Building the in-ground firepit

Closer to finished

 We really love out firepit.  It is large enough to get a good fire (3 foot diameter) , deep enough to protect from embers and the stone and brick around it also provide good protection from ash and embers.  Testing it out has been great fun. I have planted thyme between the stone and brick that is entirely steppable and we have added a grill across one side.

So here's the thing about an in-ground firepit.  If you don't fill in the hole properly or compact the soil completely- it won't stay level.  Also, if the blocks are placed on the lip of the metal ring - there isn't anyway to adjust it after the fact.  And there is NO way I'm digging this back out of the ground to get it level.  The North side is just going to sink.  oh well.

The original pond was 10 x 10 x 4.5 feet deep
the smell as we drained it was AWFUL. The pond was listed as a selling point of the house when we bought it last year (9/2013) but it was not part of the master plan.  Too much work for me to maintain.

As you can see, 1/2 the firepit is built on a ledge of the pond and 1/2 the pit is on fill. As a result, it settled on the north edge as the soil and rock compacted into the bottom of the pit.

The ring is from the local Coastal Farm and Ranch , http://www.coastalfarm.com/

The block is from another part of the yard that now holds the water tanks.

The rings sits on a circle of brick on top of 2 inches of gravel and the inside is filled with another 3 inches of gravel.

My Husband in one of his sillier moments.  Halloween 2013

After filling in the hole, I tried out various ideas for what to do around the pit.  I finally settled on using the stone from the original pond and scavanging rock that had been around the pond as well.  I then added the brick border to keep grass from growing into the small rock.
You can see that grass is in the process of being transplanted to fill in around the pit and eventually the Thyme will grow in as well.