Miloh’s family have a small pond that Miloh brother did it 7 years ago, that pond is still pretty but only for water garden. too small for Koi fishes.
麥寳家人在七年前 挖了一個小池塘，到現在都還讓人很享受著池塘帶來院子一個角落的美好~ 但是池塘有點小 一直沒有養魚。
Gophers destroyed front yard so badly that no one know how to do with the land nothing but weeds!!
Why don’t we just dig another pond, a much bigger pond this time so we can have koi fishes. Miloh’s brother proposed this.
前院有一個大部分 被土撥鼠給毀了！ 除了長亂七八糟的雜草之外，都再也種不出花草樹木來。 很傷腦筋啊。
The pandemic bring back families. while family stay together, let’s make more garden projects together too~ YES！ Go Go
疫情 把麥寳哥哥 姐姐給帶回家來，全家人這段時間住在一起。假日有空都在忙著各種院子的工程。
這次 麥寳哥哥建議，不如來挖個大池塘 可以養錦鯉。 好主意啊！行動派的一家人 就開始動工了。
starting to dig 7/1/2021 第一天大概挖出一個範圍來
接著 就用舊的水管，擺出水池確實的位置，然後繼續挖深。
7/2/2021 Day 2, took old hose to layout the pond area.
and dig deeper….
7/3/2021 the soil getting tough to dig. so Miloh brother start to use plow machine and that help !
土越來越硬，麥寳哥哥拿出 刨土機器 麥寳姐姐在一旁拉綫幫忙。 在深四尺處 還發現好多土撥鼠洞！ 難怪 土都種不出東西來了
Even at around 4 feet deep , we found lots gopher hole !
7/4/2021 Continuing dig until the pond depth reach almost 5 feet。 The soil is too hard to dig any more ! also it is deep enough for a koi pond. (suggest at least 4 feet deep for koi to hide from predator )
繼續挖深 直到快五尺深 就停下。 土太硬了 好比石頭！ 而且這樣的深度 養錦鯉夠了
7/4/2021
while Waiting for pond liner to be delivered, the 80-W pump arrived.
網購的 80 瓦 抽水馬達送到家了 ，然後趁周末有空 全家去選了石頭。
went to shop and pick up some landscaping stone and rock during weekend, later they delivered to home.
wow! a huge truck
隔天 一部好大的卡車 把我們買的石頭們 送來了。 好嚇人 哈哈。麥寳娘親去告訴鄰居，家裏要做大池塘，不是要自己加蓋房子哦：）
dump the stone and rock in the parking lot. Flagstone, big rock, boulder rock and river rocks.
7/14/2021
pond liner and underlayment arrived home
這次挖池塘 更有經驗了，而且看了不少網路的做法。 池塘的塑膠墊買了比較厚的，下面還先鋪上一層園藝用的防雜草布料。
塑膠墊 建議買厚度至少 30 Mil , 麥寳家裏 買 45 Mil ，長寬都20尺的。 很重！
Firestone 45 Mil EPDM 20 x 20 feet pond liner
put the Firestone 45 Mil EPDM 20 x 20 feet pond liner on top of underlayment to protect pond liner.
45 mil stands for the thickness of the liner material. It is 45/1000 of an inch thick. That may not sound like a lot but this super sturdy liner is the choice of professional pond installers and consumers all over the world.
backyard ponds suggest to choose from a 30 mil or greater liner to prevent rocks and roots from wearing holes in a thinner material.
7/15/2021
how big the pond liner you need ? you can use the online pond liner calculation to calculate how big you need.
For this pond we dig, we set up more area for shallow pond. The 5 feet deep area is not too wide. so 20 x20 pond liner we ordered, it actually make a 14 x 16 pond for us. pretty good.
網路有可以幫你算出 你需要買多大的塑膠布才夠。 麥寳家挖的 淺灘部分居多，5尺深處的地方不大。 所以 這個池塘的大小約 14 x 16 x 5 (長 寬 深）
fill in the water to test pond liner 開始加水測試
7/16/2021
testing the water pump
把抽水馬達也 擺入測試
Miloh is really having fun in the water
he got so WET !
