Six-foot Satellite Dish.....Water Garden?

[Winchester]

My brother and SIL have a six-foot satellite dish that they're no longer using. I had seen a picture somewhere where they dug a hole in their backyard, installed their dish as a water pond, paved around it, and landscaped it. It was just gorgeous. I'm very intrigued and told my brother that I'd love to have it for a small pond. He told me last night that, once the snow melts, they're going to get rid of it and did I want it?

I don't want anything exotic; I'd just like to have a small patio around a bit of a pond right off the one end of the house. We have an inground pool, but that's directly behind the kitchen; we walk out the dining room door onto the deck, step down off the deck, and there's the pool. It's surrounded by cement decking and we laid pavers at the one end where our arbor is located. The grill is right there, too, and once you go through the arbor, we have a nice flower garden there. DH has promised to help me construct a pergola with a table and chairs and pavers. (And I've been looking for a stone fountain with cats....not easy to find!.....to install at the one end of the pergola. I've found fountains with lions, with dolphins, with everything but cats.)

Eventually, we'd like to put in a French door at the end of our bedroom with a small deck outside. And that's where I'd like to put a small pond.

Gardeners, what do you think? Is it feasible? Any ideas?

 

[libby74]

I've seen that idea in magazines, too, and wish I had the space in my yard for a pool. I think it's a great idea. Do you have enough room to make a small waterfall to empty into the big basin? Have you thought about painting the inside of the dish a beautiful blue? And when you're done with your yard, would you and your husband like to work on mine?

 

[Winchester]

We have almost 1-1/2 acres, so yes we have room.

In addition to the idea of placing it right off of our bedroom, we've also been thinking of installing it right outside the arbor and in front of the flowerbed. We've always wanted to put a pond in that area and have a waterfall cascade down the center of the flowerbed....the flowerbed is on a hill, so it wouldn't take much work.

I think the bed is probably about 12 feet deep by about 20 feet wide and we do have stepping stones (in the shape of cat paws) throughout. We would have to move some of the plants, but that's not a problem and spring is a good time to move them anyway.

So we're not sure exactly what we're doing. DH is a little more cautious than I am....I'm thinking, well the dish is free and our labor is free, too. There would be cost involved with the plastic sheeting, paint (yes, I was thinking blue!), wires, piping, rocks, etc. I've been surfing around and found some pictures of finished projects and some of them are really nice.

I would love to have it finished by the beginning of May, just in time for DH's surprise 60th birthday party! (But I'm not holding my breath.) I think that would be this year's outdoor project...the pond and the pergola. While we have that part of the backyard all dug up, we might as well go ahead with the pergola, too. That's my thought.

As for DH and I working in your yard? Let's wait and see how this turns out! You may not want us anywhere close to your yard!

 

[gailc]

I think the dish could work as a pond as long as you figure out how to plug the holes in it though only of those fountains that sprays in the air would be cool. I'm trying to think if I've got any pictures of a water feature using a dish????

My husband has been talking for a couple of years to build a pergola on our patio but it would have to be pretty massive. Check out Walpole Woodworkers for pergola designs. Their stuff is great but pretty $$$$$..

Just a thought; rather than lay the dish down so the top is level perhaps you could tilt it?

I think also that you couldn't put fish in it as the water may get too warm?

 

[Winchester]

No fish.....I don't even want to think about going there. At least not right now. And because of the lay of the land in the backyard, we probably would have to tilt it a bit.

I found a picture of a dish/water feature in Backyard Living magazine several years ago and that's what gave me the idea way back then. DH wasn't all that crazy about it, but when we were at the garden show yesterday, he got to talking to an exhibitor and mentioned my idea....and the exhibitor thought it was wonderful. Then when I showed DH the picture and some ideas that I found online, he definitely became more approving. It's going to be a lot of work to dig the yard out and work out the landscaping, but hopefully it will come together.

As for the pergola, we found a nice one at the garden show yesterday and it didn't seem all that difficult to build ourselves. I like the idea of a wall at the one end of the pergola, too, not a whole wall, but about a three-foot high stone wall. I took several pictures of it and will post them when I can.

I am looking for a stone fountain and my sister and I have decided to attend some public sales and the like to see if I could find what I'm looking for at a sale versus paying the high prices at a store. But we'll see. I'm trying to be budget-conscious, too.

 

[gailc]

I have a book on DIY fountains that I could scan and email in case you are interested.
More unusal type though...

 

[Winchester]

Gail, thank you! I don't think it's necessary to put you through all that though....I know what a pain scanning all that info would be. I just bought a "How to" book on ponds and water gardens at Lowe's last night that's interesting. Thanks so much for the offer!