Janet, your work is incredible! Love the fountain basin and the riser details. Just amazing. Do you have a thread on the crafts forum? Would love to see inside the 'yurt'. Did your DH build it? You are both very talented. A glass of wine helps make everything look better doesn't it? LOL!
We got confirmation tonight that our two young 'muscle' men will be here in the morning. If lucky, we will get the waterfall built. Yea! I've got to get organized and line up the projects for them tomorrow so we get as much accomplished as possible while they are here.
New pond project now under way - join us!
Yep, built it all from scratch ourselves, with a "yurt-raising" weekend to get the exterior walls up, and a lot of assistance from my intern at work. Mostly DH/Bill, but I've done my share! The "freecycled" doors were from one of Bill's clients; they were rotted pretty badly, so that took me 6 weeks of treating and filling and sanding and painting. I'm thrilled with the way they turned out.
I've attached a shot of the interior; this was taken before I installed the white floors. The thing in the foreground is a VERY nice propane heater that doubles as a table---birthday gift from Bill. What's really cool is the roof/ceiling. I guess I could do a DG diary and post multiple pix? I'm still finding my way around here.....
I thought I would put in a thread on the Artisans' forum when I move in so everyone can help me celebrate!
I'm looking forward to pix from you tomorrow so we can see progress!! Hopefully those muscles are all in good shape and ready to WORK!
Now for that glass of wine....
Just blows my mind! That is really impressive. I know you are so proud and will enjoy creating your artwork inside of it. Oh, and my mistake - should have said Artisans forum, not Crafts. Yes, please start a thread and show us lots and lots of photos. I'd love to see some of your projects during the process.
The muscles are better but I'm leaving the lifting to my hired muscle tomorrow! (yeah, right)
Ok, you talked me into it. I posted a "Yurtio" thread: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/704123/
Just saw your thread - it's great. I'll be watching for many more photos of your yurt and pottery projects.
Janet, I love your pottery shed! I've always wanted to learn how to do that, but I've never gotten around to it. I have WAY too many hobbies and not enough time!!! Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved sheds. DH built one for my pond and garden stuff last year and now he jokes that I decorate it nicer than the house, LOL! When it's raining, I like to sit in the shed and watch the rain fall on my pond. Here's a picture of my little retreat (trouble is trying to keep DH from cluttering it with his tools!)
Debra, we're patiently waiting for more pictures..... ;o)
Songs---LOVE IT! This scene looks like something out of one of my grandma's fairy books that I used to read when I was a kid. I know what you mean about the hobbies.....
Debra, hope you've got that digital camera handy!
OK, gotta go earn a paycheck now so I can pay for more plants and hobby supplies LOL!
I have been searching for deals on liners and thought I would tell this group about the pricing. With lots of help from SongsofJoy.
http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTCart.asp
I am building a pondless stream with a water fall. I order 5.5 x 50 ft of 45 mil for $134 and free shipping!! The pump (3500 gph) was only $104 with free shipping.
This is the cheapest company I've found and their rating is very good according to bizrate comments.
Debra, your pond will be beautiful!! Songs dmailed me pics of the stream leading to her pond - get her to post those here - it's sooo natural looking.
Kathy
Songs, your shed is adorable. Will you show us the interior? And the stream Kathy refers to above? Such an idealic setting!
We did a lot of work today but not much that shows in the pictures. My helpers, Morgan and J.J., hauled a lot of rocks from the stack left from the house construction 4 yrs ago to the courtyard area. We pulled the liner a little tighter than I had done by myself, then laid rocks around the parameter. Even though we used the largest ones available, I'm not very happy with it. We played around with ideas for the waterfall but, again, I need larger stones. I had in mind a large, wide, flat shelf for the water to fall from. We will definitely have to purchase that one. The stones that make up the rest of the waterfall won't be as important if I mostly hide them behind the dirt mound and tree. We will have to see about the stones on the edges. It would be a shame to have all these rocks and have to buy more!
Muscles at work....
Brains at work....
I was exhausted when we finished for the day - so I dangled my feet off the end of the dock on the big pond and fed the catfish. The water is as clear as it will ever be and I could see all of them - about 20 - at once. It gets very cloudy in the summer months. Pardon the dirty feet - they've been building a pond. Later, I went to our neighbors house to look at his koi pond. It's one of the prettiest I've seen. There are no small stones, only boulders. It was professionally designed and built - I'm jealous! Will try to get a photo next time. DH laughed and said he would give me a 'rock' for Christmas. I don't think it's the kind one wears on the ring finger......LOL!
Tell DH you'd like the rock for Mother's Day!
Nice catfish---and nail polish!~
You're making great progress on the new pond---I KNOW how hard it is to deal with the edges. I always thought that I'd have plants right up to the edge, trailing in the water, and wouldn't need to worry so much about the placement of the rocks. Unfortunately, I still haven't really found the right plants, either!
Gotta go make a living---more later!
