Landscaping - Backyard Ponds

Michael Holigan: When you buy a new house, the builder normally saves money on the back yard. They don't do any landscaping because you can't really see it from the street. But once you get in, you probably spend more time in the back yard than in the front. If you want to customize it and make it your own, you can do that. We've got someone here to help us. We've got Allen Johnson. Good to have you here Allen.

Allen Johnson: Hello Michael.

M.H.: Hey, tell me what you did here starting from scratch building this little pond?

A.J.: Well, we met with the people here that live here and they decided that they have about five kids and in their yard they wanted something that would be a little unique. So we decided to build them a garden pond.

M.H.: How did you pick this location out of the whole back yard?

A.J.: Well, we just kinda looked at what the natural environment lent itself to and this seemed to be the most logical place. They can enjoy it by looking out from their dining room table. We started out and decided to dig it by hand, because the dirt in this area was pretty soft and that's an important thing, that you do dig it by hand, because if you use a machine you've going to cave in the walls.

M.H.: Allen, did you guys run into anything when you were digging back here?

A.J.: Yes. Yes we did. A couple of other things that we found was a telephone cable and we also found a television cable. In addition to that, there were some drainage lines. They happened to all three be located right here where the pond is.

M.H.: Wherever you dig a hole Allen that's where all the cables and lines are going to be.

A.J.: Yes sir. Absolutely. Didn't stop us from finishing the work, though and we just were able to move those out of the way and we formed the interior with wire mesh.

M.H.: And does the wire mesh hold the concrete against the walls, or does it just strengthen the concrete so it won't crack?

A.J.: It's a little of both. But we use some rebar driven into the side walls to hold the wire mesh in place.

M.H.: And about how far do you have to go in with that rebar?

A.J.: About 18 inches. It's not an absolute necessity, because all you want to do is create a pot that you're building, but the dirt's a little unstable here and we didn't want to take any chances on shifting.

M.H.: Okay.

A.J.: In addition, when we poured the concrete we mixed in a product called Fiber Mesh that hardens the concrete quicker.

M.H.: A lot of people call that horse hair. Actually looks like little hairs in the concrete.

A.J.: Yes. I have to convince my clients it's going to go away because they...looks a little odd at first. But we pour the concrete in there and just hand formed it and brushed it in. When we got toward the end of the procedure we sponged it down to seal up any of the porous areas.

M.H.: How thick did that concrete have to be?

A.J.: It really needs to be at least 3 1/2 inches thick. Most of this was five inches thick.

M.H.: Well tell me about putting down a flagstone. I know that was a little bit of a job.

A.J.: There's a couple of different ways that are popular to put flagstone down, but the best way to do it is to come in and pour two to three inches of concrete where you want the flagstones. You don't have to finish this out very nicely or anything, you just rough pour it, get it fairly level, not absolutely perfectly. And then you come it with a mortar base underneath each rock and you put down your mortar and you set each rock where you want it. Normally we run a string across in both directions so that we know exactly where we want the water to run and to make sure that there's some flow on the flagstone, whether it be on the patio or porch or just an outdoor setting like this. When you pour concrete you use what we call a thin flagstone which is between 3/4 and 1 1/2 inches in thickness. You put the mortar underneath it and then you cut your little piece with your hammer or you thin saw cut it if you wish. But we wanted a natural look so we just cut it with a hammer and we placed them in. It's kinda like a puzzle, but you get to kinda chisel out your puzzle pieces.

M.H.: And then you've gone ahead and you cantilevered the flagstone over the water. Why is that?

A.J.: Well we wanted as natural a segue from the stone to the water as possible. If you have an abrupt stop, where it doesn't flow naturally, and you have all that other extra rock exposed, then it's just not as natural a look. We did actually put a coping underneath that level to make that again, as natural as possible. The very last thing, after we placed everything in there, we come in with a dyed mortar and in all in one fell swoop we fill in all the cracks. The next process is to put some Theraseal which is a plaster. We dye that with some of this darker mortar.

M.H.: And why did you choose to go with black on this pond?

A.J.: When you have something that's maybe a lighter color or white, it draws more emphasis to it. So a natural pond would be dark in color. So we decided that we would try to emulate that as much as possible.

M.H.: Tell me a little bit about the waterfalls. Why did you add that?

A.J.: It's a focal point. It's a place where their eyes are drawn. The pump is actually just dropped down in to the pond. We've covered it up with different rock features to make it as least visible as...less visible as possible.

M.H.: Can you get pumps that you can adjust the speed of the water for a different effect on the water fall?

A.J.: Yes. You can get a variety of different pumps. But the best way to control that flow is to put a valve in so that you can manipulate that yourself.

M.H.: Okay, so I have the pump, a solid stream and just go ahead and adjust it on the knob.

A.J.: Yes. A very simple little ball valve works very well in that.

M.H.: Since the water is circulating, can you go ahead and put fish in the pond?

A.J.: It think that would be a great idea and I know that this family is definitely going to have some fish in this pond.

M.H.: Allen, I appreciate it. Looks great.

A.J.: Michael, good visiting with you.

Episode 018 1995 - 96 Season

| Ceramic Tile | Lamp Repair | Hardwood Floors | Tobacco Furniture Stains | Background Ponds | Self-Employed Borrowers | LIST |

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