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On Saturday, August 12th, at 10 a.m. members of the NFKPC, including Don Butterworth, Ed McKee, Steve & Max Denies, Christine & Dennis Wilkolaski met with Greg Young at the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens to install a “pond” in the new children’s garden, which is currently under construction.
I use quotes around pond, as I felt it safer to actually install a pond-less stream/waterfall, to avoid any risk of drowning to children who may not always be supervised closely enough!
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The equipment for this project consisted of a 15 x 15 foot EPDM liner with underlayment for the pond, a 4 x 12 foot HDPE liner with underlayment for the stream, a 3,000 gph pump, a “pond vault” to house the pump, (letting water in and keeping the stone out), 2 inch flex pvc, and various fittings.
At the site we discovered a roughly dug out hole, which was about 10 x 10 feet, about 2 feet in depth. That was larger than the 8 x 8 foot area I asked for, but we had enough materials to accomplish the job. Our first task was to clear out the hole, straightening the walls, and excavating a deeper area in the center to house the 2 foot high pump vault. Once that was accomplished, the underlayment for the pond and stream was installed, following which the actual liners were installed. The 2 inch flex pvc fed the stream at its base, while being hidden by rock. The vault containing the pump was installed, and then all plumbing was secured. The pond was filled with water, the stream tested, and then everything was shut off, to allow for the rocking of the stream, and the installation of large rock around the edge of the pond.
That is were most projects would end. But not this one! Ed Dore, of Dore Landscape brought in a large dump truck, full of number 1 stone. This stone was then slowly dumped into the pond, under the guidance of Max Denies who was located in the pond; to be sure the vault was not mis-positioned as the stone was dumped in to fill the actual pond. This phase ended when the stone was within one inch of the top of the water. We back-filled some areas adjacent to the water feature with the number 1 stone, and then once again fired up the stream. We then watched a chocolate river flow down the stream, back into what now looked like a gravel pit. It was like watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory..
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Our task ended about 3:30pm, when a very tired crew left, after a long day in the hot sun.
I had an opportunity to check on the feature Tuesday, August 15th, to find crystal clear water running through the system. It’s amazing just how much dirt and debris a gravel based filter bed will handle!
If you get a chance, stop by to view this feature, which is located immediately behind the greenhouses, alongside of the back service road. Fencing is being put in around the Children’s Garden, following which the rest of the features will be installed. Plans call for a natural looking sandbox (already installed), a compost pile, an herb garden, etc.
My personal thanks to all who helped out that day! Our gift to the Botanical gardens will be greatly enjoyed by the children visiting that part of the gardens for some time to come
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