Debra, hope you get both rocks. Very nice catfish, indeed.
Debra? Can you come out and play??? Are you ODing on ibuprophen?
I'm back! Sorry, yesterday was a long busy day and I didn't have a chance to update this thread. Well, I guess I could have.....but I'd had a glass of wine at home then two beers at the Mexican restaurant where we had dinner.....thought it best to wait until this morning! LOL!
While I was away buying rocks (yes, more rocks - but these were wider and flatter) our helper, Morgan (in white shorts and red hat above), came back with not one friend but two. His second friend, Daniel, is a horticulture major in college and works at my favorite nursery. He has done lots of rock work and had a good eye for aesthetics - so I immediately promoted him to supervisor! I'm very happy with the waterfall feature they worked so hard to make. The water falls from one wide flat rock onto another wide flat rock before hitting the water. We will add a large boulder with vertical lines between the tree and waterfall later. I still don't like the stones we have available to line the pond, but am hoping to change them out over time. They transplanted the Japanese Maples after an incredible amount of work - both physical and mental.
Enough of that. Let's get on with the photos! I'll spare you all the details and provide a brief description.
The birth of the waterfall....
When it came time to transplant the Japanese Maples, it didn't take long to discover how difficult it was going to be...
The tree was resisting - maybe it was happy in that pot and wanted to stay there. Maybe that's why it flung DH to the ground!
Out of the pot at last!
The final resting place is in sight....
And into the hole!!!
Today DH and I will be working alone. We will be installing the pond filter, pump, UV light, tweeking the stones in the waterfall and, hopefully, laying the stones that line the pond and filling it with water. Will we have a pond by the end of the day????????
GREAT progress! OK; I'm off to Home Depot for yurtio suppllies....we can compare notes tonight!!
Looks like they used the black preform for the fall spout. I wondered if I need one or can create the needed spout with the rock. My falls will only be 2 ft wide. Your fountain is beautiful. I'm glad you share all the pics to help us new to water gardening how it's all put together.
Kathy
Hi Kathy! It's been a real learning experience for us. Even with all the DG members' advice, a book, dvd and pond supply store owner giving us detailed instructions....we've still made mistakes. At least we've made fewer mistakes than we would have without all the help!
The 'mouth' you can see in the photo is called a 'weir'. Ours is 16" wide but they come wider for larger falls. Here's a link if you would like to see what it looks like. http://www.pondusa.com/filter3j.htm The weir has a box on the back that serves as a reservoir that fills with water then flows out the mouth section seen in the photo. Without it, the water would shoot out of the tubing with such force it would overshoot the rocks and probably hit about mid-pond! It also helps control the direction of the water.
We've learned there is more to building the waterfall than it first appears. The same 45mil material used for the pond liner is also used to line the waterfall to prevent leaks. Then there's the canned foam that is sprayed between the stones to also prevent leaks and direct the water. Whew! details....details....details! We filled the pond and turned on the pump for the first time last evening - and learned very quickly if the waterfall is not built correctly, the mistakes are discovered immediately! Our liner was not laid properly under the falls and we have a leak that is going to be difficult to repair. We also have leaks at the pump connections and both filter connections. The connection leaks will be easier to fix, but the leak within the falls will be more challenging. We will just keep 'tweaking' until it's right!
Here it is as of last evening. DH agrees we need to purchase more of the larger stones to line the pond as the limestone is too small for the look we would like. We will probably choose individual stones to complete that portion rather than buying a pre-picked pallet of stones. We will also add the vertical boulder in front of the tree and waterfall. This is not a one weekend job! Yes, I'm a little disappointed we didn't get more done this weekend, but would rather take longer to do it and be happier with it in the end than rush the job and never really be satisfied. DH is ready to put fish in it now! I'm having to keep reminding him we have to make all the adjustments and repairs first in case the pond has to be drained. No fish until it's complete. I'm glad he's showing interest in it and believe we will spend many hours enjoying it.
Any chance you could turn the "leak" into a "feature" and use bog plants in that spot?
It's not easy.....but you have to remember that you're imitating nature, which isn't perfect----and when you get plants in and around it, they will cover a multitude of sins!
It's going to be gorgeous!
The leak we saw last night was coming out from the left side as you are looking at the front of the fall - meaning it is in front as we look at it from the side (most prevelant side). That's where the boulder will eventually be so there won't be plants in that spot. Too many leaks will affect the water level over time and, the biggest concern, is that the bed is completely enclosed by concrete, brick and has a solid shale base. So, even though there is one large french drain at the front of the bed, I worry that a lot of water over time will eventually pool under the liner which is the deepest area of the shale. Does any of that make sense? Forget all that and just suffice it to say I'm a perfectionist! I don't want leaks! LOL!
No, you definitely don't want water under your liner. Our neighbors' back yard drains directly into our front. If it floods, it makes the liner float. We had to add drainage and an outlet where we can drop a small pump in, if it gets bad. Fortunately that's only happened a few times, but it's a pain in the tush.
