Do you have a pond on your property?

**QuilterMom** · 03-11-2004, 08:44 AM

Do you have a pond on your property? How large is it and how have you dealt with it if you have small children and pets?

I don't want a pond on our property, but I'm finding as we look for a homestead that it's virtually impossible to find something that doesn't have a pond. Since land here is marshy and sandy we have drainage issues and that's the reason for all the ponds. I don't want to have to deal with all the critters that will be attracted to the water though (mainly snakes and alligators). Ugh!

My ds and dogs are a concern too. Ds is drawn like a magnet to the water (he's almost fallen in every pond at homes we've looked at!) and 2 of our dogs love water and would think nothing of jumping in. Have any of you fenced off your ponds so they are not accessible? What kind of fencing did you use?

I am also amazed by the size of the ponds. All the homes on acreage here are on 1 acre, 1.25, 1.4, or 2.5 acre lots. (That's just how it all got plotted out). What irks me is the pond takes up most of the land! We looked at one home on 2.5 acres, but the pond was over an acre large itself and came within just a few feet of the back porch. Ugh! We found out that we cannot fill the pond in (county won't allow it due to the drainage issues), but we can make it smaller. Have any of you done that?

**Michelle** · 03-11-2004, 09:00 AM

We have a pond, but it's a raised pond (think raised bed garden) in our basement. I'll have to get back to you on the size as I really have no clue. If I had to guess off the top of my head, I'd say it's about the size (and shape) of a twin size bed. We have several Koi in there.

My fil and dh started with the pond "obsession" about 7 yrs ago when we lived with my fil (he has 2 outdoor ponds). When we bought our house, we didn't have the money to put a pond outside, so it's been in the basement ever since.

We don't have a very big yard, and we may be selling our house within the next 18 mos or so and have decided not to put the pond outside. We'll be giving our fish to my Fil for his ponds.

Another reason we didn't put the pond outside is that Kathryn (our older dd) was only 9 mos old when we bought the house, and we didn't want the safety issue of having one in the ground.

I don't have many recommendations about how to keep children and pets out--maybe you could drain it and cover it until the kids are older?

**guest2** · 03-11-2004, 10:39 AM

Does the big mud puddle in front of the house count?????

**forestdale** · 03-11-2004, 09:05 PM

There is a large natural pond next to our property. I must say I love it as it attracts migrating birds but it's also a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The people next door don't have children so safety is not an issue for them but their property is fully fenced so neighbourhood kids can't access the pond. Our dogs, Rosie and alice sit at our border fence and wait for the birds to arrive. Sure enough, every 4pm, or thereabouts, the birds flop out of the sky. There are mostly ducks and magpie geese. We have peacocks wandering around our neighbourhood and I've actually witnessed a mob of geese front up to two peacocks with their tales fully displayed. It was a good show.

On the positive side, could you use the water in the pond to irrigate your garden? The back border of our property is a creek which we have fenced off so the dogs can't jump in and I've often thought about getting a pump and pumping the water onto my vegie garden.

Good luck with your search.

**QuilterMom** · 03-11-2004, 09:41 PM

I hadn't thought of using the water for irrigation! Of course we'll have to check with the county on whatever we purchase and see how much we are allowed to drain to make the pond smaller. We already know the answer is a big NO to draining and filling in the pond completely and based on the amount of acreage and where the home is located will be the factors in how small we're allowed to make the pond (if at all). Who would have ever thought it would be so complicated here. Ugh!

**dz_blonde_girl** · 03-11-2004, 10:32 PM

Does the basement count? It fills up with water every spring and during hard rains in the summer! We keep crawdads in a baby pool down there during the summer for bait.

**Katybird** · 03-11-2004, 10:59 PM

We don't have one but I would love to have a nice stock tank filled with catfish. Yummmmy.

**lacyj** · 03-12-2004, 09:31 AM

We have a CEMENT pond, we made in a gully. It took 150 sacks of cement, over three weekends. It's a triangle pond, about 35 feet on each side and about 3 feet deep, in the middle. In the summer, I fill it from the well and drain it every six days, into the garden and orchard. This way, there are no misquitos or cloriene. It's big enough for a couple of air mattresses and two dogs. I use it in the summer, after work...ahhh...
In the rainy seasons, it is kept mostly empty for flood control. Before the pond, our country road would be under water if a down pour lasted more than an hour. The pond will fill to the brim in an hour of heavy rain. We leave the release pipe open and the overflow too. The road hasn't flooded since it was built and the water hasn't gone over the top of the dam yet. Knock on wood, although it's gotten close.
Ya Ma, I got a cement pond....
lacyj