Help repurposing old pond to patio

[joshjosh]

Partner and I recently moved into our first home. Previous owners had a (poorly maintained) pond and we wanted to remove and replace with some sort of additional seating area/patio. We have passed the fish to a good new home and drained the pond. We are now ready to repurpose this space but we're not sure on how to go about it.

The pond is raised up from the patio about 45cm on some wood that looks like it has seen better days. The pond is roughly 250cm x 270cm.

My plan is to remove the lining and polystyrene from the walls of the pond, fill with brick/concrete that we have from my Dad.

Should we remove the wood and fill the pond to be level with the rest of the patio? I'm keen to re-do the full patio eventually so need to keep this in mind.

Should we keep the wood and have a raised platform?

How do we fill the pond so that we can lay a concrete foundation/put slabs down?

Detailed answers with pics would be much appreciated!...

Thanks

 

[Tetters]

Hello @joshjosh ... I am answering your post primarily to say welcome to our forums, but having said that, with respect, I do wonder why you came to a gardening forum to ask your question.
It seems to me that you are destroying the one thing there that would be of any benefit at all to a group of gardeners. Water is the first requirement that birds, butterflies, bees - and other wildlife need to make a lovely private outside space for your first home.
I would urge you both to reconsider what you are planning to do and think about the benefits of using what you have there to arrange your chairs nearby and maybe add a small waterfall or fountain and some plants to improve an otherwise bare and boring space.

I think that you are likely to get more help and support then.

 

[joshjosh]

Hello @joshjosh ... I am answering your post primarily to say welcome to our forums, but having said that, with respect, I do wonder why you came to a gardening forum to ask your question.
It seems to me that you are destroying the one thing there that would be of any benefit at all to a group of gardeners. Water is the first requirement that birds, butterflies, bees - and other wildlife need to make a lovely private outside space for your first home.
I would urge you both to reconsider what you are planning to do and think about the benefits of using what you have there to arrange your chairs nearby and maybe add a small waterfall or fountain and some plants to improve an otherwise bare and boring space.
View attachment 95746 I think that you are likely to get more help and support then.

Hi

Thanks for welcoming me. Perhaps I should’ve made the situation clearer. We felt as if the pond was beyond saving due to the condition it was in annd the investment we’d need to make to both renew and maintain the pond. Instead, we plan to add different water features in a slightly different area of the garden. Most importantly these features need to be child friendly which we felt the pond would not be. I know we could likely make the pond child friendly, but the condition really put us off of this.

I’m keen to help out the wildlife, although I am new to gardening. I want to add water features, areas for bird feeds, a compost area, I’m avoiding the use of any chemical on the plants and weeds, I’m keeping the many dandelions around the garden for the bees, I plan to add many many more plants, and other things.

I wanted to turn the pond into a space to enjoy the rest of the features in the garden, including those i wish to add in.

I will remove my post as it doesn’t seem like it will be welcome here.

Thanks

 

[Tetters]

Don't remove it. It is very rewarding to read the second post you made, and puts everything on a different footing. You have made it much easier to understand what you are aiming at, and now we can see better what your intentions are.
In a new light then, if that was my project, I think I would have a general plan mapped out for the space before getting a sledge hammer out. If the entire garden is to be planned, it will make it easier to see if the area where the pond was can be changed to the ''relax'' area with the least amount of work - maybe using what is already there to make a ''snug'' area - something that might look a bit fantastic and different without all the extra work! So, how about looking at the whole area and see if we can get a plan together ...paper and crayons ready?
There have been people in the past coming to the forum to ask how to lay plastic grass! When I (with some sarcasm) asked if they were going to plant some plastic trees and flowers too, they came back with - oh thank you, what a great idea!

Edit... Are those sleepers under the pond?

 

[Meadowlark]

...
How do we fill the pond so that we can lay a concrete foundation/put slabs down?

...

Thanks

May I suggest an alternative approach? Turn that pond into a Hügelkultur container that is capable of producing tremendous quantities of nutrient dense veggies...or beautiful plants/flowers if you choose.

Take out the lining as you mentioned making sure the pond will drain. Then add a good layer of decayed/decaying wood with smaller pieces as you work your way up. Next layer, add composted leaves, grass clippings, etc. Then in the third and final layer add topsoil. This can be accomplished largely by re-purposing materials that otherwise are simply waisted.

See my thread "experiment on Hugenkultur in containers" for detailed suggestions. I have not found any veggie that I like that will not flourish in this container and I offer my experiment as validation.

 

[joshjosh]

Don't remove it. It is very rewarding to read the second post you made, and puts everything on a different footing. You have made it much easier to understand what you are aiming at, and now we can see better what your intentions are.
In a new light then, if that was my project, I think I would have a general plan mapped out for the space before getting a sledge hammer out. If the entire garden is to be planned, it will make it easier to see if the area where the pond was can be changed to the ''relax'' area with the least amount of work - maybe using what is already there to make a ''snug'' area - something that might look a bit fantastic and different without all the extra work! So, how about looking at the whole area and see if we can get a plan together ...paper and crayons ready?
There have been people in the past coming to the forum to ask how to lay plastic grass! When I (with some sarcasm) asked if they were going to plant some plastic trees and flowers too, they came back with - oh thank you, what a great idea!

Edit... Are those sleepers under the pond?

Hi

Many thanks for your input. I will certainly start to map things out. Can’t think of a way to do anything without filling the pond, unless you have any ideas? I am considering a vegetable patch as meadowlark kindly suggested, but partner really wants a snug area to enjoy the garden! I’m already into sprouting indoors (alfalfa, broccoli, mung bean etc) so could be interesting to venture out….

 

[joshjosh]

May I suggest an alternative approach? Turn that pond into a Hügelkultur container that is capable of producing tremendous quantities of nutrient dense veggies...or beautiful plants/flowers if you choose.

Take out the lining as you mentioned making sure the pond will drain. Then add a good layer of decayed/decaying wood with smaller pieces as you work your way up. Next layer, add composted leaves, grass clippings, etc. Then in the third and final layer add topsoil. This can be accomplished largely by re-purposing materials that otherwise are simply waisted.

See my thread "experiment on Hugenkultur in containers" for detailed suggestions. I have not found any veggie that I like that will not flourish in this container and I offer my experiment as validation.

Thanks a lot for your comment! I’ll check out your thread as that was another option that occurred to me. Thanks!

 

[Sean Regan]

Hi and welcome.
Leaving the pond aside for the moment.

How long do you intend to stay in the house?

If for the foreseeable future, then you want a long term plan. You can't do everything at once, so it's best to concentrate on the bit nearest the house. If you can see what you've done there from a window it will encourage you to do the next bit.
I can't tell how big is your garden, it would help with a photo so we could see the whole of it. But my first impression is that the patio is far too small for a growing family.
I'd want it to go a bit further into the garden than the right edge of the pond.
So get rid of the lot and extend the patio. Once you've done that you can start on the next bit.
It's time consuming and expensive to do things twice. That's why a long term plan is important.

 

[Tetters]

Just a thought, I like Meadowlark's idea very much, especially as it would be good to have veggies close to the house. The other thing is that a sitting area might be nicer if it was situated further away from the house, and surrounded by greenery. This may make a more peaceful spot to ''hide away'' and be prettier with a few roses/honeysuckle maybe, over a small pergola.