If I were to be lucky enough to be an invited guest, touring the homeowners lovely gardens, I would without a doubt ask if the head of the stream was really fed by a spring. In other words, 'is this natural or constructed'? The fact that I would even have to ask says it all. You are a craftsman of the highest order; artist, sculptor, botanist, and one helluva sexy pool boy, all rolled into one. Please let us keep peering over your shoulder as you create beautiful spaces for life to unfold.
I'm so happy I found your channel a couple of weeks ago! Nearly seen all your videos and I find them informative and inspirational. You and Dave are so talented and this is my favorite channel at the moment. Lovely pond! I wish my pond was as beautiful as this one :)
I have a plentiful supply of mind your own business which I keep putting in the pond and it dies. From watching this video I think rather than put it in the pond I should be putting it round the pond. This has turned into a lovely project. Much enjoyed. 😊
Hi Toni, thanks for your comment! M.Y.O. Business is a plant that frequents moist/shady (although will happily grow in sunny spots if kept moist) areas but NOT actually in water, so yes, definitely don’t plant this below water level/in water. However once established it will happily extend to just below the waters surface (for example within cascades it will creep down right into the cascade and actually have some of its peripherals submersed) as long as the bulk of the plant remains above the water line. Keep trying, keep it moist for a few weeks until its noticeably growing and once its taken off you’ll never be rid of it!! Best, Ed
Just wanted to thank you for making your videos, I started watching before Christmas and buy January I started digging and now I am almost finished and ready for planting. Much appreciated you making the great informative videos, thank you Can I send you a picture of the pond I built? Regards Gary
Thanks Gary, really pleased my videos were of some help and inspiration to you and I’d be delighted to see your finished results! Feel free to email me your pics on info@crystalclearaquatics.co.uk. Thanks for watching! Best Ed
Thanks! Enjoyed watching your amazing skill in all areas: design, construction, equipment, plants, maintenance. I'm inspired and will attempt my own build in the spring here in North Texas.
Wow! Thank you thats incredibly generous!! Thanks so much for watching and glad you enjoyed this video-I hope you have a scroll through some of my other videos as well!!😉 Best, Ed
Very informative videos. Your completed ponds looks very good and natural. I shall be watching your other videos for useful tips before I start to dig out the old concrete lily pond I inherited when we took over our over grown garden. As we live too far apart for you to build our new pond I will be having ago myself. With the cost of energy increasing rapidly I have my concerns about the electric running costs of a pond. Could you please tell us the electric running costs for the Oase Filtoclear 31000 you installed in the video? Many thanks.
Thanks for your kind words Martin! As running costs are rather fluid at the moment i’d suggest looking up an online electricity calculator to check current pricing but as a rough guide the filter unit consumes approx 60watts and a pump of a suitable flow rate of perhaps 15,000lph users approx 150 watts. A combined total of 210 watts running 24/7 costs approx £1.70 per day. Hope this helps and best regards, Ed
Absolutley awesome job Ed. Just stunning, especially in that garden 👌🏼👍🏼 Don’t worry… the good old English weather will soon “age” that stonework 😂 If you get chance, you should do a revisit in a year and see how it looks? Cheers 👍🏼
Thanks Alex! Yep, absolutely-I’ll be servicing this pond two or three times a year so will have lots of opportunities to see how it establishes and get a re-visit video done! Thanks as ever for your valued support!! Cheers, Ed
This is such an excellent channel and very informative and I feel I am inthe presence of the master!!! All very well and engagingly presented and has given me some good pointers for a small wildlife pond I am trying to make but with nil experience. Thanks and good luck with everything.
Gday Ed, iv just found your channel and pretty much just binged the whole lot, you do an amazing job so keep up the great work mate. Iv always had an interest in landscaping and mainly ponds as my hobbies include fish keeping and gardening and would very much be interesting in starting up my own business here in Aus to bring the joy I get from having local wildlife and serenity in my own space to others. Would you have any tips or pointers for someone with little knowledge and experience to start up a business in this field? thanks again mate and look forward to seeing more awesome content 😁👍
Hey Ash thanks for your lovely comment and my apologies for the slow response. Regarding starting up your own business; it’s difficult to really offer any constructive advice other then if its your passion then it will show with what ever work you do- people/clients will be receptive to this and before you know it from word of mouth work will flood in! I was fortunate that I spent almost 20 years working in the industry (retail water gardens/tropical fish shops) and picked up most of my skills before being able to go off on my own. A stint at a local agricultural college after school helped a little also. I started off on my own with a mix of pond/aquatic related jobs and some regular gardening work and as the pond trade picked up focussed more and more on this (which is what I specialised at I guess) and gradually dropped the gardening work (which I enjoyed and miss!) over the years I’ve definitely found simple manners, punctuality and a friendly approach counts a lot when working for yourself. Good luck mate with setting off on your own and once you do you won’t look back!! Best, Ed
really like what i've watched here. But I have a burning question: why don't you add substrate and plants in the deeper section? wouldn't it make it a more natural look and better for the fish/wildlife?
