Roundup is your friend! I don;t like to use a lot of it, but when I've got a tough customer such as poison ivy, I have no mercy!!
Bogging in New Jersey
- Thread starter bobchapman
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I use it, away from the pond. The problem with the PI is it is mixed in with the honeysuckle which is a nice fence covering, some of the PI is 10 foot tall. In the woods if I don't need to go there I leave it be.
Even if I kill it I get PI if I touch the dead leaves, stems, parts. So it does not help me to kill it off. At least alive I know where it is.
I mix the roundup double strength.
Even if I kill it I get PI if I touch the dead leaves, stems, parts. So it does not help me to kill it off. At least alive I know where it is.
I mix the roundup double strength.
When we moved in here many years ago a friend showed us a 1" diameter PI stem growing 30 feet up one of our trees. I just hacked the main stem with a hatchet, and in a few months the whole thing had decayed and disappeared. But, I'm perhaps not as sensitive to PI as you appear to be!
Yesterday, I got the plumbing finished in the pump pit: pumps in with filter baskets preceding them, and the pump outputs all connected. Still have to support one or two lines.
I've managed to leave a "hole" in the center in case there's other "stuff" that I need to add in future.
When I powered the pumps up, I found that the lid on one of the baskets leaked, so am waiting for a replacement to arrive. Also found that it's really hard to tighten the unions when they are 3" and more in size: I can't get a good enough grip on them, even with some lubricant applied to the threads. I may have to live with some slow drips at a couple of locations.
I've managed to leave a "hole" in the center in case there's other "stuff" that I need to add in future.
When I powered the pumps up, I found that the lid on one of the baskets leaked, so am waiting for a replacement to arrive. Also found that it's really hard to tighten the unions when they are 3" and more in size: I can't get a good enough grip on them, even with some lubricant applied to the threads. I may have to live with some slow drips at a couple of locations.
I reconsidered the question of putting concrete in the stream bed as a foundation for the stones, and went ahead with the concrete. I got a couple of undocumented workers who ran the mixer while I placed the concrete in the liner.
I calculated that I needed 75 50# bags of ready-mix from Home Depot, bought 95, and used 85. I find that the 50# bags are much easier to load into the mixer, and surprisingly they are no more expensive per cubic foot than larger bags, and Home Depot has a goodly supply of them.
I was able to just keep up with the guys mixing the concrete. I had them make it quite dry so that it would stack up along the sloping sides of the stream -- people usually want to make concrete way too wet, which makes weaker concrete. The so-called professionals want to deliver soup because it's easier to manipulate into position.
I also started work on the cover to the pump pit. The pit is nearly 8' square (outside dimensions), so I've divided the cover into 4 4' square, each one independently hinged to the top of the pit. I figured that 8' sheets would be just too heavy to raise up.
The cover is particle board with a layer of EPDM on the top (leftovers from the pond liner). Today will be more work on the cover.
I calculated that I needed 75 50# bags of ready-mix from Home Depot, bought 95, and used 85. I find that the 50# bags are much easier to load into the mixer, and surprisingly they are no more expensive per cubic foot than larger bags, and Home Depot has a goodly supply of them.
I was able to just keep up with the guys mixing the concrete. I had them make it quite dry so that it would stack up along the sloping sides of the stream -- people usually want to make concrete way too wet, which makes weaker concrete. The so-called professionals want to deliver soup because it's easier to manipulate into position.
I also started work on the cover to the pump pit. The pit is nearly 8' square (outside dimensions), so I've divided the cover into 4 4' square, each one independently hinged to the top of the pit. I figured that 8' sheets would be just too heavy to raise up.
The cover is particle board with a layer of EPDM on the top (leftovers from the pond liner). Today will be more work on the cover.
