A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs Water Gardens Continuing my pond experience!

Thanks Jiffy!

I'm hoping that I'm not being a bore posting the day to day progress of the pond?

Which brings me to my lastest pictures...
Today I found some foam based frisbees at a discount store so I decided to give them a try for the pond plants. Even though these plants are floaters, I have to tie them down to the rocks so they all don't end up right in front of the skimmer in the corner.

And much to my surprise... the water hyacinths that I just bought on Monday are in full bloom!!! I didn't even notice any buds when I bought them, nor when I first put them in the pond, so this is very exciting for me!




And the water lettuce in it's new foam holder


I just wish I didn't have to have fish line everywhere, but if it works then so be it!

Looks great Lynne! I love seeing the progress....Ponds are cool!

You could've tied the fishing line around the frisbee and then attached a bag of river rocks to the end and sunk it in the pond. That way you don't see any lines and the plants can't float away if they are weighted down like that.

My old solar pump was like that.

are you kidding me?? I don't get to this thread every day,, but I love seeing the progress Lynne!! you plants looks awesome and good Idea with the foam frisbee's to use hold the plants,,

Great idea on the frisbees.

lynne, it is awesome, and i didn't even see the line in the first pictures, had to go back and look for it.

your pond & the area around it just keeps getting better & better---I too enjoy coming to see about the progress---and it makes me smile-----so thanks for that.

Thanks so much again, all!!!

Loz - that is a GREAT idea - but I do think it will have to wait til the water clears up a bit so the fish don't decapitate themselves by not being able to see where the fishingline is, you know??? Don is getting VERY frustrated with the color and murkiness of the water. I am too, but my main concern right now is the welfare of the fish! I haven't seen any of them since I put them in on Tuesday...

I know, my pond color gets me down too---it IS very frustrating.....Hopefully when I get my pond plants it will help clear up the water....People that come over to see the pond/yard think that it should just be crystal clear....it's kind of embarrassing to me to have such a green pond.

I might build a natural filter though....I was reading how if you make another small pond, it could even just be a storage container--that's what I might use....and you have it above your pond and fill it with hyacinths and water plants and then have your pond water pass thru that container that the hyacinths will suck all the impurities out of the water better......I was looking at pictures of a persons pond that had one of these set ups and their water was crystal clear.

I did have one thought for you---with the hyacinth being in the frisbee it won't be able to spread and grow. They are whats great for clearing up the water....some places use them in their sewer system because they have such good filtration.....so the more that you have spread out the better your pond will look.....

Actually the hyacinth in the larger green frisbee does have pieces growing out the sides that have their own roots, so I do think it will be able to spread. I was wondering about that, about the water lettuce, so I will keep a close eye on it to see if being in the frisbee is impeeding the growth. Thanks for the warning though!

Don is so frustrated that he keeps saying that he should have drained the pond earlier this spring and refilled it! Welllllllll... first of all - we pay dearly for our water and I really do not think that is an option. Secondly... the algae is going to grow no matter how clean the water is that you start off with! It's the run-off dirt from the hill that is making it very mucky and that needs to be attended to - hopefully he will put a barrier behind the rocks at the edge so the dirt doesn't pour in everytime it rains or I water.

Today was a long day outside, even though we were supposed to have severe thunderstorms again. It was VERY humid all day, and mostly sunny, until later in the early evening when the storm arrived finally. But I got lots done outside, and one of those things was to place "bubbles" in the rocks of the waterfall.

Blue GLASS bubbles!!!




And look at this magical plant!
This is exactly as I found it today - I did NOT touch it in any way -
it wasn't apparent until I was close up on it -
can't see the shape from in front of the pond.

Love the blue bubbles....are you just doing them on that one side? They are so vibrant!

And hey, I guess that plant loves being in it's spot there.

Lynne...I was thinking earlier. The back of our pond is on a grade....and it's settling and eroding......you might want to keep an eye on your pond for that. I guess the rain plus the settling really got to my pond. I still have yet to do the retaining wall. Maybe in the fall when the plants are out of the way.

Any signs of the fish?

Oh Lynne---it is all so beautiful--and that plant--are you sure your DH didn't go out & 'adjust' the plant a bit???--not that he will ever tell you---
but it is all very nice ---for sure--- you are one lucky lady.--it makes me feel relaxed just to see it--I can only imagine how good it makes one feel to actually be there & relax around it.

Thanks loz and Carol!

And noooooooo Don did NOT touch that plant - he didn't even want to come over and look at it when I noticed it... But he did put in some garden edging behind the rocks to keep the dirt from flowing down and into the pond - now it will be diverted to the sides instead.

