Show Us Your Water Gardens ....Big Or Small We Love Them All

Yes, we keep fish. Nothing fancy, just goldfish, but we love them. They overwinter in the pond and increase slowly...

It took me long time to get the rock garden in the background in. I had to carry the stones one by one all the way around the pond. Then when the ledges were built I had to haul the soil back there one bucket at a time. Whew. Why the heck I didn't think of it before we dug the pond I don't know. The pond is seven years old. The rock garden one week.

Snapple, that is just awesome! Spectacular! I can't think of enough descriptive terms... but LOVE the rock!

Brenda

Thank You! It was worth the smashed finger after all. :D

Looks great!!! I bet you're ready for the hot tub!!! I know that was back breaking but definately worth it and now you have a whole area to play plants in!!!

What you gonna plant? Want some black bamboo? I think it would look good back there. It's not the clumping kind !!! I just cut it back while it's young if it gets out of the area I've alloted to it.

Very cool Snapple! I just recently learned there are a lot of cacti and desert plants that are hardy here. Be a great place for a cactus/succulent garden. Please post some pics as it evolves.

Wooow! I just found this thread...awesome...inspiring and just downright cool! Thanks for sharing all...

I will have to post pics of our small pond on the west side of our house at some point. It has been a slow-going work in progress since last year. As others have said, I wish we would have went bigger from the get-go. Oh well. I have a larger pre-formed liner that we are going to install this fall. It's a good thing because my water lily has multiplied and is taking over the front pond!

For now, I will just leave you with a pic of my yellow flag iris. Even though it is a water plant, I have it planted in the dirt...so it will behave itself!

I'm going a little slow on filling the rock garden. I'm going to add another smaller one on the opposite side of the waterfall. When it's done I want to try balance the plantings. I love black bamboo. Is there really a clumping variety that won't take over over the whole state?
I really smashed my finger good. The nail is coming off. I need a little time out. They are labor intensive to build but not difficult to figure out the, for want of a better word, engineering. It's all dry stacked and it's sturdy enough to stand on. There are a couple of tips I picked up from books on stonescaping that made the difference. Overlap all joints and use weed mat on the inside of the verticle walls to keep the dirt from running out through any gaps. While the front of the ledges/walls look uniform the backs are not. Some of the rocks are much wider than others. They don't show from the front. When dirt is packed under and on top of the wider stone it locks the wall tight and it wont tip. It's hard to describe without a diagram. Because I cant get to the rock garden fromt the back because of the fence I had to leave a stable flat area in front to get to it for planting & maintenance. The back part that is unseen is actually dry stacked ( on the narrow edge) precast concrete block with 4' rebar driven into the ground every 12" between the fence and stacked block. It keeps the block from ever sliding or tipping back into the fence. If we have to repair or replace a fence board we do so easily without disturbing the rock garden as long as the neighbor will let us get to it from their side.

snapple...I looove the rock garden! Thanks for the details! I have been playing what I call 'rock jenga' with my front pond for a while now. In fact, I worked on it a bit more yesterday after seeing your pics, along with other inspiring pics. I'm sorry about your finger. :-( I've smashed mine as well this year, but it wasn't right on the nail and just equated to a lot of bleeding and tenderness. So, take it easy on yourself! I hope it heals up nicely for you.

LOL!!! I wish!!! No it isn't the clumping kind. I allotted it and area and allow it to grow there. Everywhere else I just snip off the shoots when they first appear and it has maintained for 5 years now.

OUCH!!!! I cringed just reading about your finger I smashed my finger when we were doing rock work and got one of those finger guards for that finger and it helped to keep it from getting bumped when I would go to do anything. Hope yours feels better soon!!!

I'm going to the drugstore today for a finger guard. Having a nail part attached and part pulling off is a real pain. I'm told it will be a mess for a couple of months at least. Great. Just great. Two ponds and aquarium to keep up plus I'm a Master Gardener volunteer. You sort of need your fingers, all ten of 'em.

I know!!! And then some...some times!!!! I hope it helps!!!!

With our storm coming, I had to take all the plants around the ponds down...and submerge the taller ones further into the depths....I cut a lot of leaves off this morning, so they don't get hurricane tattered. Put all the lawn furniture away, keep your fingers crossed for us southerners while this storm goes through (snapple, it will be perfectly acceptable under that circumstances for you to cross only your good 9 fingers for us!)
:D

Heck, I'll throw in the toes. My DH is a bonafide Kentucky hillbilly. Somewhere back there in his family lineage these has to an extra finger or toe. Maybe that will count? Seriously, MerryMary take care. Maybe the storm will take one of those last minute wobbles or lose strength. Let's hope.

Snapple, sorry to hear about your smashed finger, but truly... it must be gratifying to look at your beautiful pond and rock work... maybe it takes the sting out of it a bit. MerryMary, and everyone else in the path of the storms... be safe! I wish you all the best... stay in touch and let us know how you, your ponds, pets, gardens, and homes are doing.

