap cat litter is nothing but bentonite clay