Dredging the pond basin - yes or no?
The advantages and disadvantages of entrusting the digging work for the garden pond to an excavator are obvious. The advantages would be:
- No exhausting backbreaking work
- Time saving
also read
- How can I get my pond clear?
- Blooming aquatic plants for a colorful pond
- Plan and design a rock garden with a pond
As with all things, there are also disadvantages:
- More cost
- Rather only rough work possible
- Strain on the garden
Whether you opt for motorized help or for your own muscle work is, on the one hand, natural a question of personal fitness or the availability of strong (human) helpers. On the other hand, it has to be weighed up how much additional expenditure you are willing to invest in terms of energy and time.
On the other hand, you also have to keep in mind that an excavator can only do the rough work when digging the pond basin. Especially if you want to use a prefabricated pool, you have to reckon with a lot of manual fine work in any case.
Using an excavator to dig out the pond basin is particularly worthwhile for larger ponds that you have planned yourself and that do not have an overly rigidly defined shape.
A disadvantageous side effect of using the excavator, which should not be underestimated, is the stress on the garden from the lanes on the lawn. That too has to be included in the cost-benefit ratio.
What costs can you expect?
The costs you can expect from pond dredging, in turn, depend on your own contribution. After all, you don't have to hand over all of the digging work to someone else. Small excavators can also be borrowed and used on their own without legal permission. The advantage here is not only the lower cost, but also the fun and experience factor for one or the other.
To borrow a mini excavator for private use, you have to calculate with about 120 euros or more per day.
For those who prefer to be on the safe side when it comes to professionalism, we recommend an excavator with an excavator driver or operator. hire an experienced landscaper. The hourly costs are around 50 to 70 euros. A large pond with several pond zone levels can take around 2 to 4 hours of work.
