We would like to introduce our second author after Beatrix Sima, Alexandra Érsek, who would be writing about building a bird bath if it wasn’t for a certain “divine spark”. Luckily, she did, and thanks to that she has a very nice garden pond. It is so attractive that it won the March garden pond competition! Thank you for taking the trouble to write the story of how the pond was built! If anyone would like to do something like this, please contact us and we will be very happy to share your pride :).
In March 2011, on a whim, I decided to create a bird bath, as the feeders are a source of birds, thrushes, stiglins, tits and many more species, which I enjoy photographing.
The big “project” has begun :)! I tried using a spade – which of course didn’t bring much success because the ground was as dry and hard as concrete. Then the pick came out, which proved to be better. The little pit was sinking and like a child I picked out the treasures hidden in the ground. I’m thinking of baby heads, forks, beer bottles, the remains of a Scala bag, because our flat was used as a rubbish dump by the villagers…
As I made my way to the finish line, I had a divine spark: what if we made a little garden pond? No, it’s got room for a few small cormorants. From there, the gears just kept turning and I could see my fantastic pond in front of me.
I finished my huge pond, which may have been 5 cubic metres, but for me it was beautiful. It was getting dark and I set to work, with the help of our friend Google, to find out everything on the internet about garden ponds. The next day we went to buy pond foil, they would have “lovingly” given us geotextile, but thanks to my reasoning the night before I settled for old mats and fabric pond bags. It’s not a one-man job either, no small weight of folded up sheeting. The next day I continued my shopping, the pond filter came, powered by a UVC lamp, 2000 litre/hour pump. I started with 12 koi ponds. Well, I didn’t see them in the water for a week from then on :).
I visited several forums where I successfully made some very nice acquaintances/friends. I saw a little spark of humanity again: there are still selfless, normal people out there. They willingly answered, and still answer to this day, my silly questions, which if I read back I could cry with laughter.
My fish were getting braver, I was enjoying them and the plants.
By then I knew I couldn’t stop here, I needed a bigger pond :). In winter I fed the birds as usual and thanks to an air pump the pond didn’t freeze over completely. This was good for the fish and the birds and for my camera.
Spring came, and by this time I had already arranged with a nice pond friend that if I visited him, he would help me to build my new pond. As time allowed, we started on pond number two. Old foil out, pickaxe back in and a mass of treasured treasures (pieces of slate, glass, small spoon, baby’s head = rubbish).
Deepest point 195 cm. We progressed in steps, building horseshoes. We used 1.2 mm pond liner, again using mats instead of geotextile.
Water lilies were used at a depth of 160 cm.
The majority of the plants were collected from the surrounding ponds and disinfected for a day before being put in the water. It is best to get them from open water before the fish spawn, as unknown spawn may be found in your water later.
We travelled halfway across the country and returned home with several bags of beautiful fish. They were goldfish and mostly koi carp.
They soon took possession of the pond, and expressing their joy, the spawning began in May, the plants bursting, the water almost boiling. I wish all pond dwellers could experience this mating dance, it is exhilarating and exciting. We watched the fish hatch, they were our “children” :).
It has been several years now. I could go on about different pumps and filters, but I don’t want to bore anyone, I just wanted to give you a little taste. What I can say to those who are hesitating is that the garden will never be boring again, and it is impossible to pass by the pond without stopping to smile for at least half a minute.
