NATURAL PONDS BUILD A CLEAR WATER POND by BIOLOGISTS
Designing ponds to be naturally clear ponds from earth ponds, earthen ponds to swimming ponds for the best ponds designing is a complex best done w/ help from Biologists who build swimming ponds, natural ponds ornamental garden fish ponds fishing ponds & clear water landscape ponds. Constructing Designing & building swimming ponds.NATURAL PONDS
Designed by Biologists...
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Lake Pond and Stream • Planning • Design • Construction • Management |
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Natural ponds by Biologists. Natural pond design
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TYPES OF PONDS
Spring Creek can assist you with a variety of pond projects including:
NATURAL EARTH PONDS by BIOLOGISTS
We are Biologists who design natural clear ponds producing the highest aesthetic aquatic habitats possible . Knowledge is our primary tool instead of equipment, filters, chemicals and additives. This page is a simple introduction. Our entire site is filled with our thoughts and technical tips to assist whether you utlize our services or not. A great place to begin is our natural ponds page that will tell you what natural is and, more importantly what natural is not. The Planning - Design guide , Faqs , Technical Faqs , Pond Lining & Sealing Guide and Myths pages are full of insights to help you develop the clear natural earth pond or stream of your dreams.
Earth ponds or earthen ponds are simply defined as any pond that is sealed with soil such as clay. They have existed naturally throughout history of the planet and humans have been building earthen ponds ever since the first tools were invented.
BIOLOGISTS VS AMATEUR POND DESIGNERS
Yes you will see a plethora of hobbyists, online writers and master gardeners extolling their latest cheap natural ponds books all over the internet. Most of their experience comes from less than a couple of ponds they have built, if any. If your desires are simple, they may be a suitable solution. If your desire is something that is going to last beyond the couple of decades of a plastic pond seal or if you wish to avoid a pond full of submerged weeds, then a professional pond habitat design will serve both your aesthetic desire as well as significantly enhance long-term real estate value.
Remembering this next sentence will serve better than any book written by a gardener or pond hobbyist: Excavate a pond roughly four times larger than you want, (you are correct, that is a big waste of money, space and water supply) place a few inches of compacted soil on the pond bottom, add enough alum to clear the water, then add plants and allow them to choke the water column out until algae will no longer grow. This is not our idea of a beautiful natural pond habitat, it is not very good advice, but it is what you will end up with via amateur advice.
What they also omit, forget, or don't know is a pond filled up with plants will turn the water brown in a couple years due to excessive plant decomposition. Brown water may not appeal to many lovers of natural habitats.
One more challenge on this topic: wetland plants use several times more water than straight evaporation uses. This is the process of evapotranspiration which you can expect will use more than five-times the amount of water that would evaporate from the same size area of open water surface. That should also be added to the maintenance expense if a pond is supplied with tap water.
While we do not anticipate most backyard natural pond builders to employ our service, we do want to let people know what to expect when they attempt to "save" money with a book. The same is true for DIY Natural Swimming Pond Builders
All is not lost with a weed infested pond, however. If it is built in a low area to collect runoff water, it can be a good amphibian habitat long after it is abandoned as a natural landscape feature enjoyed by humans.
As Biologists and pond builders, we would address the same natural pond with no added expense of building a larger pond. Our habitat design would feature roughly ten-precent plants. We would also save on the cost of pond construction by using a clay pond liner that is less expensive, lasts for centuries and is actually natural. The pond owner will also enjoy the natural aesthetics seen below. This is the difference between scientific professional and amateur advice.
video montage of the natural ponds we build
As Biologists we focus on earth ponds for several practical reasons:
- The life of well built earthen pond will be measured in centuries or more. The clay seals we most often use tend towards eons of longevity. Other popular materials used to seal ponds have twenty year warranties. The idea of a more permanent pond seal is very appealing when the pond is expected to last for centuries.
- The surface of the Earth tends to shift slightly over several decades. Clay seals have a flexibility to accommodate these shifts including mild earthquakes that can instantly ripple the ground.
- Clay is tough. Heavy equipment can drive over it all day without damaging clay. If we drop a big rock on a clay pond seal, it is not going to damage anything. This allows us to build more cost effectively.
- Clay helps keep ponds and lakes clean by absorbing and adsorbing contaminants and excessive nutrients. This translates into very low maintenance for well built earthen ponds as well as a much cleaner pond.
While it is true, more knowledge is required to work with clay and earthen or clay sealed ponds and lakes, the rewards are nearly timeless when compared to shorter lived alternatives. A clear earth pond lasting for centuries simply appeals to our sense of value. Longevity also means a natural pond sealed with clay will appreciate in value as opposed to shorter lived pond seals that depreciate.
Some may associate natural earthen ponds with muddy water, but think about some of those pristine mountain lakes in magazines, travel brochures and movies. All of those are also natural earth ponds. As Biologists we have worked and studied these natural gems and over a couple decades learned the minutia of how they maintain themselves without human interference in the form of pond additives, filters or other common methods of pond management.
We enjoy the concept and lifestyle of bringing the vacation home. Some people travel for hours to spend their vacations in a mountain setting to enjoy the aesthetics and recreation our clients enjoy every day from the sunrise view over the first morning coffee, to a quick dip off the beach after work or the thrill of a trophy size trout screaming line off your real at sunset. The mental and spiritual regeneration gained from a natural pond lake or stream is rarely matched in today's world.
For those who need the sound of water, many of our ponds and lakes also have streams that recirculate water from the pond or lake. While we do not need the streams to maintain the ponds, people have an innate need to hear and see moving water. Like our ponds and lakes, our streams are also based on the same natural materials. They have pools and riffles just like you expect to see in a forest. We can build a stream large enough to fish or float a canoe on, or just the right size to hear a soothing trickle.
We build a wide range of natural earthen ponds, from garden ponds to more elaborate landscape ponds, fish ponds, swimming ponds and trophy fishing ponds. We can blend the goals of most people together into a very natural combination of swimming, fishing and aethetics, or we can design a pond for a single purpose.
This page is a simple intro. Take the time to read through this site and see if we can sharpen your perception of what a pond or lake can be and what natural water can offer.
We look forward to discussing bringing your water to life!
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Spring Creek Aquatic Concepts
Lake Placid, NY Portland, OR Bend, OR
(971) 266 4669
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Earth Ponds