Pond Construction

LOL

I tried to hand pull some weeds, the ground is so dry they wouldn't come out

I did a massive weed pull myself today. Will get more done on Thursday. Tomorrow is party time. Maybe will get some stuff done after the party.

Karen

Enjoy your party, sale and RU, Karen!

I was looking more closely at Bill's pics and now questions come to mind. Is the algae killer still working? I suppose August becomes the test month for sure.

Will you put your lotus plant into a pot? I read in BHGs project page about water features that's the only way to keep water features from getting overgrown, but I know nothing firsthand here.

Would it work to put a rain barrel at your downspout to also reduce the water draining down?

What is that lovely bluish weeping conifer at the top of the waterfall? How can you keep the new trees watered without it all washing into your stream or pond? There must be quite a lip around the thing.

Even without purchasing tons of rock, or buying a little tractor to help you, there must have been some big expenses. What was the most costly item? Since you're in my region, did you talk to Russell's Gardens also, or was it better to buy everything online? What do you think is the mistake people would be most likely to make? I wonder if it's underestimating how deep one has to dig. Also once you hit ledge, then I suppose the bets are off for how much soil has to be built up around the construction site.

I am wishing my brother and SIL lived closer. They use a sizable tractor to contour their amazing rock garden. Problem with purchasing one is someone has to also store the thing.

Congratulations, many times over for the achievement. I hope I'm around town when you have the RU next summer! Please pardon my inquisitiveness, and the many questions.

Sounds like that's your next project, Rosemary! I'd love one, but I know it's just a dream....

Robindog, glad you feel better. Your " dream" made me think of following which is something I learned at camp in Canada as a kid. It has become the closest thing to a religious incantation in my life, but I say it every day. I had it read when I married DH in 1978. My 97 year old mom learned it at the same camp in 1929 and still says it often too. Patti

rosemary let's see if i can answer some of your questions.

The pond is a little green right now with all the hot weather and you need to build up bacteria. plants help too. I am trying to be patient..............

Lotus plants need to be in a pot as their root systems will poke right through a liner, at least that is what the lady i bought if from told me - bought mine in a pot and just put it right in the pond. You can plant other stuff right in the pond although they will spread, i do not like the look of seeing the root systems so anything in mine will be in a pot.

the downspout issue has been solved, i just got around to burying the extension gutter into the trench. also the retaining wall will divert anything else away from the pond.

The blue conifer is a picea glauca prostrate - had been buried under a jm just to the side - it will get fuller now that it is full sun - water the plants around the stream/pond is not an issue - the new ones i have a built up the dirt around the base so it sinks to the root systems. after this year they will be on their own and will use a sprinkler to water them.

there is a lip of liner and large rocks that help with that. the liner is covered by the rocks.

the most expensive item was the liner - i looked locally to purchase everything and on-line was less by hundreds - depending on what size you want to build i have extra liner that i would give you a deal on :)

i wish i had bought a bio-falls right now looking at the color of the pond, with no fish i was told it would not be needed, i shall see.

i went 3' feet deep because i wanted to go in it once in a while - you only need to go 2' to keep fish.

the ledge i hit was not a big deal - actually it forced me to build a waterfall and that looks better than my first idea.

i dumped most of my soil in the woods out back because it was all clay - just saved all the top soil and i brought in extra soil not really for the pond just to have a raised bed and offset the slope of the yard.

you can dmail me if you have other questions.

Thanks for the poem, Patti.....amazing that your Mom also learned it.....my mother, also at 97 is getting very frail...but looking at the present day instead of focusing on past or future is something that helps....that way I can truly say some days are really wonderful!

My mom fell yesterday and banged up her nose, lip and got two black eyes. She tripped bringing in the groceries from her car. A lawn guy at the retirement condo complex where she lives helped her up and then she went to an emergency room with the brother who doesn't do much to help her usually. Unfortunately the one brother who is always her rock is visiting me in Nantucket this week. But thankfully they didn't find anything broken or damaged except her face, poor thing. She must look awful. We talked to her last night and again this morning and just a bit ago again, she said she is just really sore and took a photo of herself as she looks so scarey. I didn't ask her if she was still planning on flying from Oklahoma to Toronto in late July to her cottage. I hope so as she is still so active which is what keeps her "young" and she so loves the north woods.


Here is our little endless stream, a mere puddle compared to Wha's and SOJ's, but you can see someone loves it.
And a shot of my mom when she was up north last summer. And one of her in Cuba this March on her 97th birthday. Patti

Oh, your poor mother, Patti! I hope she will be okay. She's lucky it wasn't too serious. Good for her, keeping so active at her age. Your stream looks fantastic.

Karen

I love the plantings around the stream Patti

Sorry to hear about your moms fall .. Hope she is ok

Geez, I hope she's OK Patti! Glad the lawn guy was there to help her!!

