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Water Features

A Gift for Grapevine

by Matt Boring

TexasPonds.com

  Earlier this year I was privileged to be part of a group of pond-building professionals that came from all over the state of Texas to donate r time to renovate an old leaky concrete pond in the beautiful Herman Park Botanical Gardens in Grapevine, TX in the DFW metroplex.  The worksite was on a really nice slope and would present us the opportunity to create several dramatic drops.  The pond further up the hill had been renovated a couple of years earlier.  It was now a complete naturally functioning aquatic ecosystem with waterfalls, fish, plants, and a constructed wetlands filter to boot.  Our goal would be to convert the existing concrete shell of a pond which had absolutely no filtration into a water garden to match the upper water feature.

  The upper pond had been renovated thanks to Whiz-Q Stone in nearby Ft. Worth.  Mike Whisenand had donated the equipment and coordinated the labor to get the job done.  He was also the man behind this plan.  Not only did he provide all the pond components for the job, he also brought about 25 tons of stone and 15 yards of gravel on his company's trucks AND had rented a SkyTrack to lift the heavy boulders and position them in the pond.  To make things just a little more complicated, thunderstorms were brewing in the area and to keep from tearing up the grass at the botanical garden, we had to bring in about 30 pieces of plywood for the Sky Track to drive on.  They would be holding a groundbreaking ceremony the following day for a new section of the gardens and we could NOT leave a muddy mess behind.  

  On the first morning, we began tearing apart the old concrete waterfall to make room for a Grande BIOFALLS biological filter that would be hidden inside the new waterfall we would create.  This unit can filter up to 10,000 gallons of water so it would be perfect for the size of pond we were dealing with.  Multiple layers of fabric underlayment were laid into the concrete shell of the old pond to protect the liner from the large heavy boulders that would be required to make everything look proportional.  After that, a single piece of 45-mil fish-safe EPDM liner was spread out over the fabric.  Since there were two bridges already in place, the liner had to be carefully threaded under them and spread out to cover the old concrete walls of the pond. 

  An old friend of mine, Brian Helfrich, had come down from Aquascape Inc. in Chicago to oversee the entire project and to instruct some of the newer pond-builders on how to work on large scale water features.  As he and I stood looking at the skimmer at the lowest level of the upper pond we started studying the possibility of  tying the two water features together into one massive water feature that would start at the top of the hill and end at the bottom.  Since there was already a constructed wetlands filter (or bog filter) operating on the upper pond, we knew we'd have more filtration than we could ever need.  “What do you think?” he asked.  “Well, it will be a little more work, but it's the only way to really do it right.” I replied and he agreed.  As he went back to lead the action in the pond, I began pumping the water from the upper pond and catching the Koi that were in there. 

  The old skimmer was removed and a new one was placed at the lowest part of the water feature.  This skimmer would house two 7500 gph pumps.  One would feed the bog filter and the upper small BIOFALLS and the other would feed the new Grande BIOFALLS that we were already in the process of installing.  With 15,000 gallons of water flowing through here each hour, the sound would be magnificent.  I rebuilt the pond's wall where the old skimmer had been and created a new low place on the edge of the lower pond so that it would spill easily into the new part of the pond we were building.  The liner from the upper pond was then seamed together with the liner from the lower pond to create one gigantic liner to prevent leaks from forming.

  The job of placing the large rocks into the pond had already begun and the Sky Track was proving its worth.  After the large boulders had been placed in each section  of the pond, we would fill around them with smaller rocks that we could actually place by hand.  All the liner had to be covered and the walls of this pond were steep.  Even the parts that wouldn't be seen, such as under the bridges had to be thoroughly rocked before we could be finished.  My helper, Armando, was the only guy skinny enough to squeeze under the narrow bridge and, laying on his back part of the time, got it done.  The rain held off until late afternoon the first day, so we were lucky but we didn't know what to expect when we showed up the second day. 

  It stopped raining during the night so we got started on the second morning knowing that we had to finish, clean the area, and get out of sight before the groundbreaking ceremony started.  Everyone knew what had to be done, so we broke into small groups to finish the pond.  Once it was done, the park employees broke out the fire hoses with which to rinse the rock and gravel.  When it was clean, the fire hoses were used to fill the pond as some of us worked on finishing the new waterfalls.  The rest of the team began cleaning up the site and hauling away excess materials.  The pump to the bog filter and upper waterfall was turned on so that the bog could begin filling.  It holds a lot of water and took some time, even with a fire hose helping out.  As that part filled and began spilling over the newly created waterfalls, a subtle roar filled the air, part the sound of water falling, and part the sound of of the spectators who were watching us work. 

  That gave us just the boost we needed to finish the waterfall at the new BIOFALLS and when it was turned on, the gasps from the onlookers turned into applause.  The staff of the botanical gardens told us it was always their dream to have the two water features connected but they didn't want to suggest it because they thought it would be too hard to do.   The volunteer labor force had just enough time to  pose for pictures after the clean-up was complete.  The project was a total success despite the weather and the attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony were truly amazed.  If you're in DFW or are planning to travel to the area, the staff would like to invite you to spend some time in their beautiful setting.  Call the Grapevine Convention and Visitors' Bureau at 1-800-457-6338 for information about this and other activities available in the area.  Once again, thanks for your time and interest and.................................

Happy Pondering!