Brenda

Here are some water lillies in bloom today. Went to run errands and this is what I found when I got home. Beautiful surprise!

Gorgeous!

Hi everyone. We just joined and live in Jacksonville, Tx, where Dave and family have moved. I saw a piece in our local paper and found Dave's Garden.

We dug this pond with our own hands in 1996, and then upgraded it several years ago. It has evolved over the years as we find out what grows well and what doesn't. We had irises planted in the pond, but they took over the place so they came out and were replaced with a canna or two. We used to put everything in pots with some dirt in them and rocks on top, but now we just stick the roots in the water among the rocks and they thrive. We have lots of dragon flies and a few snakes from time to time. I just wrote a check today to have a snake removed from the pump. I thought the pump had conked out, and when they pulled it out there was most of a two foot snake inside it.

We hope to enjoy DG!

Pete & Jan (pandj)

Welcome to DG, Pete and Jan! That's a lovely pond you built! Thanks for sharing.

Pete & Jan - I love your pond! Watch those Canna ... they can spread, too!

Welcome to DG pandj! I know that you will really enjoy it here. Wonderful pond, it looks just perfect the way you have integrated it into the rest of the garden. Looks like it really belongs there.

Beautiful pond, Pete & Jan!

Brenda

Hi Everyone!

You have such beautiful ponds. I never tire of looking at them! Here's my pond- it's about eight years old and is finally balanced where it requires little work. Yea!!

Trixi

Here's my little angel who watches over the wild ones.

Trixi

Gorgeous, Trixi!! I think we need to see more....pretty please? :o)

Here ya go!

Trixi

Trixi - love the waterfall! I'm toying with the idea of redoing my largest waterfall and I like the way yours has the multiple tiers. Do you have separate lines for each of the tiers? Did you build it yourself? What can you tell me about it? Sorry for so many questions, LOL!

Very nice Miss Trixi! Do you use any bacterial agents in the water, or just let nature take its' course? Seems like I put in a couple of ounces per week per 1000 gal.
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There was a canna that had fallen down after a rain and it's beginning to straighten up. The dragonfly was perched on it as it hung out over the water. The waterfall was in the background with the sun on it and the dragonfly was in the shade. Interesting sparkle patterns.

Pete

Here is mine all grown up in the summer. BEV

You're so sweet to ask Song! I did build the waterfall myself, and even dug the pond with a shovel! There is one water line that comes up the back of the falls. When it gets to the top it has a splitter (splits the one line into two) and valves for the two sides of the falls so I can control the volume and the sound of the water. I will go out and take some pictures to show you how its built.

Thanks Pete, I did try using all kinds of bacteria early on, but alas I am not very good to be consistent. Somehow the pond balanced on its own and I don't treat it with the exception of pulling string algae out when it comes once a year. I don't even feed my fish! GASP!!

Trixi

Your pond is beautiful Bev! I love that dragonfly too Pete, it's a really good shot!

Song, here is a picture from front dead on . It shows the tearing of the falls. I built up the back of the falls with Cedar posts with a steel cable running through each post. I put a barrier against the posts (to hold in the soil), plumbed and back filled with clay soil. I built up the falls rock by rock with rubber liner behind the whole area of the falls. When I was through placing the rocks I went back in and piped concrete between rocks to stabilise them. The whole thing was built on a shoestring budget.

Here is the back.

This is a closeup of the valves. Hope you can see.

Trixi

Trixi, you did a fabulous job! My large waterfall is at the end of a 70 foot stream, so I don't know how I can make the multiple tiers like you have. But I'll have to keep brainstorming on it because I really like the look of yours.

Here's the waterfall I'd like to redo (I believe I already posted on this thread, but it was last year so it's probably buried somewhere in the middle). I want to use larger stone and have it blend in with the retaining wall more, in addition to the multiple tiers.

It's so beautiful Song! My daughter lived in NH and it is wonderful up there.
The only thing I can think of is to use your current falls as the upper part of the fall, then channel the water into a more complex configuration. If it gets wider though, the stream bed might have to change considerably.
When I decided to build I studied many photographs of real streams and waterfalls- noting where tumbling rocks naturally land and how water is diverted. The size of rock and how it is placed lends itself to how natural it looks.

That said, I don't know why you would want to change that beautiful setting!

Wow SOJ.........no more posts for me, I'm clearly outclassed. All kidding aside, envy is not a good thing.

Beautiful.

What are the blooming flowers in the foreground?

Pete

Here are the smaller waterfalls

Pete - you are by no means outclassed - your pond is wonderful! The flowers in the foreground are astilbe.

This message was edited Aug 24, 2008 3:37 PM

Song, You have a walking rock too! I love that part of my pond. You have wonderful taste and great talent. I am sure whatever you decide to do it will be beautiful!♥

Trixi