i've had my ponds for some time, but can't seem to get anything to grow around the rocks but grass. also, today, i found this huge spider. i found it a fishing spider, and now i know why my minnows are disappearing!! any hints as to what might grow in texas around the rocks?
oh yeah, here's the pond (i hope)
eek!
that picture should have a warning on it!
(If i found one of those, i'd move.)
(O, yikes - i'm going to Houston next week, too!)
Sorry - i know i am no help. Well, at least it's a bump...
amy
*
I think he's (she's) beautiful. Fishing spider? Gotta look that one up.
Sorry, I can't help you, either. Do you need other plants? I think it looks gorgeous just the way it is.
lena what zone are you in? Im in 9a and around my pond I have catmint, alyssum and blue star creeper around the rocks, and ferns in the background. I'm going to be trying some hares tails there this year as well... It really depends on your zone. my rocks are flagstone and I wanted something that didnt overgrow into the pond...
if i read the zone thing right, i'm in 31. i'm looking mainly for mosses and such to fill in around the rocks and path to the pond to keep the san augustine grass from overgrowing. when the grass gets into the pond, it causes alot more algae and slime along the pond liner.
Your area looks a bit sunny for moss, maybe that's why you've had trouble? Some grass can also be a bit aggressive, so you may need to remove the grass from the area first before you plant things, then keep an eye on the grass to keep it from growing back into the planting area.
Is zone 31 maybe a Sunset zone? The USDA zones which people are more familiar with go from 1-11, and most people in TX are somewhere in 7, 8, or 9. I think I've seen other people from Houston post here and it's either 9a or 9b.
hey! found the right zone - 9a. and, yes, my backyard has little shade except at the fence lines. after a year of the pond being installed, i had to buy a uv filter because it turned completely green. i am looking for trees to plant near the pond that will shade it but not throw roots through the liner. my front pond is fed by my ac overflow line, and has an arbor of wisteria and bougainvilla over it, so it's clear and gorgeous. (i think) the front pond is in a above ground garden, so ferns, peace lillies, and elephant ears fill in where bare. this back pond was my first large attempt.....
i am glad i finally came across this site, by the way. everyone at my house is bored of my questions and hours spent outside. i've been in this house 30+ years, and am trying to correct all my folks mistakes!!! Pine trees suck!!
Not a pond person, but know one - will ask.
You need to join us for the spring roundup in College Station - April 12th. Look on the Texas Garden Forum.
I'm sure there will be someone there that would not only have the answer, but probably plants to get you started.
appreciate the tips. i have more of the same plants now than i need, and everything is green! very little of what i have has any other color to it. even my house is green!!! if ya'll know anyone who wants a live 12 year old x-mas tree and get dig it up alive, tell me! i can't kill a tree, but have way too many pine trees
You may need a machete to get out of your door, soon. LOL
That's a lot of green.
that's the full bloom summer pic. you can't tell, but between it and the front door is a rather large deck! right now, the wisteria is just starting to take off. the ferns are what drive me crazy. a little gloomy, but most of the plants in that garden are funeral plants from the past 13 years. peace lillies, ferns, etc. the ferns took off like nothing i've ever seen before. 2 plants turned into a few hundred feet and have been transferred to several houses. anywhere a bare spot appears, we transplant ferns.
wow! I wish I could get ferns to grow like that at my place! have you thought about adding hostas or coleus to those beds to add some color? they might look quite nice in there. :o)
i do have coleus, but died back this winter. have a few asters, but if you don't constantly pull the ferns like weeds, they tend to choke everything else out. i put in a bunch of airplane plants, too. most of my plants are old, every new thing i plant just doesn't seem to make it. we even water with pond water to fertilize.
Airplane plants?
i couldn't find a clearer close up, but the long green leaves are the airplane plant. they come in different varieties, like striped with yellow. the are mainly a hanging plant, that the stems send off shoots that hang down. if they drop to the ground, they grow like mad. mid-summer, they send out stems with little white flowers. they are pretty good for filling in spots or patio rails, but can take over quickly.
Like a spider plant?
probably the same exact plant. it's a plant i got from my boss and airplane is what he calls them. i never actually checked into the difference.
I looked. They are the same. ☺ I have to grow these as a houseplant. My mom has a variagated one.
like i said, they do grow like weeds. seem to love sun. the "branches" that stretch to my pond tend to grow above water like lily pads. i wasn't sure if they would hurt the fish, so i pull them out of the water. i have a corner of my back yard that i let all my spreading plants grow wild until i need them in a dead spot. i've got more aloe, ferns, and airplane plants than i know what to do with. but i can't stand killing a plant.
I know what you mean. I can kill one now but there was a time I couldn't bring myself to let one go. Your pond area is pretty none-the-less. I need one.
thank you! all my ponds were kinda accidents. one was my ac flooding the yard with the overflow. so i dug a hole and put fish in it. another was a tree struck by lightning 20 years ago, that finally died. the hole it left when we dug it out was just big enough for another pond. the pic is what my back pond used to be
I have too much sun in my yard still. The trees we cut down makes it hard to grow a lot of the things I want. Still waiting for the trees I did plant to shade things more. We don't have raingutters yet but when we do, we'll be making a dry stream out to the back of the yard and making a pond there. Run the gutters to the west side, down the house to the stream.