Good question! It’s all down to maintenance- the base of the pond will always accumulate sediment and substrate in the deeper sections often becomes a sediment trap, making vacuuming and sludge removal a more frequent task and a harder one to boot. Very quickly if one doesn’t vacuum out the settled deposits what ever substrate you’ve put down at the bottom of the pond becomes covered in a layer of sludge and defeats the object of having a substrate in the first place! Aesthetically it’s the peripherals and shallows where the lining is most visible and so it’s here that I’ll concentrate my efforts in concealing it with the rock edging, gravel and planting zones. Of course planting in the deeper section is definitely something I’d recommend and in this instance my clients will be introducing some larger, deeper water lilies to provide more cover. My pond I’m building however has been built with rock work and gravel from the deepest section upwards, so no liner is visible whatsoever. This will make for more frequent maintenance, but as I have all the gear that’s not such an issue!! Thanks for watching and your comment! Best, Ed
Hi there Paul, thanks for watching and commenting! Pipe diameter is dependant on flow rates and size of pond, however in general for most applications i’d be using 38-40mm/11/2” hose- the heavier duty rubberised suction hose rather then the cheaper more flexible superflex hose being my preferred choice for longevity. Very small ponds- where i’m using pumps of perhaps 6000lph or less id happily use 32mm/11/4” hose and much larger systems if pumping 20,000lph or more I’d opt for larger 50mm/2” hose. If your pump has a stepped hose tail its always best to use the largest bore hose the pump allows to ensure the pump performs to its maximum potential. Hope that helps! Best, Ed
Thanks for your kind words Jakob! In my opinion 5ft is unnecessary, particularly on a pond as small as this. However if your aim is to keep koi then the deeper the better-3ft minimum, preferably 4ft or more. For a more typical garden pond 3ft is sufficient. Most pond plants prefer water depths of 4ft max or less. If digging to 5ft consider the stability of the excavation, ensuring sides are sloped/terraced and you may find digging to that depth more of a challenge! If it were me I wouldn’t bother going so deep unless it was a koi specific pond. Hope that helps! Best. Ed
@@CrystalClearAquatics Sure you helped. It is one of the best anwers I ever got:) My bad I forgot to mention I plan on keeping some fish in this one. So I go 4-5ft in the center with a small slope and shallow surrounding area. Thanks again and hope to see more of your work!
Hi there! I don’t actually- not a huge fan of floating annuals such as lettuce or hyacinths and would rather introduce perennials that will provide cover for multiple years-thats no to say clients of mine don’t then introduce such floaters after I’ve completed the pond! Best, Ed
Thanks for watching and commenting! But why would you expect the pond to go green? With an appropriately sized filtration system any pond can be Crystal clear (hence my business name!) and this pond is no different-lovely clear water! Best, Ed
@@kevinpreston8812 ah, though you’d say that! I’m afraid it’s very difficult to maintain healthy aquatic plants in koi ponds- which are typically quite a sterile environment with the emphasis being on the livestock as the focal point. Planting can be achieved however with some thought- water lilies, provided they’re large robust varieties- can be contained in large aquatic baskets and covered in a plastic mesh, allowing the plants to grow to the surface but preventing the koi from rummaging around in the basket. Marginal plants can be grown as well-when I’m building ponds I design purpose built marginal planting zones which are sectioned off and only have shallow water covering them- too shallow for large koi, preventing them from causing any issues with the plants. Fragile oxygenators of any kind will quickly get eaten and broken up by koi- so don’t bother adding such plants at all! Hope this helps! Best, Ed
Hi there, thanks for watching- the stone used in this build was predominantly Purbeck, a type of limestone quarried in the Dorset area and popular for pond building! Best, Ed
