I love all your great water gardens! Thank you so much for sharing these awesome shots and fantastic ideas.
This thread has been so helpful to me! We broke ground on our pond on April 1st. We are not done, but very close. I want to get a larger pump (of course) to increase my waterfall flow. Here's were we are so far.
Songs: Do I have to do anything special to get the moss to grow on my rocks?
If the conditions are right (shady, wet) then moss will most likely grow on its own - but it'll take a couple of years. I did "plant" some moss on my rocks that I collected from the woods, but it seems like the moss that just grows on it's own is doing better than my planted stuff.
Thanks.
It is wet and shady behind the pond, but the rocks we put around the pond are dry. I'll watch the few patches I transplanted yesterday. I hope they take.
I added hosta bare root like suggested and they are doing great. I think I put mine in about the same time as you, Beahive.
Can't wait 'til my pond starts looking like all of the above!
Glad the hostas are doing well. Regarding the moss, I have some that I too collected and some that the pond guy put on the rocks.
My pond is in full sun (when we have sun!!) and it tends to die back in the summer. It may look dead, but once the wet weather starts again it greens up. Hope you have success with it as it does look very nice growing on the rocks. Good luck.
I want to try the impatients next...
This message was edited Jun 10, 2008 10:13 AM
I just couldn't get enough of this thread! I did the impatients on Sunday.
I bought the styrofoam circles at Walmart in the dried flowers isle. I cut holes in them, two plants per circle. I hope they cover my ugly bio-filter. DH still needs to do some rock work, too.
Pictures please, we need pictures of the impatiens in the rings. We like to see the work in progress as well as the finished glossy magazine ad photos. We're all striving to improve our ponds. We can handle a bit of imperfection. And all you lurkers with ponds we want more input!
I did the same thing with impatiens in styrofoam circles. here's a picture of it right after I "planted" them...
By the end of the summer, the biofilter was almost completely hidden (back behind the log)
BIiofilter? I don't have one of those. Should I? I don't have fish. Mine is an endless stream with a small shallow pool, maybe 6" deep by 3 feet x 9 feet. I planted some impatience too, but I didn't use a ring. They are looking fine.
Nance, it is so good to see your wonderful pond. This is the first summer of mine, as I dug it last Oct/Nov so I am in a big learning process. DH gathered moss all winter from a friends boggy woods. Most seems happy. He also took a batch and blended it with buttermilk and painted it on some rocks. Can't say that it worked. But all kinds of ferns and other plants are appearing from the hunks of moss he gathered which is way cool. Patti
I don't think you really need a biofilter for a pondless stream, Patti, unless you are having trouble with water clarity ?? If not, then you're fine. If your stream is covered in small gravel, that in itself acts as a biological filter. Your stream is looking really good. I love how it ends in a shallow pool instead of just a gravel base.
Patti, that is what I'm hoping to see here. Yours is gorgeous! Wait... buttermilk?
I wish I had planned ahead but I just get an itching to do something and there's no stopping me. My poor hubby has been sucked into this whirlwind and so far has done a great job keeping up.
I don't think you need a bio-filter for the quantity of water you are moving. I also believe the rocks act as a bio-filter of sorts. Somebody else here probably knows better....
Here is a link to my project. It's kind of lengthy (123 pictures at last count) but you are all welcome to see what we've done so far. Once I get the right pump - LOOK OUT. Then I'll really be able to plant and finish this up.
http://gallery.mac.com/whitmarsh#100131
Special thanks to Mittsy for the night bloomer and a water lily that isn't showing above water yet...
Nance, I loved the peek at you water journey. My back aches just looking at those pictures.. You were very creative in your approach. I just followed the contour of the land to do mine. I know all about the tweaking. DH was out "tuning" the rocks to get the best sound. He also is the moss fanatic. The buttermilk acts like a culture for the moss according to what I read. Kitchen science is always fun.
I would love to have fish, but that will have to wait. My falls has a filter, but it is just 2 bags of filter material. No big problems yet. DH got some foul smelling stuff that deals with algae. It is pretty clear. We turn it off each night.
SongsofJoy, We decided to extend the pool way beyond the vault and it seems to be OK. I thought we might see some whirlpools. Just some bubbles, if that. No frogs for me yet either. But a nice number of birds visit each day for a bath.
I have an album of about 80 pictures of our endless stream through June 9th. Here is the link
http://picasaweb.google.com/bbrookrd/ENDLESSSTREAMALBUM
I LOVE your ponds and streams.. so awesome! I did get a couple little hosta "planted" in my old stock tank "pond".. it's still in the works, but it's a project filled time of year, so I get to play with it here and there when time allows.. I'm about to add a few feeder fish and keep adding plants all summer! This is a MOST helpful thread full of new ideas.
Thank you so much for the lovely slideshow presentations. I enjoyed them both. I just love to see the work in progress. It inspires me to hire some help and clean up the waterfall into my pond. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures as work progresses.
Patti, what a great job! Now I'm gonna be tearing up my side yard.LOL. Love the Heron - he's adorable! What size pump do you have?
I have a 550 gal. and it would be OK if I only had a stream, but with the combo of both stream and waterfall it doesn't seem to be enough. Anybody have a guess as to what size I should increase to. I was thinking of doubling it. Is it possible to buy too big of a pump?
OOOHHH My, Love your slideshows! Really shows just how much work they really are. You have done a spectacular job building your streams, waterfalls & ponds. Such an inspiration!
And fun too!
Thanks Nance and mattsmom. The pump I have is pond master pump 4800. I got it from a nursery in Hyannis (Country Gardens) which has a great pond dept. They discounted everything I bought from them. Here is a good write up about it. I may have more pump than I need, but I read about so many crapping out very quickly. But who know, certainly not me.
I have about 40 feet of run and about a 4 to 5 foot drop (head height) DH knows a bit about pumps from running a boat yard for years, and he liked the sound of this one. They had many to choose from, and one of the guys who installs many ponds for the nursery's customers used this one in a new one he was building for himself. He had another brand in a smaller pond he had, but he was upgrading and enlarging. He said I would be doing the same and getting koi down the road. He is probably right. Hope this helps. Patti
http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTProduct.asp?SKU=PON-02670&src=froogle&kw=PON-02670