If the A/C overflow is from the pan under the condenser, then the primary drain is plugged - not a good thing. That pan-overflow is the backup (insurance - if you will), and should never have any water in it, if everything is working correctly.
Been there done that - replaced ceiling, etc., due to leaking pan - finally had a "real" A/C technician solve the problem and explain how things should have been working.
no, it's the drain pipe that comes out of the house. we've even replaced the condesor unit recently. our problem is old insulation so the ac stays running constantly inthe summer. i kept extending the drain pipe until i just let it fill in a spot. i clean it out by backwashing it at least once a month for slime. it's just an overworked system in an old house. the pan under the condensor stays clear. hasn't clogged in years. the ac just works hard. we went through every cause before i finally just dug the hole
That's what I call making the best of a bad situation.
i've lived in this house for almost 34 years. i did learn all the pain in the butt problems, and have a boss who can modify anything, so it helps
Lena, do you have to constantly refill your backyard pond? I just added about 6 inches of water to mine becasue the fountain splashes water out of the pond. Any ideas about how to keep a continuous flow of water without overflowing?
i keep a 50 gallon trash can in the back of the shed. I fill it and let rain water collect. if it hasn't rained and you use only hose water, you have to let the water sit and de-chlorinate for at least 2 days before you use it in the pond. if we haven't had rain, i have to add the full trash can at least once a month. if i had more shade over the pond, it would need refilling even less. Hint: i keep an old pond pump with a small hose in the trash can and just let it syphon the water to the pond. if your pond is small, try to decrease the pressure from the fountain so it can't splash out. i went thru more than 4-5 different fountain feature til i found one that wouldn't spray the water so far. i ended up with a water fall that could be buried at the edge of the pond. i lose most of my water now from sun and dogs drinking!!!
i've rearrange the water since this pic, but you get the idea
lol! actually, I bought materials to add a waterfall this weekend (now its raining tho) so maybe once i add the waterfall I can just remove the fountain spray altogether and that should help :o
Thanks!
Did you deccide what you are going to plant around the pond? What about Thyme?
i'm still doing trial and error. the rocks are slate and petrified wood. seems like they get too hot and most of the plants burn. regular grass grows great, but try trimming it to look half-way neat! takes forever. i want something with color, but honestly, home depot doesn't know how to water a plant, much less tell you which will survive your conditons. most pond websites i've checked out are expensive. so i'm just pulling different plants from different places to see if they work. even climbing vines. i have regular elephant ears that took off as soon as i put them in the water. not even dirt. so i'm trying any and everything tropical. my plumeria are next!!!
You'll have better luck if you use native plants, try this site for more info: http://www.npot.org/ or see my article on rain gardens which has a lot of information on choosing plants for these kind of areas as well as additional sites you can check.
the plants i have inside the pond take over every year. it's already time to thin them out. we were just out pulling leaves out of the filter and looking at all the baby spiders!!! i don't have a clue what this plant is called, but the flowers are amazing and they aren't legal around here because they clog up the waterways IF they get into them
Are they Water Hyacinths? That's what they look like. Eichhornia.
Hey guys, look up native plants used in rain gardens. Your state should have a native plant society that can help you with a lot of these questions. A lot of those type of plants love the soggy, boggy pool type areas. Plus they filter your water and help to protect you're over all watershed.
I didn't know if the question was for plants In the pond or for the surrounding area.
I purchased at a yard sale what I thought was the little filler caladium?The ones that come in green and white, and pink and white and you have to replace each year? It turned out to be this Huge Elephant ear that has made lots of baby sprouts and its root system is very fragile. They might not be able to puncture the lining. Placed right it might block the afternoon or morning sun.
I planted Mexican Heather as a border. I found it chokes out the st.augustine, and you can trim it to fit Anywhere. (and plant the trimmings) I have a few Hot spots and boggy spots it is growing beautifully in. The plant grows like an thick umbrella, shading the underside about 12" around and the tiny lavender flowers draws bees and a few butterflies like crazy. I have it in a wall pocket on the fence.I don't think it was intended to be a "trailing" plant, but it works. I found out it grew from cuttings, by weed eating it near a fresh flower bed. I then had a Lot of new plants.
Maybe if you planted far enough from the rocks, you could keep the st. augustine from creeping in and it would just brush the rocks. Just a thought. It does show constant color in season. It will freeze, but cut off the dead stuff and it bounces right back.
I start all my long Ivy starters in my aquarium. Rubber band a few ends together, sink a wine bottle(whatever bottle will fit and contain the roots) in a shady spot, stick the ends in and see what happens. You can always plant them if it doesn't work, or works to well. I was looking up aquarium plants and found that one. It said the roots draw and use nutrients that are harmful to the fish.
There is also a little creeper(like a very tiny green wandering jew"?) that loves water and sun combined. II have a pot the size of the yours on the stand, sitting on a table you can't see the pot, the table and only a little of the legs. It creeps but I don't know what would happen if it crept(?) out of a pot into water. hmmm another experiment working in my head. That might be a bad combination. I start them outside in a butter tub and water.
I have a pond casing (thick hard plastic), that has three seats for plants someone gave me. It has been resting against the garage for two years. As bad as the mosquito's are here, I haven't had the nerve to do anything with it.
..and the Mexican Heather is planted along the concrete driveway. It hangs over the concrete about 6" and doesn't seem to be harmed by the heated concrete at all.