I'm still waiting for him to dig out the rest of the gardens there. He's had so much else to do that it's not top priority for him right now.

Loz - I'm not sure if I want to put more balls on the other side - I kinda like it on the one side, besides, I don't have any more blue ones - only greens and yellow. I liked the way the blue reminded me of water, so I kept it to that.

Noooooooo signs of any fish, and I did add another baby koi yesterday - finally found a mostly yellow one! So now there are 4 baby kois, 1 junior koi.,and a medium sized goldfish but I cannot see any of them - the water is so murky and dense looking!!!

A quick update before I go make dinner.
This is what I spent most of the late afternoon working on today - the walkway in the pond garden so people don't step on my plants! I also planted more marigolds in front of the table because the scent is supposed to keep bees away, and the oranges and lemons gaillardia behind the table. It's really starting to shape up there.
Now if I could only see some fish already!!!

I love how you placed those blue balls on one side like that,, and the heart shape HMMMMMMMM.. Putting a lot of love into that pond and plants huh??
and the stone path sets that area off perfectly ,, * while I'm eye balling those orange and lemons* ,,, I'm soooooo jealous,, can't find those here
Lynne you and Don have done an awesome job out there,, you should be very proud,, I'm proud for ya!!!!!! It's really coming together !

WOW Lynne--that is so nice--your work looks professional. I think the stone pathway is perfect--and yes it will give everyone the idea to stay off of your flower beds.---
I agree with Diane, yo unad Don have done an awesome job with your pond and all the area surrounding it.

I also think you chose the perfect compliment of flowers to put around your 'resting area'.--

Lynne, I can't get enough of your pond pictures! I love watching the progress. The blue glass balls are perfect! The Adirondack chair is sweet. I noticed some gargoyles in place too!

Everything's shaping up nicely.

I just took my my kids through this entire thread looking at the pictures. They absolutely love it and of course they want Rich to build a big pond like yours for me (them).

They love the glass bubbles and they especially love the solar light ball. They say it's very cool.

Thanks once again for the really nice comments, Diane, Carol and Mel!

Mel - I can't believe you showed them the entire thread - weren't they bored?

Oh, my son, who seems to know a lot about lots of stuff, tells me that what I have are imps not gargoyles, because gargoyles have wings and mine do not. Do I really care? I just thought they were cute!

I think you SHOULD have a pond of your very own!!! The kids would love it - that is... if they could actually SEE the fish in there!

OH HAPPY DAY!!!

Most of my fish came out to eat today!!! It was 6:30p.m. and the sky was getting darker and darker with what looked like a storm coming, and the temperature was just about 100 degrees and 200% humidity! It was the last thing I did outside today, after a long sweaty non-stop day - I fed them and I immediately saw 4-5 fish swimming around where I put the food, rather quickly and hungrily!!! I say 4-5 because I'm not sure if one of them was one I saw twice in 2 different places, or 2 different fish. It's hard to tell with the water still murky brown/green. BUT........ OH HAPPY DAY!

I got to watch 3 of the 4 eat for about 10 minutes - 2 in particular were swimming around each other and competing for the food - the white koi, and the bright orange goldfish. Soooooo exciting finally!!!

On Thursday, I bought some quilt batting at WalMart - I had read that if you put that in your filter it helps clear up the water pretty quickly. Don put some in both filters and is almost positive it's already working. Plus... he will finally clean the filters much more often than he thought he should - we've been arguing about that for weeks now - he finally saw the light! And may even get to see the bottom of the pond!

Yea I'm happy for ya! Why is it some guys just don't listen they just have to see for them selves Lets hope you all can see the bottom of the pond soon!

I'm so happy for you Lynne! It's so nice to sit and watch them feed. I'm glad that they are in there and coming up to eat!

Very relaxing watching them.

I still want to make one of those filters with the batting. Shoot, what are they called? Brain dead here. But I figured I'd use a nice plant pot and keep it above ground.

Fixed our back pond wall tonight Lynne...didn't do the retaining wall, but we fixed it for now. I was able to add about another 3-4 inches of water to the pond.

Got a hula hoop at the store tonight for my hyacinths too!

From one murky pond owner to another---I feel your excitement with you!

Thanks Diane and Loz!

Loz - did you post new pictures? I need to go see...
And I too, am now using a hula hoop instead of the smaller frisbees to give the plants more room to grow. I do need to get some more to fill in though.

lynne, i'm locking this one up, i moved mel's post to start you off on the next one. since she had the links to all the others in there.

i'm happy about the fish. and thank you for sharing your adventure with us