The big pond was pretty sad looking this spring, which made it easier to say goodbye.
Once the Upper Pool was redone, Mark began by emptying the big pond. He used a diverter valve (white section) on the pond pump to send the water off to the side, instead of up to the top pool as we'd been doing for 24 years.
The water could then be sent wherever in the garden we wanted it via this 75' long blue hose.
Once most of the water was gone, it revealed all the oxygenator plants, potted water lilies and goop. We were able to give lilies and oxygenators to friends with water gardens.
Once the pond was empty of water, the faithful pump was pulled. It could move 5,400 gallons of water per hour.
At this point Mark was working in waders or Wellies in the pond trying to get everything out that was revealed as the water disappeared.
Mark pulled out all kinds of edge rocks and small stones that he wanted to reuse and made piles of them outside the pond edges. He piled muck on the top "shelf" of the pond interior so he could begin to cut out the rubber layer. The rubber and the carpet layer underneath it took a tremendous amount of time and effort to cut through and remove.
This top of this wall ended just under the surface of the pond water, separating the main pond from the bog. The wall let water into the bog and kept the soil from washing into the pond. These two rocks were standing in the water.
This shows the limestone wall around the pond. Some rubber has been removed and the carpet layer has been revealed.
Now the carpet layer is gone in part of the pond and Mark is piling dried out debris in the deepest level of the pond — 3 feet below ground level.
This is the sand layer hard-packed after being under 7,500 gallons of water for 24 years. The lowest layer is full of organic debris. The area at the bottom of the photo is the former "Pebble Beach" which was just slightly under water at the end with the round stone.
Mark added the carpet layer when we built the pond as extra protection so tree roots would not puncture the rubber liner. It was clear that all kinds of big roots had been stopped just as he hoped. You can see some rubber still in place under the walls and big bog rocks.
Emptying the pond was the first step of this project. It was much harder and took longer than I think Mark had hoped. But all through the summer he wore protective clothing and boots, drank lots of water and was as mindful and careful as I hoped he'd be.
Next up: Filling it in.
Such monumental tasks, both creating and finally dismantling this pond that "lived large" in your garden for so long.
Posted by: Barbara H. | Monday, October 11, 2021 at 07:56 AM
What a lot of work! The results will be worth it though. Is all that goop, sludge, organic debris compostable? What do you do with it?
Posted by: Elizabeth | Monday, October 11, 2021 at 08:18 AM
Wow, wow, wow!! I can't imagine many people besides Mark to have the patience and energy to do this on his own. I'm glad he took his time and drank plenty of water. Were you able to find a new home for the pump? I'm glad you mentioned Fred and Ethel in the last post, as I'd been thinking about them.
Posted by: Kristin | Monday, October 11, 2021 at 08:50 AM
BARBARA — I love that image: "Lived large"!
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Monday, October 11, 2021 at 09:22 AM
ELIZABETH — It was compostable but there was more than we could handle. So we took it to the city compost site. Mark dried some of it out and put it back in the hole and we're hoping that does not cause a problem down the road.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Monday, October 11, 2021 at 09:24 AM
KRISTIN — Would you believe that as he was finishing up he broke the pump! And you are right that it would take someone with Mark's vision and patience to do the grunt work to get this started. We were both surprised at how many decisions he had to make right from the beginning that could not have been made by a landscape company.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Monday, October 11, 2021 at 09:28 AM
Your earlier post on how the pond was put together 24 years ago helped to emphasize the difficulties associated with dismantling it. What a job! I'm glad the two of you got through the process without injury - and with your sanity intact.
Posted by: Kris P | Monday, October 11, 2021 at 12:00 PM
KRIS P. — Your mention of sanity reminded me of how many disagreements/confusions we had with each other in building the pond. I asked a lot of questions this time, made lots of suggestions but we were generally in agreement and good spirits about this big job.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Monday, October 11, 2021 at 12:36 PM