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Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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Posted by hank vic aust (My Page) on Wed, Aug 17, 05 at 20:00
| I have this idea of acquiring a large (3 to 4 metre diameter) plastic cattle trough, burying it up to the rim in the garden and using it as a lily pond. Has anyone ever done this and if they have what are the pitfalls if any to beware of? Any info you can give me will be gratefully recieved as considerable expense would be involved if my idea flops. Also I would be stuck with a big plastic tank eyesore. I tried glueing the lid onto a Geddes bin and sinking that into the ground years ago but that did not work because the bin collapsed when i backfilled with soil. Maybe a water trough is made of stouter stuff. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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| Hi Hank, unfortunately a plastic (corrugated?) tank with virtical walls will not support more than a few inches of backfill.They say anyone can make a mistake but it takes a Special Kind Of Fool to make the same mistake twice.We tried to build an inground sheep dip using material that we had lying around.I became a SKOF after the second attempt.We then attached anchor braces to the top all the way around and buried them before we backfilled.This worked, but in your case it might be more practical to brace from the inside. Good luck,Peter |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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Hi
Have you thought about putting it above ground or partially buried and disguising the edges with rocks, plants etc.
You also maybe able to pick up a half water tank or similar, or maybe an old second hand swimming pool (though colour of the liner might turn you off), or you could just dig a hole and line it with a pond liner. Putting it above ground may help stop children (or drunks or someone like me) falling in. If you were in Qld, above the ground would also prevent cane toads from breeding in it but you wouldn't have to worry about that down there. Good luck with your venture.
G. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by hank vic aust (My Page) on
Thu, Aug 18, 05 at 1:09
Thanks Bullkelper and Goldhills.
I think I'll have a word with my local concrete tank supplier. Our neighbour recently installed a large frog pool in rubber liner. It cost over 12000 dollars to have designed and done by so called professioal landscape artists (bull artists). It leaks. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by meggs WA Aust (My Page) on
Thu, Aug 18, 05 at 2:17
| I think the main thing would be to fill the prospective pond with water at the same time when you are backfilling with soil. The pressure of water in the pond would hold the pressure of soil against the walls of the pond. It a normal practice to fill a new pool with water while you are backfilling because despite the fact that pools are strong they can collapse too. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by hank vic aust (My Page) on
Thu, Aug 18, 05 at 3:05
Thanks for that Meggs.
Actually I've just had another idea. I am reluctant to ditch a plastic pond for a concrete one because of the ease of handling. My new idea is to dig a hole 30cm all around bigger than the plastic stock trough and backfill with very coarse sized pine bark mulch. Or, I could back fill with vermiculite up to within 5cm of the top and then fill with pine bark. The troughs are only 60cm high. The pine mulch is light and will fit in beautifully with the surrounding planting bed. Does this sound practical? Better I discuss it now than go ahead on my own. All suggestions so far have been a great help. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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Hi Hank
We have successfully done what you are thinking of doing. After digging the hole we placed the fiberglass tub in, filled with water, then backfilled around the tub with 3cm gravel. We have about 10cm above ground and plants around the edge will cover this. Mine is a goldfish pond and is completely emptied every year for cleaning. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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| I think the stock troughs are pretty tough and it should be ok. If in doubt can you dig the hole and put a retaining wall between the pond and the dirt. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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| I have thought of doing this very thing. How much money do you save when comparing the cost of those fibreglass ponds with the troughs? Meggs and Sunshine seemed to have suggested very sensible approaches. If it was me, I would not use mulch too deeply. Love to know how it all works out. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by deejaus Melb.Vic. Aust (My Page) on
Thu, Aug 18, 05 at 21:46
Just remember Hank, that the mulch in the ground would gradually decompose. The rest sounds like a good idea to me!
cheers,
Dee. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by hank vic aust (My Page) on
Fri, Aug 19, 05 at 3:31
Thank you all for your valuable suggestions.
