Building a Beach at the Backyard Pond
8,670
Published 2023-02-25
It's time to build a beach at the pond - and plant a tree! With sand readily available on the property we dig out enough soft sand to create a nice beach area on the West end of the pond. The plan starts by digging away the native turf and vegetation with the excavator. Once that root area is removed, we lay down a weed barrier to help minimize future weed growth in the beach. The landscape fabric is rolled out into place and sand begins being trucked in by the tractor.
A heavy rain hampers the plan, and puts things on hold. The pond water level rises and floods the dugout area where the beach is to go. While we wait for the water levels to drop, we plant a tree. I have a nice Dawn Redwood that I purchased from a tree nursery. We line up the tree making sure not to interfere with the proposed golf course. Once the tree is located in a perfect area away from the tee deck, we start to dig a hole and mix in some high quality topsoil into the sandy native soil. Once the tree is dug and planted, we spread a thin layer of our maple leaf compost the we made in a previous video, over the top area, then cover with pine wood mulch to help retain water. Lastly, the tree is staked and it's time to get back to the pond beach.
The water level has dropped and the sand is finally trucked in with the tractor and spread by hand and raked smooth. Finally, the pond has a nice clean beach which will hopefully be a hit with the wildlife that call this pond home.
All Comments (5)
-
I am a horticulturist and you absolutely must detangle the roots of root bound plant prior to planting. We know the reason it was on sale.
-
I’m planning to use pea gravel for my pond build. I hate sand beaches, the sand always manages to get everywhere and you’ll still be finding it places like a year after being at the beach 😂. Amazing looking pond though great job.
-
Limestone the edge of the beach pea gravel mud surface sand over the top
-
I tried doing a sandy beach but it' gets washed into the pond when it rains so then I used Pea gravel instead
