Adding a Pond,Step 4: Add a Decorative Rock Border

The Happy Ducks are getting a pond and they are thrilled. This post and the others in the add a pond series are brought to you by smartpond®

I’m happy to report that the duck pond thanks to smartpond® is all finished! It’s been a fun project, learning how to add a pond, but the ducks are the happiest about the whole endeavor. The last post in this series took us to adding the water circulation system and filling the pond. In this post we will finish up with all of the “prettification.”

We left off with the Happy Ducks giving the newly filled pond a bit of a taste. They love to run out to their pond in the morning and grab a drink. But as you can see the black “weed block” is still quite visible and rather unattractive. It is time to get that all covered up with some drain rock to add a decorative touch.

We are very lucky to have a friend with a pit and he told the hubby to head over and take what he needed. He really didn’t need that much for this project – he used about 1/2 a yard. He loaded it into his little trailer and brought it home. He then moved it to his wheelbarrow and wheeled it into the goat pen.

He was then able to spread it around to make a nice border for the pond. This serves two purposes; it looks pretty and it acts as a “foot scrubber” for the ducks’ little webbed feet. The rocks will help to remove some of the dirt, mud and other stuff they pick up walking around the goat pen.

So are you ready to see the completed duck pond? This Happy hen will lead the way. (As you look at the photos and the video you will only note three ducks – don’t worry! One Happy Duck is sitting on a clutch of eggs and we are hoping to soon have Happy Ducklings!)

Ta-da! You can see what a great job the hubby did spreading the rocks. The pond looks really lovely with them as a border. We then added the floating plants we had purchased and one more unexpected addition….

…Dedo, my gargoyle. Dedo came with us from our house in New Jersey. He traveled in the trailer and he definitely looks more at home sitting outside by the pond than inside by our wood stove. I’m considering additional gargoyles – I do love them.

The floating plants were much enjoyed by the ducks. As we suspected they were quickly devoured as snax. They didn’t last 24 hours. Poor plants.

The ducks are in the pond quite often. I so enjoy watching them swim around and enjoy themselves. The drake is very protective of his hens. If a chicken or rooster comes over to drink out of the pond he goes over and chases them away. He keeps a very close eye on all of his hens.

Even if he thinks one is going off the deep end.

OK – maybe I’m the one going off the deep end. Either way I thank smartpond for all of the enjoyment this pond has provided. But I must turn back to something important just for a minute…

smartpond® also provided us with water treatments to help keep our pond water clear. Since our pond project is a duck pond it’s a little different than an ornamental pond. The ducks well, poop in the pond, so that creates issues that don’t occur with ponds that don’t have living creatures in them every day. The ducks and chickens – despite the best efforts of Mr. Happy Duck – drink the water in the pond so we want to be very careful as to anything we add to the water because we eat the eggs both birds provide. So far we have had a little bit of an algae problem but nothing we have not been able to control. It’s so wonderful that there are so many options for people with different needs.

I’ve made a little video so you can see how happy the ducks are in their pond. If you can’t see it, you can find it on YouTube HERE

Please go to smartpond‘s website to find ideas for layouts, to ask questions and find some great DIY projects. You can use their pond calculator to figure out what you need for your specific pond project.

smartpond products are conveniently available at Lowes

YOU CAN LEARN MORE AT SMART-POND.COM

PLEASE FOLLOW SMARTPOND® ON FACEBOOK/TWITTER/PINTEREST/YOUTUBE/GOOGLE+

Be sure to check out the other posts in this series:

An Upgrade for the Happy Ducks – We’re Building a Duck Pond

How to Add a Pond, Step 1 – Dig a Hole

How to Add a Pond, Step 2 – The Pond Liner

How to Add a Pond, Step 3 – The Water Circulation and Filtering System