Robert, I cannot afford a fibreglass pond of that size (4 metres diam.) as I would probably have to purchase a fibreglass swimming pool which are usually very deep anyway. FRP ponds of 2 x1.2 metres are around $400 whilst I priced a 4 metre diameter x 0.6 deep plastic trough at $1600 two years ago. What I'll probably end up doing is to get a hole back hoed 0.3 metres bigger all around than the tank and rest it on a bed of sand. Then i'll fill in all around with insulating batts to just short of the top and finally top up with gum chips which are slow to rot. All this will take place after i get back from Spain in October. I'll let you know how it went around about Christmas time. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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| We bought a fibre-glass cattle trough a few years ago for the dogs to use for paddling in the hot weather . Then we air-conditioned the house and they forgot about it. It's never used anymore and I'd wondered if it was feasible to use it as part of a water garden. Does anyone know what I could paint the inside with as it is now a "lovely mauve colour"? We also had a very large black plastic pot, about 90cm deep, like a one of the large black flowerpots and a bit stronger, and there weren't weepholes in it. We dug this in and used it as a pond for a while. Then two of the dogs on successive days ended up in the water (which was covered in duckweed), so we emptied it. Our next effort will be fenced off from dogs and kids and drunks. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by hank vic aust (My Page) on
Sun, Aug 21, 05 at 2:13
| Barbara, dont worry about the colour. Within a few months the area below waterline will assume a natural dark olive colour because it will be covered in algae. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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| Hank,I do not see why you feel you have to put something soft around the edges. Whether it is mulch or insulation bats, it seems like you may be causing problems for yourself later on. I would be avoiding putting anything close to the trough that will attract water underneath it. If the pond is filled as you fill the gap between it and the surrounding earth with something more solid, the shape should not distort at all. But insulation bats could be a real problem. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by hank vic aust (My Page) on
Sun, Aug 21, 05 at 20:18
| Hi Robert, The reason i will put something light around the tank is to provide a filler to support the top layer of mulch since the pond will be set into a mulched native garden and will be for frogs to spawn in the chips will look OK. The reason i do not believe that filling the pond with water at the same time as i back fill outside with dirt is because my engineering background has taught me that soil is just another fluid like water but more viscous. That is the earth over time will try to flow towards the hole even though its filled with water and fill it up whilst the water which is lighter and less viscous (ie. much thinner and easily compressable)than the soil will give way to it and the tank will collapse. By sloping the walls of the hole 45 degrees away from the tank i hope to eliminate the problem. The tendency of the soil to gain its own level and, like water, flow back and fill the hole will still be present but will be delayed for many years; long after i am gone. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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| Be carefull the pond does not float off then. I have actually seen examples of fibreglsss ponds lifting and floating as a result of water runoff getting underneath. Apparently it is known to happen with fibreglass swimming pools. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by hank vic aust (My Page) on
Mon, Aug 22, 05 at 2:45
| Hi Robert. Yes, I intend to install drainage pipe away downhill from the excavation. Luckily we are situated on a bluff so drainage is easy. |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by Dasa1 W A midwest (My Page) on
Mon, Aug 22, 05 at 3:12
Hello Hank,I have a concrete cattle trough about 1.5 metres across and 800mm deep,above ground sitting on sand it has been there for 8 years now,I put ringloc wire around the entire trough and planted a Ficus pumila against the wall,as the ficus grew I wound it through the wire it has completly covered the walls and grows up over the edge,looks loverly if I was not so dumb with inserting pics you would see it,I read about making a lotus pond in a mag many years ago and this is my lotus pond,it has a bung in the side which I unscrew and let the water go if it needs cleaning,not often,I have lilies and iris and fish in it,my friend has done the same with a corrogated iron trough hers is about 3 metres across and works just fine,the trough was made by the local bloke and he had a truck with a crane to place it in situ,did not mind me giving orders as to it`s placement,and we had to get it level.I had the hose running in it as he drove away.
If someone can tell me how to insert a pic I will post it so you can see it
Or send me your email and I will send the pic |
RE: Garden ponds from cattle troughs
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- Posted by hank vic aust (My Page) on
Mon, Aug 22, 05 at 3:44
| Great way to go Dasal! I once saw a giant clay pot in Bali. It was about 2 metres across and 1.5 metres deep and filled with Koi carp, tropical waterlilies and lotus. Looked around for a similar pot in Oz but could not find one and probably could not afford it anyway. But your method is a wonderful innovation which i may copy. Thank you. |
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