試水典禮 玩得最開心的，就是 麥寳！ 全身濕透了
Fill the water and wait for another day
把整個池塘都加滿了水，等一天看看
7/17/2021
water fall pump set up. Put the pump at the end of pond, connection the pump to a trash can with pipe.
爲了要加一個瀑布流水，把抽水馬達擺在池塘最後面一角落，然後用水管連起來 到池塘的最前端 的一個大桶子 也是最高點。
這個藍色的水管有點難看，所以後來我們換了一個 池塘專用的黑色水管。
take a closer look what’s inside the black trash can
using lava stone as filter。 This is a very cost effective way to create a water fall effect. you can buy the pre-built one if you don’t want to do this by yourself.
這個大垃圾桶 裏面擺了 火山熔岩石頭 ，當作過濾物。
這個方法很省錢。 如果你覺得麻煩 有很多已經做好的可以直接買來就裝上。
water running on the step stone to create the water fall effect
讓抽出來的水，掉落在 大踏脚石板上。 小瀑布就形成了 ~~
7/18/2021
Miloh enjoy drinking the running water 🙂
water fall is running successfully
小麥很喜歡在 瀑布前走來走去，順便喝口水：）
spending 2 days to set up the pave stone around the pond
花了兩天的時間 把池塘四周圍的石頭擺好，再到處挖一些植物種下。 幫小池塘裏過多擁擠不堪的植物 搬家，住進大池塘。
also transfer some water plants from over crowded small pond into this huge new pond.
7/20/2021
put in a solar powered water fountain with LED light
多設了一個 太陽能的小噴泉。
Dragonfly came~~~
吸引來了很多 蝴蝶和蜻蜓們
7/21/2021
water started to turn clear
池塘的水 漸漸清澈起來
adding some plants around the pond
7/22/2021
Miloh got bored…z.z.z.
set up the outline for landscape to add pathway
開始準備四周走道的設計
Blue dragonfly visiting 紅蜻蜓來了之後，藍蜻蜓也來了。
set up a pond skimmer to collect leaves and debris —
put the pump completely inside the bucket. And then drilled some new holes in the side . Drilled a big hole on top of the bucket cover, so the water pipe can go through it.
7/24/2021
動手做個 收樹葉 殘餘物的 池塘撇渣桶
找個大塑膠桶子，把抽水馬達整個擺進去。桶子四周打幾個小洞。 在蓋子上方 挖出一個跟水管大小一樣的洞口，讓水管可以穿出。
Whole family enjoy the pond every day. Miloh too ~~
7/27/2021
麥寳家人 常常出來聽聽水聲，這個池塘非常療愈啊~~
put flag stone as stepping stone for pathway
擺大塊的石板 當作走道的踏脚石
we had frog came last night while we just set up the solar light for the pond
7/28/2021
青蛙在設好太陽能夜燈的隔天傍晚時分出現在池塘中央，叫的很大聲啊
it looks so pretty around the sunset
7/29/2021
傍晚 和 天黑後的池塘，也是美極了！
and night
we had so many dragonfly visiting the pond
每天都來了好多好多的蜻蜓，讓人看的 目不暇給！ 還有 蜻蜓點水~
water lily is happy for the new pond
7/30/2021
Time to test water and put the micro bacteria into the pond so we can get ready for koi fish.
擺進一些 池塘活菌，然後測試水質。 準備要養魚了
not ready…
水質還沒平衡，所以再加入更多的 去氯化水。
put more de-chorine solution
直到水質穩定後，我們去買小小 錦鯉，yeah~~
water is ready for fish
7/31/2021
buy koi fish
let the fish float in the pond for 15 mins to adjust the water temp
魚買回來之後，讓袋子在水裏浮個15分鐘左右，讓魚慢慢適應水溫
好小好可愛的 錦鯉. Koi fishes are still so small and cute.