I think you made great progress, and I really like the pattern of your waterfall! It's going to take some tweaking to get it the way you want it, but it will be worth it in the end.
BTW, here's a picture of my babies. I only have 2 large koi left after the debacle last season----I used to buy babies every year, but I skipped several years because I had severasl many 10 -18 inchers, so it's going to be a while before I have big guys again. I also need to find a source for shibunkin goldfish, as they all got old and died, too. Most of them lasted about 12-15 years.
OOps... too many windows open at once!
This message was edited Mar 26, 2007 8:54 PM
Beautiful bowl! I love the drip pattern. How many fish do you have? They are such pretty colors. You had fish that lived 15 years? Wow.
Posted this on the JP thread thinking I was here....so am copying to this thread where it belongs: Well, it allowed me to copy, but won't let me paste it here. Has anyone else been having that problem on DG?
Basically, we won't be doing any major leak repair until DH returns from turkey hunting. He won't have time to concentrate on it until Easter weekend. That gives me time to think on my planting strategy and get the electrician to put a switch on the skimmer end of the retaining wall to turn the power off/on.
Debra
Debra, the pond is gorgeous ! I can't wait to see the fish !
Adina
Hope your DH's turkey hunt went well, and that you guys will be making more progress this weekend? I'll be posting pix of the yurtio, too. Sharing projects with you on DG is definitely helping to keep me focused!
I probably have about 25 fish right now. Koi often live a long time---much longer than goldfish. But once they get past babyhood, I've had both feeder and fancy goldfish live over 10 years. The bright red ones that are so showy are just feeders that grew up. The koi are so beautiful and get so big, but they also need a lot more oxygen in the water than goldfish. Either way, I always get very attached to them. They're very entertaining. In fact, right now they're schooling where I usually feed them in the evening, so I guess I'd better go "fix dinner" for them!
Janet
Janet, are your fish 'calling' you for dinner? LOL!
Two of the young men that helped us before will be back tomorrow. We have some larger flat stones to line the pond with but do not have a boulder. That's proving to be a problem due to the courtyard being gated - the gate is only 4' wide and equipment can't get through it. The boulder will be worked out later. It has turned cold here again. It will be below freezing the next 3 nights and only in the 50's for highs. Boo Hoo.
Debra
Debra:
Hope the weather holds for you today, even if it's cold at night. Your "muscle" will probably appreciate it if it's not too hot during the day!~ Looking forward to seeing progress pix tonite! I'm off to work on the yurt.....
Janet
Good luck - hope you make a lot of progress. Will watch for your photos, too. It's sunny but very chilly and windy today. Highs to be in the 50's. Doesn't look like the freeze hurt anything last night so hopefully the next two nights will be the same. I haven't looked under the sheets draped over the clematis with buds or peony plants (no buds). I'm assuming they are ok.
One of our helpers told me his mom has a new bunny. She is a potter and is going to make him a rabbit house from clay. ?????? Didn't ask details, but would like to see the finished product!
It was so cold Saturday that we only got the bare minimum done. I don't think it ever got as high as 50 degrees and it was windy. They boys did line the pond with the larger stones and it looks better. Can't wait to trim the liner and get some plants in the ground. Maybe this coming weekend.....
Guess what we found in the pond?!!! A huge bullfrog! He's as big as my hand. He would either hang out in the skimmer basket or sit on the bottom of the pond. He disappeared Sunday afternoon but a small bullfrog replaced him. I hope once we have water plants and the weather warms up they will come back and stay. I'll name them if they do. LOL!
Debra
Oh, they'll be back, I guarantee. Some of them (leopard frogs?) eat fish, so when you open the sushi bar, be prepared for a rush of customers!~
Debra, I hop ethe bullfrogs will come back and stay in your pond ! I can't wait to see them !
Adina
Sunday and Monday were warm and sunny. Progress was made on the pond. Yipee! We trimmed the liner, hauled more topsoil, transplanted purple Louisiana iris, spider wort and hostas that had been removed to dig the pond. Planted white gumpo azaleas, pink Aribesk azalea and green mound junipers. Water plants included two hardy waterlilies, two pots of anacharis and a small cattail type plant that I've lost the name to it.
The Japanese Maple looks awful. All the leaves died after the late freeze. Hopefully they will fall off and new growth will appear.
Two hummingbirds and two butterflies have already decided they like the area and are hanging around. Just wait guys......you're gonna love the pair of tree lantana I'm potting for you!
Debra
Here's our project supervisor - our basenji, Buddy. It's a special treat for him to visit the courtyard area. He's getting a lot of special treatment these days. He has malignant tumors on the side of his face and mouth. We don't know how much time he has left so he is being spoiled rotten....more rotten than he already was!
Debar, it's looking FANTASTIC!!! You guys have done a great job. Can't wait to see these plants fill in! Are you doing any water plants?
Buddy looks like a very well-pleased project mascot, and I'm sure is enjoying all the attention!