Lots of work building ponds!!
Looks like you have most of the hard part done.
I am sure it will be beautiful when finished,
like the rest of your garden!

It is going to be SO COOL when it's done !!! Great job!

Hi Cait. Your pond is going to be great! I like your overflow idea. So much more fun and interesting working 'with' the land instead of fighting against it. Will you be able to grow any water plants in the top pond? There are some beautiful waterlilies. Cattails are cool too.

What is that tall spikey stuff in the middle of your first picture? I like the looks of that.

Love your bridge! I have a young ginko that is sitting out in the yard all by itself and I was thinking of making a little area around it with a bridge like that. My SIL always called it a little bridge of 'comming and going'. I don't know if that was from a movie or what. Interesting building/shed in back of the bridge.

Looks like fairyland with all the clematis seedheads!
Thanks for the pics. Always intersting to see what you're doing. Have fun with your project!
Donna

I love it all! What a hard worker you are!
kathy

Wow! Really nice!
I'm so jealous of your bridge. Wish I could find something like that.
Great job!

Hey...Bridge over troubled waters!!!heh heh! So this is my hole...er, future pond site...and my plants and 6 golfish, waiting in these tubs till I get the pond done!!! Have been very frustrated as I don't seem to be getting any DH help...grrrr! This is just a cement raised garden bed, that I want to raise another 8inches with concrete building blocks...so small dogs can't be stupid and jump in!lol! Or dig 8inches deeper, can't decide yet...Still have to build a retaining wall(that won't cave in like the one I just did by myself) and then decide which is the easier softer way, build higher...or dig deeper....I would Love to be at the stage you are with your pond extravaganza!!!!

Holey Buckets, calamity, that's not a pond, it's a swimming pool!!! Just had to make that comment...it will be awesome! Get that DH out there helpin'! LOL!

Cait, I'm lovin' your progress...love how you've tied in the 3 ponds ... and the bridge is a great save! Will you be having a pump or filter? If so, (and if you haven't already thought about all this), I would kind of "waterfall" the high pond with a filter system. I'm going to attach a couple pics...one is my son's (a small pond, but very nice) & he uses a rubbermaid tub (covered with bamboo-like material to disquise it) filled with filter material & those black plastic ball thingys ... and has his pump directly in the water pumping. It's awesome...here's the pic:

{{gwi:175412}}

I'm glad you've saved the tadpoles! They are so cute! I love the frogs...the toads make quite a mess with eggs but we haul them down to the creek when we can catch them laying! Here's Mr. Bullfrog, I just took pic the other day...and here's an older pic of Leopard frogs...they are so cute. And to answer another question, yes, I wouldn't use a perch on your wren houses & make the hole l-l/8"...hope you'll draw more of them...so much fun to watch!

{{gwi:130770}}

{{gwi:175414}}

Ok, one more & I'll quit...I need to put some in an album with a link...will do that soon. Here's my GJ "fisherboy"...but I hope you can grow Elephant Ears there... here's mine taken a couple wks. ago...growin' more each day in the heat & humidity now...summer did get here!

{{gwi:175416}}

Luv your "Freckles!"
I always luv the flower but the seed pods are awesome! Your bridge will be wonderful over the tub area! I painted our's brown because it was so BIG, it overpowered the original pond! Keep us updated! More pics, please! TFS! Jeanne S.

thanks for the seeds cait1

Wow, now I need a yard to build a pond! Cait1, I can't wait to see yours when it is done. I know it will look gorgeous. Calamity_j, that looks like an Olympic size pond! lol! A lot of work but I bet it will be awesome when it is finished. JeanneS, your son's pond is lovely. It looks like something that would work in a small urban yard. And I love the frogs and the fisher boy too!

Cait1, I got a little depressed reading your post. I know when your spring arrives, our summer is ending. :'^( *sniffle, sniffle*

Nice pond, lot of work!! Can't wait to see it landscaped!! You are always so creative!! The Clematis was lovely but do all those seed pods start news ones all over your yard?? Calamity, that pool of your's is a huge undertaking!! Wow! Jeanne the pool at your son's is lovely & looks so inviting to sit & sip some ice tea on a lazy day!! Jan

Figured I'd better clarify...The pond will only be 1/3rd of that garden bed, the front part of the pic, 10ft long, 6ft wide and 4ft deep. The next 1/3rd will be a another bog type pond, then the last 1/3rd will be a veggie patch. The guys I hired to do my fence had their backhoe here anyways soooo, but they got carried away(Iwasn't here, DH was giving instructions...(cuz he can't look like he doesn't know what his wife wants?!!)and so they hauled out a lot of top soil that didn't need to go...AND I had wanted it(the hole) to be in the middle...but making lemonade....How am I gonna haul the 15x20ft pond liner over to this!?! I want to build a gazebo/pergola? over this and hang danglies(garden bling) to keep the herons away....