Miloh sister putting big stone into pond
8/11/2021
isn’t that beautiful with the palm tree shadow on the pond
麥寳姐姐 開始把大石頭擺在池塘裏。
看看那椰子樹的倒影 是不是很美啊
Miloh family level flat a small tree area, put up a high chair and table set there. Friend gave the family a nice wind chime, it just perfectly fit there.
8/12/2021
把一顆小樹下的地面區 打平，然後擺上座椅。 朋友送了一個風鈴也挂上了。 從這個角度看池塘 別有一番風味。
a surprised visitor came around the noon time during a weekend
8/13/2021
A huge Blue Heron !!!
周末的一個中午，麥寳家人拿著午餐正往池塘邊坐下時….看到一隻好大好大的 大藍鷺，站在淺灘區。虎視眈眈地看著池塘中央。它是來吃魚的！！！
it stepped on the shallow area
looking into the center pond
OMG! It came here for fish hunting !!! NO
Luckily the deepest pond area is about 5 feet deep so that koi fish can hide there safely. we hope.
8/14/2021
We add in a purple tropical water lily after the heron visited to cover more area for fish to hide. the lily seems really happy at our pond, it blooms one after one flower.
我們又加了一株大睡蓮，希望這樣有更多的障眼法 可以保護魚兒。
After sunset, we suddenly heard a loud sound on the house roof. OMG, that blue heron came back again
8/18/2021
幾天後的傍晚，我們聽到屋頂好大的聲音。 那隻大藍鷺 又回來了！它真的是 不放棄啊.
Add a garden bench to overlook the pond
買了一些座椅，擺在瀑布附近 可以聽的更清楚水聲。 也可以在那 吃吃早餐 ，喝咖啡~~ 👍
it’s closer to the water fall, nice location
and a table set too ~~ have a cup of coffee here, Life is good~
8/19/2021
fish is getting bigger and they hide under the pond most of the time
魚兒長大了不少哦。
接著我們也把 四周圍的走道弄好了。
garden pathway almost finish
8/20/2021
Adding another solar fountain to create more ripples so the fish predator may not see clear where those fishes are.
8/21/2021
再加了一個更大有力的 太陽能噴泉，這樣可以製造出更多的水波漣漪 . 障眼法！讓來 覬覦魚兒的鳥 看不清楚 魚在哪
Water lily shadow ~~
睡蓮的倒影 很美吧
自己動手挖個池塘吧！保證你不會後悔~~
8/23/2021
Got some succulent from friends, planted some around the stone area. Look really nice ~ 跟朋友要了一些多肉植物，種了些許在前面大石塊區，看起來很不錯呀！
Miloh love to take a nap around the pond, listen to the water fall .zzz
8/27/2021
麥寳喜歡在池塘邊打盹 zzz..
lovely Miloh just turn 7 years old ~~
8/29/2021 a raining day
DIY a garden pond, you won’t regret it. you will enjoy it in a sunny or raining day too~~
Add a swing bench on the lower corner of the pond area
在池塘附近的低處，無西曬日照，加了一個兩人坐的搖椅。 可以由低處看池塘和前院的全景。
Special Thanks to Miloh’s brother and sister who did lots hard works to make this project done and Miloh’s mom dream came true ! She always want to have a koi pond.
部落格結尾，麥寳娘親要特別感謝她的兩個貼心的兒女。 花了很多精力時間，把這個超級大的池塘工程 完美畫下句點。
他們知道麥寳娘親一直想要有個池塘可以養錦鯉，這真的是讓娘親 美夢成真！
8/31/2021
Add some Typa Orientalis Presl into the pond shallow area, hope to prevent Blue Heron standing there.
去路邊撿了幾根水蠟燭回來種在淺談區，希望這樣可以防止大藍鷺 站在池塘邊。
9/26/2021
10/1/2021
可以參考另一個挖小池塘的部落格 reference another blog
自己動手挖個 花園小水池 DIY a natural Garden Pondhttps://wp.me/p8fIi1-39b
10/01/2021