Do-it-yourself pond in the country: quickly and cheaply
Building a pond on a summer cottage is one of the interesting ideas that many owners of country houses think about sooner or later. But not everyone knows how to build it. Some people think that making a pond at their dacha with their own hands is difficult and expensive. Now we will find out how to turn your dream into reality and consider several budget and uncomplicated options.
Content:
- Pond from an old bathtub
- Pond from an old tire
- Pond at the dacha made of concrete, brick and PVC
- Pond with waterfall
Pond from an old bathtub
If you have an unnecessary cast-iron bathtub, then you can easily build a pond out of it. To begin, select the location where the pond will be located. Next, take measurements from the bathtub and draw exactly the same contours on the ground. Now you have to dig a hole, the depth of which will correspond to the depth of the bath. To prevent the accumulated water from flowing out, plug two holes in the bathroom with a cloth or other objects: the side and the bottom.
Now you can safely install the bathtub in the ground! After the cast iron product has sat perfectly in the hole, you can fill it with water to the very top. Your pond is almost ready, all that remains is to decorate it and give it an aesthetic appearance.
The white edges of the bathtub that peek out from the outside can be repainted black or dark gray. However, the outlines of the bathtub are difficult to hide, so we decorate them with vegetation and try to hide the open sides behind decorative greenery. There are plants that grow directly in water.If you properly care for them and trim them, they will hide the origin of your pond as much as possible.
Some owners of such reservoirs do not consider it necessary take care of its contents, so they never change the water. However, you should not do this, because then such ponds do not last long and have an unaesthetic appearance. Summer residents recommend doing a complete inspection of the reservoir at the beginning and end of the season: cleaning the internal walls of adhering vegetation and mold, and also removing silt from the bottom that has formed due to falling leaves and other plant debris.
You can plant your favorite flowers along the edges of the pond:
- Blue bells
- Water iris
- Ferns
- Picturesque cereals
- Spot loosestrife
Pond from an old tire
Almost every dacha owner probably has an old big tire. If it’s just lying there, then it’s time to build a mini-pond out of it.
We take measurements of the tire and dig a hole with the appropriate parameters. If you want to tighten the edges of the future pond, then the hole can be made a little smaller. We install the tire in the finished dug funnel, and cover the bottom with clean sand.
Before you fill the pond with water, you need to waterproof it. Any store that specializes in gardening has a special flooring that prevents water from leaving the pond. It is advisable to buy it with a reserve so that 50-60 cm of material extends beyond the edges.
Some summer residents replace this material with thick plastic filmfolded twice or plastic.But as practice shows, such reservoirs are not durable, a leak may occur during the season, and after winter a thorough reconstruction of the entire structure is required. Therefore, it is recommended not to skimp on material, as this will save a lot of time and effort.
Now let's start insulating the walls of the future pond. The material that we left as a reserve will rise on its own and fix the walls of the tire as soon as we install it in the pit. Thanks to this, water will not be able to penetrate beyond the pond, and the film will be perfectly prevented from slipping.
The walls of an old tire can be lined with decorative stones. Here you need to use imagination and skill. First we lay out large, shapeless stones, and then smaller stones or pebbles. Between decorative structures you can plant bright green plants that love moisture.
Some people use this pond for swimming. This is not surprising - in the hot summer time you just want to plunge into cool water. Therefore, when framing external and internal walls, it is worth using stone material to a minimum, as it can injure you or your child.
Pond at the dacha made of concrete, brick and PVC
To build this type of reservoir, it should be taken into account that its depth will be at least 60 centimeters and its circumference will be 2.5 meters. If you want to keep fish in it, then the depth should be at least a meter. If your chosen location allows you to build it, then go ahead!
Everyone knows that a pond is the decoration of any garden and dacha, so many who like to decorate their plot of land can happily try themselves in the role of a mini-architect.
The larger the pond, the more beautiful it is, so if your territory allows you to make a rather large pond, then take advantage of this opportunity. The pond should not be located in the shade or under trees; choose a place where the irrigation hose can easily be reached.
First, you should draw an even circle where your future body of water should be. After the work is completed, the inner surface should be covered with building materials to prevent water from going underground. The edges of the hole should be made slightly sloping, and while digging, remove all protruding roots and stones.
Place sand 5-7 cm thick at the bottom of the future reservoir so that the building materials lying on top do not sag. Next, lay a layer of PVC so that 30 centimeters remained to cover the rest of the reservoir. After this, we cover it with bricks until the PVC layer becomes invisible. Now you can level the layer with concrete and proceed to laying the tiled layer. After all the work has been completed, we wait several days or a week until everything “sets” well.
Our pond is almost ready! All that remains is to decorate it and fill it with water. Some people like to plant landscaping at the bottom of such a pond. This is easy to do: just place pots with ornamental plants on the bottom of the pond before filling it with water. However, you should take into account the height of the pot, because all the landscaping and the edge of the pot should be above the surface of the water. You can also introduce living creatures into such pools: fish, snails.
Pond with waterfall
We already know how to make a pond, but installing a waterfall is an interesting, exciting thing, and if everything works out correctly, the landscape will become picturesque.
A ready-made waterfall can be purchased at the market or in a specialized store, so we will find a lot of options and choose the one that we like.
To install a finished waterfall, you should surround the chosen place with stones, which are extremely important in this structure and play a big role in the beauty of the reservoir. If the purchased waterfall is large, then it is best to make it cascading. To do this, the structure should be laid out with large flat stones. This will allow the water to flow smoothly, and in order for it to foam and bubble, you need to install stones with natural protrusions.
Laying stones will not require much effort and skill, because they can be placed in the desired way and held together with a mixture of cement.
When building this architecture, you should install a hose through which water will flow from the pump to the waterfall. The pump can be installed deep or dry. The deep-well type pump is characterized by quiet operation, and it consumes very little energy. If a dry type pump is installed, then it must be hidden in a box, as it is afraid of precipitation.
Now we have learned that building a pond at the dacha with your own hands is very simple and quick. The main thing in this matter is to show interest, hard work and then the result will be excellent!
Video instructions for equipping a pond at your dacha with your own hands:
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Comments
You need to clean it more often than twice a season. Otherwise it will turn into a swamp. Once a week, be sure to catch all the attacking debris.