I would like to have a little water garden, but can not dig more than 6 inches in the ground so I was thinking of using a really big pot that I have for it instead. Do I have to have a pump in it to circulate the water or can I just put some soil, water and plants in it and put it in the sun? Thanks for the advice.
The biggest problem you will have with any standing water, is that mosquitoes LOVE to breed in it!!! The plants, depending on which ones you chose, will do nicely in a large pot, but I'm not sure you'll like the bug problem!
Mom has a pot over at her house that's a water feature. She has a frog spitter in it so the water isn't stagnant---that way the mosquitos don't breed there.
I would def. get a pump of some kind if you can. It wouldn't have to be a big fancy one, just something to keep the water from being still.
I have a 100 gallon preformed pond with no pump.It gets 6 hours of sun.The water is shaded by the lotus& water lillys pads.it also has a canna,lizzards tail.I have 2 oxygenator plants submerged.the feathergrass is sunk in milkjug.And have elodea done the same.The frog population helps me out a bit too as the tadpoles that are always in some growth cycle eat most the algea that does form(if it forms.....)My water is very clear.I can see to the bottom.Rain keeps it topped off.by keeping the water shaded the algea don't grow.I think the elodea does the most putting the oxygen into the water(water lettuce& hycanith are good also)I also have a population of snails,but they don't seem to bother the plants in pond or around it,but can see them on edges of pond and sometimes on the lilly pads.It did take a bit for my pond to get established,but as your plants grow in your water will settle& I used minnows in the begining also,but not added any since about March(they could still be some?who knows?)I'd say my ponds ecologiacally balanced.as all I really do is remove dead plant stuff& I see dragonflys quiet at home on pond too(they like to rest on seed pod of lotus)
you can buy barrel liners for them winebarrels cut in half for $20 or can use a large decorated pot that has no drain hole or has a plug for the drain hole.
My plants are in notheing fancey.The water lotus is in one of them pink washtubs you get at hospital& the rest are in milkjugs with drainholes in them with the tops removed and have used white rocks(the bag of white landscapeing rock?I use clayish soil cannas& iris& the other is from one of the lakes out here with the white rocks on top to help hold the soil in.My water lotus is not hardy,but I didn't know that last year but it was submerged in pond(3 ft) and it did fine.I still plan to add to add some tarro.I also want to add some umbrella palm& may add one of my crinuim next year.your plants need to be in a type of pot and submerged.The gravel from fishtanks will work too as my lotus has that gravel.
I will age ungracefully until I become an old woman in a small garden..doing whatever the Hell I want!
oh.forgot to tell ya.Your pond WILL turn green in about 2 days when set up.but you need to let it get itself balanced out.water lilly is a plus as it covers the water surface to shade it so the algea has less chance of growing.get a few minnows to start out(its no loss if they die,but they'll eat stuff till ya get a frog to give tadpoles)Your lucky...big city...U get to go petsmart can buy your oxgenators.& some come with their own black mesh pot.I have white water lilly for postage if you don't find any.
I will age ungracefully until I become an old woman in a small garden..doing whatever the Hell I want!
I can't get away from misquitos..this is SE TX don't get cold enough long enough to kill them.I live in hot muggy moist woods with underground springs and above ground springs and natural fishing ponds.But I got frogs,dragonflies,butterflys,bats that will& can eat them.I've seen birds diveing for drinks in pond.owls.I see frogs...hopeing across the yard at night...they think my pond is some kind of food bar.And SOMETHING has to keep all them tadpoles in their different stages alive.And love not cleaning my pumps filter all the time.and not haveing to touch snails(who eat and are happy too)no worry of running a powersource. We won't discuss spitters.I don't have luck with them.
June 13th.last photo have took of pond.
Last edited by njoynit; Jul 23rd, 2007 at 06:18 AM.
I will age ungracefully until I become an old woman in a small garden..doing whatever the Hell I want!
Thank you all for your help. I didn't even think about the mosquitoes. I can't believe I didn't considering they are such a problem here now with all of the rain. I understand njoynit I too come from s. tx. What part are you from, if you don't mind me asking? I don't know how my neighbors would feel about frogs but I would love to have some. I will keep in mind all of your advice when and if I decide to get the courage to tackle this project.
njoynit, you're everywhere! :~) I hope you don't think I'm following you around, but you just happen to be in all the post that I'm interested in.
In your canna with the clay soil and gravel toppings, do you use anything else with it? When I told my husband, he said, "that's what I've been trying to tell you when I told you about laterite." He's a fish aquarium guy and uses it for his aquarium plants. Do you use it, too?
I'd love a clear pond, but I get a constant crop of string algea due to sun. My water lilies aren't very big yet. I wondered if either the clay or laterite would boost my lily growth.
