Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Shape of the pond

Hey Guys,

I am an architect and i am so badly obsessed with the shape and the design of the pond. I will tell you a little about it.

First of all i don't like farm ponds that have a shape of a circle or a rectangle. It looks so dull to me. It doesn't make me feel good. Here is the drawing of the way i feel.

Link to larger image: http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7397/huc4.png



And i made some drawings about how the shape of the lake could be? I have 2 options currently. First one is a simple 3 part pond and the other one is a pond with a part which looks like a river. Here another drawing.

Link to the larger image: http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7969/c43a.png




I am not trying to teach anything to anybody. I just drew and written down my feelings and i might be totally wrong about these. So i need to get some critics.

I think that i might be wrong because i don't usually see people having ponds similar to my drawings? I wonder the reason behind that. By the way, you probably already guessed but the pond will be excavated, without a dam.

TY

Hi Fatih,
I don't think you are wrong in your desire to have different vantage points. I think the smaller the pond is, the harder it is to accomplish it. Its that game of give and takes too. For example, you like the look of trees along a river, but others might say trees close to a pond are very bad thing. Is the nutrient load ( of the leaves) that goes into a pond more important to control for you, or is the view. There are probably too many reasons to list as to why each shape may be good or bad. Fish species, aeration, are probably a few. Each one of us has to make these personal choices and then some are dictated by nature itself.

Of your designs, I like the third one along the top ( bottom diagram ), but again it's a personal choice. In my pond I have one narrow straight section that goes of the main body which is somewhat kidney shaped. I never actually measured it, but I would guess it is 120' long and around 50' wide. I don't think I would like it any narrower than that. You can fish that whole area pretty good just from shore. With a canoe in the pond, it feels a bit narrow tho, but if that's the space you have, so be it!! The points you are thinking about are nice places to fish off too. I think it makes a pond more intriguing and adventurous when you can't see the whole thing at one time.

And I have seen many pictures on here where the ponds are anything but round or square. Have fun with it, and enjoy the process.

Chips, thanks for sharing your thoughts with me.

Now you made me think more widely. What are the pros and cons of having a pond like the ones i drew?

What does it have to do with fish species or aeration?


I was getting ready to write my questions about trees in a couple weeks but i guess now is the right time.

What happens if the nutrient load goes into the pond? I suppose that when leaves get inside the pond they will add nitrogen into water and that will eventually result in having lots of weeds. Am i right?

Another consideration i have is that i will have a pond with pvc liner. If trees are too close to the pond will they damage my liner? That would be a disaster for me. Maybe having a concrete layer over the liner might be a solution.

Other thing is even if i have a concrete layer on the bottom, will trees reach the water? Because they will suck up all the water. I have limited water sources. So , i need to consider that.

Since i have limited water, having trees close to the pond edge has a great advantage that no other solution can provide: Shade ! When i have big trees the shade should minimize the evaporation.

If you have the liner, then no water should be soaking into the surrounding ground. Tree roots seek water, so then with the liner they shouldn't be going after the pond like normal scenarios. My thought on it anyway. The leaves will add to muck build-up in the bottom of the pond. You can always choose tress, plants and shrubs that are the most advantageous to your needs, like least aggressive root systems, dense foliage to eliminate seeing the other sections of pond, etc.

Another thought is if you are going with a liner, could the unique shape of that add to the cost of it, versus just a rectangle.

I like the river like with the large area, It will give you more viewing surface area.

And I image the river like area would be shallower than the large area making the pond diverse also. and the river stretch would be great to put a bridge across!!

Sorry, i forgot to answer on this topic. Thanks guys. Precious informations really...