<font color="#006200">
When I first showed you the bus and subsequent photos of the naked ground, several members suggested that a small pond or waterfall would look nice in the space. However, I already have several ponds down yonder and three "waterfall" type water features around the gardens, so I decided that I needed something a little different at the bus stop. I did a lot of searching and shopping to find a thingy that seemed right....
I found a Roman style urn that I liked for the fountain but I wasn't sure of what would look right for the reservoir until I discovered some Roman stack stone at my favorite rock store. I used the stack stone to create a six foot circle which I lined with heavy rubber pond liner. The urn was set on blocks to lift it above the rim of the circle. The water circulates via a 400gph submersible pump.
[align:center]<img src="http://www.thegardenhelper.com/photo/busstop/03110004.JPG" width="400" height="300" alt="how to fill a crater" border="0">
Unfortunately, electric pumps require electricity to run, and I was already very tired of digging so for the first time ever I decided to allow someone to help me with some of the work involved in creating one of my gardens. I sent a message to a
gnome who lives in the Cedar grove just south of Cedar Hill, and Digger Don agreed to help me out...
<img src="http://www.thegardenhelper.com/photo/busstop/diggerdon.jpg" width="200" height="273" alt="Digger Don the neighbor Gnome" border="0">
It didn't take long for Digger Don to dig the fifty feet of trench from the power supply to the pump, so I had him continue beyond that point to where I had decided to add a street lamp to the garden. Somehow, my simple plan seems to be turning into much more of a project than I ever anticipated...
<img src="http://www.thegardenhelper.com/photo/busstop/march14.JPG" width="400" height="300" alt="damage to the lawn" border="0">
At this point, my addiction to buying
plants was beginning to haunt me, and I began to add a couple shrubs and
flowers to the Bus Stop.
(55 tall Bearded Iris, a couple Rhododendrons, a Goldenchain tree, a dwarf Forsythia....) I also came across a gazing ball and antique concrete planter that begged to be part of this garden.<img src="http://www.thegardenhelper.com/photo/busstop/march18.JPG" width="400" height="300" alt="some hardscaping and plants added" border="0">
I began using the hundreds of excavated rocks as a wall so that I could create different levels of raised beds throughout the garden, and in a moment of weakness I hit the nurseries again....
(a couple more Rhododendrons, 10 assorted Heucheras, a spiral Arborvitae, some Junipers, a Golden Fir...)<img src="http://www.thegardenhelper.com/photo/busstop/march24.JPG" width="400" height="300" alt="too much!" border="0">
March 24, 2006
So much for my plans of keeping this project SIMPLE!!To be continued.....</font>
[/align]