You need the sun,but need your water surface shaded.do you have oxygenators in your water?it really helps with the algea(besides the wildlife)you notice in mine the water is shaded by plants on and around the water.plus I let my tadpoles stay& they do alot of the work and is neat to watching them grow.They don't croak every single night.but yeah...are some nights I DO get looks and threats of froglegs for dinner(which I like,but not my guys)and being in the city...you have noise to cover alot of it.I have string algea in my fountain,but its water is not shaded at all or pump in it...it has to do with that spitter issue I mentioned that we won't discuss.pretty dolphin though.I've been asking for a box to be built for water to circulate with the fountain...or a new spitter or even better just give me 2 different size fountain bottoms and let my water bubble into a box& cascade over the fountains different bases.
my canna don't even get fertilized& it will bloom.some cannas don't take well to water,but most will.I have to watch for wind.sometimes I find them blown off their shelves sideways in water.I'd recommend dwarf type cannas just cause of wind and some of the tall like my orange just don't look good being 9 ft in a small pond.Bengal tiger gets about 4 ft so is just about right.My yellow iris in ground beside pond is brown dormant,but the one in water has foliage still. My waterlillys took off once it warmed up they are starting to bloom more now.I seen buds underwater yesterday.how about a picture?that would help alot.then I could see your set up& plants and water vs plant coverage.Being FL our temps should be close. Uni I'm Tyler county.3rd county from coast 3rd county from LA.I border Polk co.I sit between Sam Rayburn/Lake Livingston/Lake Conroe.I live off 190...in the woods Julianne,whats your lilly growing in containerwise.Mine are in milkjugs with holes poked with steak knife and have white rocks on top holding soil.I've not been able to find fert tabs for pond plants so have used none.they possibly get a mist of fertilizer when I water the plants around the pond.The back of my pond has taller plants(due to cannas on each side)bananas shade the front more on one side than the front.I have 2 pots of water lillys one established and stuck in pot,the other freshly milkjuged this spring a tuber the size of my hand. When my family is not around to see me....i'll grab a pot of lilly out and picture it.I might as well look at my oxygenators and see how they are fareing.
I will age ungracefully until I become an old woman in a small garden..doing whatever the Hell I want!
I have morning and early afternoon sun. No oxygenators yet. DH suggested anachrist; he had it in the pond and it did well. I'll try that. I have 3 lilies, probably 2 different kinds with small leaves now, but I'm expecting them to get larger, that should solve the shade problem. I do have tadpoles, last count 12 in various stages of development. I love those little guys! They drove my middle son crazy after a rain when they were laying their strings of eggs! They were deafening! We do live in the city, but in an old area with acre lots all around. Not much noise.
Keeping the tadpoles company, and more permenant residents, are guppies and native gloriosus (Enneacanthus gloriosus-nice to have a fish guy for all these big words)[wow! you should see the african lily pads on Animal Planet right now! Six feet! Cool]. Up against the black of the tub, I can hardly see any of them. The ones I want (african cichlids) are a beautiful orange sherbet color, more expensive and live in our house :~)
There is a fountain, but I guess until the lily pads get larger to shade I'll just have to deal with the string algea. \
I think I have dwarf canna, but not sure. Is there a way to tell? They are kinda stumpy/short. Wish I knew if they would take to the water.
The lilies are in plastic pots with small flat rocks to keep the soil from washing out too much. We did just find fertilizer tabs at a warehouse type aquairum store in the next city and have put one in each pot. I'll let you know how they do. I still have planting to do around the fountain, but I'm not through with the outside yet. I want to do a multimedia moasic around the outside, then I'll plant something tall-ish and that can take AM/early PM sun, but I don't want to block all my sun.
I'm a little nervous about putting one of my cannas in the fountain, but since it's not doing so great where it is, can't hurt! Maybe I'll through in a wishing penny for luck. :~} Hopefully, this is a pic of the fountain. It's about 2 1/2-3 foot across and I think 18 inches deep with shelves. Standard off the Home Depot shelf pond kit.
i have 2 ponds, never used a pump, [till this year i did get one for the smaller pond, but hardly ever turn it on] frogs n fish are good for mosquito's, also a net, i scoop em out n give em a toss out
It's a Calpump 5750 gph, per my husband. There's also an ultra violet light box type filter on the top that spills into the resivour then over the wier. We made the wier a convex corner also so water would cascade over the front view as well as the side. The fountain out back does not have a pump, only a small pump that was included in the kit.
here's my waterlilly in bloom.I love the reflection in water.you can see how clear the water is,the oxygenatros pots have tipped over and are growing in bottom not spreading much.I decided not to disturb the soil.one gallon jug has deteriated but the lilly is growing in dirt washed about in bottom about just above my knuckle of index finger.I got a bud growing on water lotus.I think come fall I may net my pond.Its a perfect 7 for ph.its nutral.I got a new string of frog eggs.none with tails& most seem grown so thats good and I hi jacked a frog last night hopping across yard.I almost ran into a tree cause was watching frog not where we we're hopping.
I just LOVE that purple waterlilly.Is it one of the changeables? looking at tricksters make me drool. waterplants.com is reasonable.
I will age ungracefully until I become an old woman in a small garden..doing whatever the Hell I want!
Your waterliles look so pretty! No, the purple is not a changeable and my husband says it's a very common lily, and doesn't know the name. I don't have any blooming in the fountain yet, but I'm hopeful!
njoynit I'm thinking about making a small pond also and the information gave earlier to someone about what size to it is very helpful have to budget the money spend but was wondering could I aksed you for a start of one of your water lily's? Will not need it until next spring?thank you Rita
Monitoring water usage can be a breeze with the right tech. I've had my own challenges with water-related issues, like when water damage wreaked havoc on half of my house.
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