Thank you all for your sweet comments. Today I was feeling all that work. I'm also starting my kitchen reno - I'm a glutton for punishment. HA!

garden2garden - the tall spikey plants are {{gwi:175394}}. It sends out these spectacularly huge flower spikes with red flowers that the native wattle bird loves to feed on. They must be at least 12 feet tall. I have seeds from them flying all over my garden. They are exteremely hardy and will grow in Canada. They seem to be popular in the UK.

I haven't decided what plants I'll put in the pond. I'm having trouble figuring what plants to put around the ponds! HA!

catalinagrey - I didn't really find the bridge - it was here when I bought the house but stuck under some bushes at the side of the house. Weird when ya figure they had a pond.

janey - that aint no pond. Like luna said, it's an OLYMPIC SIZED SWIMMING POOL!!!! HAHAHA You crack me up. Always doing it bigger n' better than anyone else. YOU GO GIRLFRIEND!! My DH doesn't help me one bit, either. But that's cuz I tell him he just gets in my way! HA! I don't play well with others. Too picky.

These ponds are very small. Nothing huge like what you have so not all that difficult to make. I dug the holes in one day.

Instead of building up the sides why don't you just get a piece of rebar mesh - like the kind I used in my trellis for the entrance of Our Lady Garden - only lay it across the top the keep it down with stones or something. I think that might be easier.

Jeanne - all those ponds are BEAUTIFUL!! I won't be messing with either pumps or filters. Not necessary here. I was talking to my neighbor about that today and asked her what she thought and she never heard of such a thing HAHAHA It was funny. Said she was thinking of putting in a pond, too, and I said she just wanted to steal my frogs! We had a good laugh at that. I would love it if she put in a pond, too. The more frogs the merrier. I don't think we have toads around here. I'll try to find one to take a pic. They are really tiny things.

HAHAHAHA Yes, luna... soon the leaves will be changing up by you and I'll have all the fun in the sun! Hopefully we won't have nother summer like last time. And I'm praying no fires, either. I've had my fill of those.

Jan - I've yet to see the clematis self-sow anywhere in my garden. I wouldn't mind, though. I'd just pluck it up and give it to a friends or sell it. Clematis is very expensive here and I'm sure the nurseries wouldn't mind me giving them a stockpile.

To those who asked for seed... they were mailed out today.

Jane - you just confused me. HAHAHAHA Why a veggie patch next to the pond? They should be separate IMHO. You'll be adding a lot of fertilizer to your veg patch and if there's run-off into the pond it'll kill your fish.

Three ponds together, you really have a lot of energy.They are going to be lovely. I have to be careful about mosquitoes here, I have one pond with a fountain and pump that helps keep the mosquitoes at bay.I also have to drain my pond and clean out leaves and things every Spring. Jeanne, about those frogs, I built my pond right outside my bedroom window so I could hear the fountain. In the Spring the mating frogs are so loud and plentiful that we (DH)have to catch them and haul them away to a creek also.

I love your three tiered ponds! I think the salvaged bridge looks great as it is. I'd love a bridge like that to go across our brook. Only needs a few replacement floor boards. I bet the birds will love your ponds. I look forward to seeing it finished with gnomes inhabiting the area.

Love your beautiful pond too, Jeanne. And Calamity your pit really is reminiscent of an Olympic sized pool! Never leave a hubby alone with workmen! I learned this in a few instances during our house reconstruction, but like you, I was busy.

Your pond is looking great! Can't wait to see it all finished and supplied with gnomes! LOVE the Freckles clematis...beautiful!

WOW!~ WOW!~ WOW!

You guys have AWESOME ponds! I am so jealous. If only I had more space than my little suburban plot. Oh well! Maybe someday...meanwhile...thanks for sharing. I'll enjoy yours!

~~Mimi

I love your pond creation(-: The two flowing into the bathtub is perfect! That bridge is going to be so awesome place there too! What a great job you have done so far!!!!
No fair its Spring there though!!!! I am ready for cooler weather though(-:

I love everyone elses ponds too. What a great post(-:

I love to see everyone's ponds - too much work for me but I can live vicariously thru all of your pics! :-) TFS

Cait, as soon as I saw the pic of your old bridge I thot to myself "I hope she doesn't paint that, it has such a nice patina"! However, unless you have some old boards hanging around to use for repair they will be a different color. You could of course just dry brush it with paint to give a hint of color and let it look weathered. You might also use some sort of sealer so it doesn't degrade further. Lovely bridge. I look forward to seeing your ponds finished, it will be worth the work and pain!

Cait I just love your ponds. The 3 tier idea is super! What to plant is the hardest part of gardening, I think.

Great stuff in here.
Cait those natural ponds are beautiful!
I'm going to have to start thinking about this for next year I think. Maybe I will have time then!
Thanks for all the pics ya'll