I will try to post some pond pictures.
Things have changed so much since last summer.
Some pictures of my pond.
This is when I was still trying to get the water balanced. It stays nice and clear now after adding the UV light. Here is a picture from bottom to top. Since this picture the gazebo thing has blown away and the ugly propane tank still needs covered with something. I planted Maiden grass there this year so it looks better.
I am still looking for something to cover the liner on the bottom pond. The sweet potato does good but I want something that stays year round. Any ideas?
Are you at all worried about invasive plants around the pond? If not you might try ivy of some kind. As the stems grow you can drape them over the liner. Once they get in the water you can always snip them off.
I just love the pic from the bottom pond looking up. Thank you so much for sharing with us!
I was told not to plant any kind of ivy around the pond because it would grow through the liner. The pond is full sun until about 6pm in the summer then it starts getting shaded from the house, then by 7pm the sun is behind the trees and it is completely shaded.
I was wondering if I could get creeping phlox to grow down that far. The liner gets so hot in the summer though, I also wondered about sedums but I don't think they would hang that far. I also have to check if whatever I plant there is poisonous to my fish.
Another plant that might be good for that purpose is ajuga. It grows just about anywhere and the growth habit really reminds me of a spider plant but it is hardy. The roots do not seem to go too deep so you would not have to worry about them going through the liner but the baby plantlets could hang down the side of it.
I had rocks on there as far down as they would stay but there is still a large part that nothing will stay on because it is too steep. I thought about creeping jenny or 'penny wort' that stuff seems to grow anywhere. It will not hurt my fish, I'll just have to keep it under control. I also have the added problem of the dogs think it is a water bowl and they make the rocks slide also. They could drink in the stream but no, they have to drink in the main pond where it is harder to get the rocks back that they made slide down to the bottom.
Yep, I know what you mean about the rocks sliding. My blind dog gets over the fence sometimes and in she goes. She gets herself out just fine, but I can tell she's been in from the rocks that have slide down into the pond.
I've got creeping Jenny planted by mine, also. I'm hoping it will spread onto my rocks and be really pretty. So far, so good.
My friend has some yellow pennywort that I may try to establish next summer. I have had to fish my Standard Poodle out a couple of times because he gets a little too interested in the fish. I am waiting for the lilies to get big and look solid and he will step out onto them like he did the moss in the 'real' pond down in the field one summer. My Irish Setter stays out of the water, he hates to get wet, he is so prissy about water.
Perhaps the more permanant way to fix the pond liner showing is to dig out the area that is too high there (I know, lots of work)... but if you could level that area down to the level of the rest of it, you wouldn't have the problem. Water hyacinths are good for covering that, but as they are floaters, you'd probably have to "lasoo" them in the area with some fishing line. I don't know what you could use that will work year round in Missourri, though.
Anyway, very pretty pond! It's amazing how things grow and fill in over time, isn't it?! Thanks for sharing!
Brenda
The digging out can't happen because of the steepness of the hill and trying to divert runoff. What really needs done probably which also won't happen is the east side needs built up but that involves removing all of the plantings and about a foot of dirt. DH is not going to do that & I don't want to either. I can live with the liner showing. Thanks for the suggestions.
Well, I think it is beautiful anyway! I wouldn't worry about it... your sweet potato vine is beautiful, the pond is gorgeous... I hope I didn't offend in any way. Maybe someone else will come up with some other ideas. We have a couple of small spots like that in our pond too... and it ain't getting re-dug. Any plants that we can add to fill in where needed we do. Still looking for more, our pond is new as of April, this year. As I always say, the most beautiful things in nature are not perfect (with the exception to the rule being the snowflake).
Brenda
No offense. This pond was hand dug and after 4 mos of non-stop digging, we are sick of digging. I will keep looking for something suitable for this spot. I have one similar on the top pond. The slope is pretty steep so it took lots of building up on the east sides.