Hi All,
I'm looking for general advice, guidance, or suggestions on establishing a garden pond from scratch. Thank you in advance. Details follow:
I'm fortunate for the opportunity to convert 10 acres of late-stage red alder forest in Skagit County of NW WA to gardens and food forest. At its center I want to build a pond excavated from a flat area of shallow hardpan and hydric soils. There are no nearby streams, but there are several forested wetlands on the boundaries of my property. My goals for the pond (in order of importance) are: Aesthetics (adjacent to a future homesite); Recreation (swimming, floating, kids playground, etc); Sink and storage of abundant winter surface water; Drainage of surrounding area to improve growing conditions for future fruit and nut trees; Wildlife habitat; Summer irrigation; Food fish.
My questions:
What is the minimum size (in acres) and depth that will support all these goals?
Has anyone experience building wetland filtration systems to support the swimming and wildlife goals? I thought a solar pump could be used to circulate water from one end of the pond through a perimeter channel I can build and seed with wetland plants.
Has anyone supplemented a pond with pumped well water to maintain water levels and provide cooling for food fish during the summer?
Can something like this be created such that it becomes a sustainable ecosystem with little maintenance (other than the solar pump)?
Thank you,
Glenn on Guemes
