Hi Kponder,
I'm sorry I can't answer your specific question. I was just wondering how close you will be digging to your spruces? I'd hate for you to damage or kill them with the digging (unless you wanted to get rid of them).

My pond is about three feet from a Ponderosa pine, so I get lots of needles in the pond. I have heard that pine needles acidify soil, but I haven't noticed a huge acidification effect from the needles. The biggest problem is the pine needles don't go into the vac hose very well. This means a lot of manual cleaning of the vac hose and pipes as I vacuum. My pine needles float for a few days before they sink to the bottom of the pond, so I am able to get a lot of them out with the rake. All in all I'd say the needles aren't any more difficult than the leaves of the oak trees.

I'm not sure the above applies to spruce needles. Since they are shorter, you might not have the vac problems. And I'm not sure about the pH issues with spruce either.

I just thought of one more thing. My Ponderosas produce huge amounts of pollen, so the surface of the pond looks dusty during pollen season. This might be reducing water clarity some, though my pond seems pretty clear most of the time.

Thanks for the input. I am planning on digging the pond two feet deep at the center, shallower at the edges(closer to the trees) and then building a brick wall up one foot to make the pond three feet deep in the center, slanting up to just 1 foot or so at the edges. Hopefully, I can stay away from major roots!

kponder.......FYI........I used to live in a house with Pine Trees. NOT a good idea! They kept my pond very dirty. I was constatnly fishing them out. They did not affect the water quality that I know of, but I was always nervous about the fish eating them. My fish liked to eat the grass that flew into the pond when we would mow the yard, so i figured they would eat the pine needles too. But those tings are sharp! I would suggest a net over the pond when you are not out enjoying it, to catch the needles.
Amanda

My water garden/pond is abut 2 feet in front of a pine tree and I have never had any problems. I use a pool skimmer that is on a long pole to swipe up any leaves or needles that fall into the pond. The fish don't pay any attention to them. In fact, the density of the tree prevents many leaves from other trees falling into the water.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:36413}}

I live in a pine tree forest and have 3 ponds with goldies and have had koi. As mentioned in an earlier post, the needles float for a good while. There is time to use a net to net them out before they sink. Skimmers are not that effective because the needles are too large to pass into an average size wier.
I have never had a problem with fish eating the needles.
If the needles are allowed to decompose on the bottom, they will release a noxious gas. Best to keep them out.

Any organic matter than falls into a closed system pond and rots needs to be removed, including pine needles.

I find them harder to scoop out and they sink pretty fast too. I don't have pine trees just over my pond but nearby in the wood (about 40 feet away), but the trees are over 100 feet in height. When the pines shed their older needles and the prevailing wind catches them they do blow in the pond.

You can put a pond anywhere but bear in mind the extra work involved removing leaves and needles, etc. Nets don't catch the needles as well as leaves and they hang up in crevices sometimes.

Oh the whole I'd say I dislike pine needles more than big, flat leaves. I don't test my water anymore as the readings never differed over the first couple of years. If anything I would welcome some sofening of the water since we are a solid 8.5ph with high Kh which is an excellent buffer for ph swings.