wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy off topic.... back yard waterfalls and fish ponds..

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

so my beautiful Rain has tasked me with building her a Koi Fish Pond and waterfall in our new back yard..

I've drawn up the design, however I seem to be at a standstill as where to find rocks..


Home Depot carries "rock variants" concrete and fiberglass man made rocks, however I prefer real rocks to some overpriced art deco crap..

I have found some online, but the cost of shipping heavy boulders is obviously beyond stupid.

I went to the beach and jetty in Long Beach and asked the Marine Patrol, but was told taking rocks from the Jetty is illegal..

I have no issue purchasing them, just can’t find any place in Southern California that actually sells rocks..

Any insight would be helpful.. I need medium (hand size) to large boulder (soccer ball size), the pebbles and gravel size I can get at home depot..

[haksaw_ca]

one of the way's we have collected larger rocks for out pond / decorations is when they ripped up the streets around our neighborhood to install new sewage lines, lots of large rocks came out of the ground and they had no problem with us taking what we wanted.. i even know a few neighbors who got them to drop the big boulders (4'+ ones) on there front lawn's ... not sure if that helps you but any type of road construction / new homes etc.. where there digging might get you some?

[DLucchese]

I found this company when I googled for Rock Quarries in Long Beach.

Landscape Stone

[bipto]

I seem to recall my ol' SoCal buddy MAGNUM8R talking about having a Koi pond... Might be worth a PM to Mark, Marc - maybe he'd be able to point you in the right diection... Good Luck!

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

one of the way's we have collected larger rocks for out pond / decorations is when they ripped up the streets around our neighborhood to install new sewage lines, lots of large rocks came out of the ground and they had no problem with us taking what we wanted.. i even know a few neighbors who got them to drop the big boulders (4'+ ones) on there front lawn's ... not sure if that helps you but any type of road construction / new homes etc.. where there digging might get you some?

had not thought of that, good idea I will check into it.

I found this company when I googled for Rock Quarries in Long Beach.

Landscape Stone

That helps very much, thank you.. I had not Googled Rock Quarries, I was searching for Decorative Rock/boulder for sale, with no luck.

I seem to recall my ol' SoCal buddy MAGNUM8R talking about having a Koi pond... Might be worth a PM to Mark, Marc - maybe he'd be able to point you in the right diection... Good Luck!

Thanks Bipto, I will PM him now..

[FloridaRT]

I love Koi, taste good fried............................ LOL

Bob

[monty1269]

construction sites...especially if they are in the process of clearing the land.

OH! And since you're doing a pond... Might want to look in the (relatively clean) drainage ditches for water-plants too. Simply wash them up with clean water and drop them in the new pond. (you might have to put them in small pots to start and tie them to the side...)

[Speed]

I think there is a place about 5 minutes from my house here in LA that sells decorative rocks. Just what you are looking for. Let me drive by later this afternoon and Ill make sure it is what I think it is. Ill send you the info afterwards.

[flem]

Here is what you need to do:

1. You and a buddy drive to remote country road, preferably one with steep banks (you'll be able to grab bigger rocks).
2. Fill up Jeep/Truck with rocks from side of road.
3. Take home.
4. Repeat. Steps 1 - 3 until you have enough rock.


Or the alternative. You call landscaping companies until you find one that will sell you pallets of stone.

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

Here is what you need to do:

1. You and a buddy drive to remote country road, preferably one with steep banks (you'll be able to grab bigger rocks).
2. Fill up Jeep/Truck with rocks from side of road.
3. Take home.
4. Repeat. Steps 1 - 3 until you have enough rock.


Or the alternative. You call landscaping companies until you find one that will sell you pallets of stone.

lol, no remote country roads in Los Angeles.. and apparently stealing rocks from the beach jetty is a felony.. gotta love California

[monty1269]

buncha tree huggin hippies... (hiding from wife)

[CharonBLK07]

It's a felony because the rip-rapp (stones under jetty) prevents the tide from washing out the pier pillings which would cause the jetty collapse... so yeah, it's a felony for a good reason.

I am personally not a fan of the artificial stone when building a pond that will contain fish. It's fine for building ponds and rock gardens, but the lime and hardening chemicals can leech into the water and poison the fish over time, so I'd look for natural stone. The quarry or the construction sites are your best bet in the city for stone like others have said. Country/construction roads are my prefered method as I have picked up hundreds of truckloads of stone off of logging roads because I have a free-miners' ticket, so I'm allowed to check out any of these sites for 'ore samples'.

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

^^^ oh I understand why it's against the law.. my comment was more tongue in cheek because I suspect CA also has some stupid law about taking rocks from country roads too..

I have no issue paying for what I want, and actually would prefer it, so I can pick from a selection to design it and color it to my tastes.

I also agree about the artifical art deco rock, not a fan and prefer it to be as natural as possible, which follows inline with how I have built my backyard so far, everything rough wood with a natural colored stain and antique brick.. Banzai Trees other Traditional Japanese Garden plants are also in the works.

[BBoyPersia]

i have a koi pond with a couple waterfalls and a bunch of koi. ill take pics and show you sometime

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

please... always looking for ideas..