Water Garden Transformation

One of the selling features of our house was the pond. When we toured the house, I fell in love immediately.

I absolutely loved the concept of the pond, however, after moving in, we soon realized that we had some sort of leak that we needed to figure out.

We put it off for a few years and then…COVID hit. We figured with the pandemic, we might as well do something productive. Once we committed to the idea, the research process started. After endless hours of research, YouTube videos, and planning, it was time to start the backbreaking work.

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We first started by pulling up all of the slate pieces that made up the patio, and grouped them into piles of similar sized pieces. Then, we evaluated the patio to determine the size and shape we wanted and the boys worked to construct the patio shape with cinder blocks.

We then had to fill in the new patio area with fill which came from the old patio as there was a ton of concrete in between the large slate pieces. Then, it was time to shape the new pond. We wanted to go from two individual ponds, to one larger pond.

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After the pond was shaped, it was time to install the pond liner, the pond pump (we used the Jebao APP – 3000 APP Pond and Waterfall Pump (3300GPH) and the Firestone 45mil EPDM Rubber Pond Liner 15 ft x 20 ft). We then installed the waterfall, which we bought from The Pond Guy and then started to line the pond with layers of tumbled rock. We had a lot of the material already on hand from the old pond, and only needed to supplement with medium and small river rock. Finally, a trip to Pebble Junction (one of our local favorite hardscaping supply stores) to secure the remaining large boulders to round out the pond. Then, it was time to start filling and testing for leaks.

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Now the backbreaking work started…putting together the jigsaw puzzle piece of the slate floor. After we set the pieces into place, we then filled the cracks with cement. This process was a doozy, and I remember thinking that I would have a happy life not ever seeing another piece of slate again!

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Finally, it was time to wrap up the patio by creating a walkway out to our side gate. We contemplated several options for this space: herringbone walkway, slate, but ultimately decided on 16×16 paver blocks with mundo grass in between the steps.

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And finally, we ended with the final product pictured below. I do want to add a word of caution…this documentary makes this process look easy. It was not. It was hard. I threatened to call in help to finish this project many times. Hubby also threatened to fill in the pond more than once. But, we made it through, and have a beautiful final product to show and one year later, my back pain seems to have subsided. 🙂