Hi Marcia! I am with you on your pond idea. My first pond was ground level and I soon tired of crawling around on my knees to tend it. If you recall, my current pond is a 100 gallon rubbermaid trough raised up to a comfortable sitting level with a bench on the rim. Trimming the plants and "petting" the goldfish are a joy rather than a chore. The only problem I have is with occasional algae blooms which is why you may want to reconsider a small pump to circulate the water some. Also the sound of slashing water is so soothing!

Just a thought, to soften the look of the trough itself maybe you can plant something like Sansevieria around the edges. Keep it thinned enough to allow the trough to peek through!

Here is a picture of my "pondlet" to encourage you -

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nova

I've seen quite a few times the large pre-formed ponds with rocks included on Craig's List, really cheap. Actually, I've seen horse troughs on there as well.

Also, you can go with a solar power pump. But, you really need to spend the money for a decent one.

Honestly, I don't see the higher sides stopping a raccoon. It probably would stop an iguana. I have 3 ponds and all 3 at this point I have basically had to let go. The iguanas have absolutely destroyed them.

Hi Marcia! I agree with Susan. The idea is great, but perhaps you can cover some of the side with tall plants and miscellaneous pots. Maybe mirror some of the plants inside and out of the pond.

Oh Susan, I've started a bottle path to the pond in the veggie garden! It's a real pain in the back, but it has great character, plus I'm recycling, kind of ;)

Hate to send someone to another site. But Gardenweb has a site Ponds and Aquatic plants. Alot of the posters there have the watering trouths as ponds. They also are a fountain of knowledge. I have a pond that I built. they were very helpful with pumps and plants. By the way I bought my pump at Lowes and it is satisfactory.

Thanks, everyone. I actually found this photo at the Pond Forum. And I love the country look of the trough, so I don't want to cover it with rocks, but I do intend to put it in a bed with a certain amount of plants surrounding it. I don't want it just plopped down "nekkid" in the center of the yard. It will be integrated.

We will probably end up with a pump, but I have visited the "Pond Guy" (that's what we call him) who exhibits at the Seminole Springs Nursery festivals, and he has ponds of all types with no pump systems at all. There are ways to make it work effectively, and I'd like to try that first.

Susan, I love your pond, and remember it well. You've done a super job with it.

I don't want a preformed pond to use above ground, as I like the look of the horse troughs. I actually wish I could get a vintage container like I've seen in mags, mainly used for sugar cane processing. But since that's unlikely, I'll settle for the trough.

It's been my experience that raccoons will not usually dive into deep water. They like to wade in and wade out, which they can't do with raised sides. Or if there is a bench, they will certainly sit on that and try to fish. But I think the raised sides will discourage them. Especially since they aren't a very big problem in our area. We'll see, though.

Thanks for the input folks!

Marcia

Only thing I have to say about the galvanized container is that under certain conditions, the zinc in the galvanizing can become quite toxic to fish. If you go with such a container and it is not aqualined or something, you may want to avoid using any costly or "special" fish in the pond. pH does greatly affect the toxicity of the zinc to the fish. If you can keep the pH well above 7 all the time, it is less likely that the zinc will dissolve and hurt the fish.

Here is a link that might be useful: TCLynx

If you are trying for "vintage".... how about the horse trough with one of those decorative windmills and make the windmill appear to be fill the trough?

I've always wanted to try one in a galvanized trough too, manature, but wondered if the water would get too hot?

I use galvanized containers for smaller water gardens all the time, and so far, no problems with plants, fish or heat. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've had them for years in different sizes. In the smaller gardens, I do fill them to overflowing often enough to keep the water really fresh, which is something I probably wouldn't do in a bigger tank. But I know people use them for fish and plants frequently, so I'm probably going to take a chance on that. I won't be putting expensive fish in, though. I would just go with plain goldfish and some guppies, mollies and the like. Just to keep down mosquito larvae and add a bit of motion.

The tank pictured above has goldfish in it, btw, and the poster seemed pleased with the set up. But I will keep all this additional info in mind, if I should start to have problems.

And a set up with a windmill or pump would be nice, but since we do plan to put an in-ground pond in this spot, with a stream and small waterfall, I probably won't go that far right now. We'll see how it works out first. I can always add decorative bits later.

Thanks again for the input, folks! Appreciate it! Here is a photo of a smaller, vintage galvanzied tub of mine.

Marcia

How about checking some of these for ideas.
This was the Ace Hardware pond tour in Brevard County.I missed this year anyone else get picures?

Here is a link that might be useful: Pond tour