I like Patti's stream a lot also. If i do one it'll be more of a trickle I think.

Thanks for the info, Bill. You are always generous with Information. If I do one at all it won't start before next year. My next "house" project is investigating solar energy and other necessary work on the house. We just had to replace the tile on our outdoor table and try to straighten and fix the bent and broken metal--someone clearly tried to climb up and break into our upstairs bedroom from the balcony and fell on it. ( DD1 doesn't feel like sleeping upstairs in her room lately).

Patti, healing wishes and prayers for you 97 yo mother. What an amazing woman! She must be very tough to get help when she needs it.

you are welcome Rosemary - the liner is going nowhere, it is too heavy to move:)

Patti your stream is beautiful, did not realize it was so steep at the top, gives me some thoughts if i end up moving the spill way back a bit. Hope your Mom feels better soon!

Rosemary, I can understand why your daughter wouldn't want to sleep in her room after that. Pretty scary. I would be disturbed myself.

Karen

Your Mom looks wonderful, Patti....she must be a very strong woman to fall & not break anything! Hope she heals from her scrapes quickly.....Rosemary....scary about that table! Maybe one of the kids friends was fooling around...you never know....

Rosemary, scary thought if someone was trying to break in. I would be a nervous Nelly too.

Wha, less steep than it looks in those shots.

Thanks all, she is a tough old bird so I think she will rally. She is being mindful about breathing deeply to keep her lungs clear as she did hurt her ribs, though they are not broken. I will call her soon when she has had her coffee to see if she is planning on going out today a terrorizing the world with her new look.

The place she lives has nice dining rooms and a cafe, so she won't starve and they will send up room service to her as she had them do for her yesterday, so she doesn't have to worry about cooking. She is in a good spot that is located on 190 acres that has about 300 condos and houses along with a wellness center with a heated pool, post office, bank and beauty shop, a convenience store and a library and a bar. It is set up for active residents 55 years and older. She decided when she moved in to pay for something called Life Care which guarantees a lifetime of care at a monthly prepaid rate which was way cheaper than what she was paying to just run her home. Of course they figured she would be there only a short while, so the longer she lives the better the deal she got which makes her very happy. They have a medical care unit for temporary medical needs, as well as a skilled nursing home if you are no longer able to live independently with 90 beds plus an Alzheimer's unit. My Mom has no intention of moving to that part of the property, ever. She loves her 2 bedroom condo with it's big balcony and a view of a nice pond with a fountain surrounded by lovely gardens where she doesn't have to pull a weed. But she would love Wha's yard even more. Patti

Patti, it sounds like a really lovely place she is living in. I would love to live in a place like that when I get too old to do anymore gardening. Hopefully I won't end up with Alzheimer's.

Karen

It does sound like a perfect place....wish my Mom would consent to assisted living, but no, she'd rather have her 3 kids do everything! Karen, stay active, read a lot, do puzzles....it all helps....

Patti, I am so sorry to hear about your Mom's fall. She is such an inspiration, and seems like such a lovely lady. I hope to meet her in Florida if she comes down with you.. First, however, I'd really LOVE to get to meet you! :). I think your stream is so cheerful and pretty. I can just hear the soothing sound of the trickling water when I look at it. The shot of your dog is priceless! Worth all the work to build the stream just to see that!

Karen, glad you had a nice day with your Dad.

We have our grandkids to ourselves today. We played baseball, went swimming at the town beach, cooked hotdogs out ( Viennas, of course....:) and now the house is quiet with the 4-year-old sleeping, all 3 dogs napping, Hank napping, and the 6-year old mad at me because I'm taking a play break and reading DG. He's been in the bathroom for 20 minutes in protest! LOL. Ooops....here he comes....back to being on my toes again. Kid video is next.....when everyone wakes up.

Louise, you are a trooper! My grandies get mad at me when I don't play nonstop....I just tell them I need the nap! They were good yesterday because they were in the pool most of the day....

Marilyn, I do all those things and more. I like to stay active mentally and physically. Love to read, do my photography, my gardening, walking when I get the chance, read and reply to the forums here, etc.

Louise and Marilyn, sounds like you guys have been having fun.

Karen

Yes, Karen, my grandkids surprise me in many ways!

Robin, I think you are right about kids fooling around as our perp, but i believe my kids that they know nothing. We had finger marks in the dust on the floor of our upstairs balcony. Obviously this was someone who didn't do pull ups like our DS does! We found matching tile at HD so the tile only cost a few bucks, and it gve the men a project, so all is well here. DD whispered to me that she really just wants to be around her sister before they go off to college.

Oh, that's very sweet! Must be hard on kids that are so close!

Thanks Robin.

Lots of cell phone family minutes!!

That's already true. My thumbs are getting pretty nimble with texts too.

The kids amaze me how they do it so effortlessly without even looking.