Back yard before hole.
Picture taken on August 10 (to proove to doofus lawn guy that he had burnt my lawn!).
Turns out - they're pretty good 'BEFORES'.

Front of house - no action (yet!)



None here either...



Oh, Oh. Garden Center Dude is making a delivery.
Brought himself a crane too. Yikes!



Lots of rocks and other heavy stuff.
Also - our trusty work crew.
"Hey Pond Boy" they ask "Where does this stuff go?"
In the back. By hand, of course



There's now a gaping hole where grass used to be.
We officially broke ground on Labor Day Weekend.
Before that - it was just too hot to dig by hand.
The hole now weeps filling up with water - notice the tarp.
And the hose (connected to a pump)



Hole's pretty big. Almost three feet deep in spots.
Backfill (from dug-out dirt) to take care of grade in lawn as well as extra 'lift' for waterfalls.
Will require a retaining wall.
Took almost a month of digging and sculpting, and fighting water.



Orange line represents projected water line
(and the level to back fill lower part of yard to)
Mission creep sets in. Original line was the ridge INSIDE the orange line.
Pond has begun to grow in scope.



Moving supplies. Rocks had to be hand-bombed.
The sand and limestone brought in with trusty wheelbarrow.
Grass starts to take a hit with constant walking, stuff left on it, etc.
Almost ready to start construction on the pond.
But first - The Cobblestone walkway.

Grass will not grow at top end of garden - especially with increased traffic due to pond.
Cobblestone is planned and shaped hole is dug. Limestone and sand is laid in to give cobblestone a base.

Laying cobble stone by hand (on limestone and sand base)
Much of the cobblestone was hammered in by Steve and Amy during the reminents of a hurricaine!

Same as above but from top level deck.
Cobble is graded towards pipe (upper right) that runs under pond to grate at back.
Goofy neighbor decided to build a concrete drain and send all the water from both our properties shooting 6" into our lawn (he also pinched 6" of our property but that's another story entirely).
This water had to be re-routed or we were going to have major drainage problems - . a drainage system (with 6" PVC piping) runs the entire length of the pond. It's joined up with a drainage system on the surface of the pond area. Anything to keep the water moving.

Brushing in sand. Pain in the butt. Will NOT stay in cracks at grade. Requires sealent to try and make the sand stick.

Cobble stone finished. Looks pretty cool. Overages on the cobblestone?
Despite only estimation of our requirements (stones had to be ordered by the ton!) - would you believe 12 stones?!!!
Now back to the pond..