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Very nice plumbing job, my dear hubby loves your nice straight lines. He complains about my wandering pipes, I just tell him to redo them if they are not good enough. Which he actually did ..........lol But I only have a few lines compared to yours. One out of the pond which splits, one to the bog , one to the 1000 gallon tank after the pump. A garden hose t'd off the pump feeds the loop ponds.
I got PI in the dead of winter, a root touched my back one time, snow on the ground, had PI from my shoulders to waist. Then I was digging up a tulip from my dads front yard, must have run into some roots, in February, my hands were covered with PI.
I got PI in the dead of winter, a root touched my back one time, snow on the ground, had PI from my shoulders to waist. Then I was digging up a tulip from my dads front yard, must have run into some roots, in February, my hands were covered with PI.
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Oh and I am allergic to the Maryland state flower , black eyed susan, and all types like it, daisies, sunflowers, cone flowers, etc. Those fine hairs on the stems gives me contact dermatitis. So I have to wear long sleeves and pants if working in them.
Yesterday, I started laying the stones in the stream. Here's my raw material, which are round flat stones. While I normally scavenge much of my ponding stones, these I broke down and bought:
Mortaring them into the stream went more quickly than I had expected, and I now have about 1/3 of the stream done. Here's sample:
If the rain holds off, I will get some more done today.
Meanwhile, since it was a really oppressive day yesterday (heat and high humidity), I climbed into the pool to get some of the clay out of it. The clay was the result of all the construction activity of pond building, and pretty well coated the bottom of the pond.
I used a small pump and a hose, passing the pump along the bottom of the pond. It got a lot of the clay out, but more work will still be needed. I have also followed someone's advice from this forum to put filtering material into the pump priming basket to catch the suspended particles. That's working some, too, though it was hard on one of our towels!
Mortaring them into the stream went more quickly than I had expected, and I now have about 1/3 of the stream done. Here's sample:
If the rain holds off, I will get some more done today.
Meanwhile, since it was a really oppressive day yesterday (heat and high humidity), I climbed into the pool to get some of the clay out of it. The clay was the result of all the construction activity of pond building, and pretty well coated the bottom of the pond.
I used a small pump and a hose, passing the pump along the bottom of the pond. It got a lot of the clay out, but more work will still be needed. I have also followed someone's advice from this forum to put filtering material into the pump priming basket to catch the suspended particles. That's working some, too, though it was hard on one of our towels!
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Like the look!
Thanks; most importantly, my wife likes it, too!
I got another part of it done today, until rain threatened and i closed up shop. With this weather, it was a three-sets-of-clothes day. And in this clay,they are a real test for the laundry equipment.
It looks as though for the stream I will use about half the bin of rocks that I bought, so will use the rest for the outside of the bog wall. That will have to be next so that I can empty out the trailer, which I need for other parts of this job! The logistics can be as difficult as the actual work --- If I don't sequence things properly, either I cannot move around on the site, or I don't have equipment available where I need it.
I got another part of it done today, until rain threatened and i closed up shop. With this weather, it was a three-sets-of-clothes day. And in this clay,they are a real test for the laundry equipment.
It looks as though for the stream I will use about half the bin of rocks that I bought, so will use the rest for the outside of the bog wall. That will have to be next so that I can empty out the trailer, which I need for other parts of this job! The logistics can be as difficult as the actual work --- If I don't sequence things properly, either I cannot move around on the site, or I don't have equipment available where I need it.
Got the last of the stream-bed rocks in place today, including some on the wall of the bog! Good progress, though i find it a lot harder to get rocks to stick to a vertical wall than to the stream-bed!
I also have found that this is a real messy job. The space is tight, and I've got the mixer, three wheelbarrows full of rocks being soaked (so they bond better) and mortar. And water everywhere, mixing with the clay soil --- I almost went down a couple of times because it's so slippery on the slight slope that I have.
I also found, again, that the lime in the mortar can burn. My thighs (I told you this was a messy operation) and hands both have burns. I got smart and put on some rubber gloves after a while, but they wouldn't fit on my thighs <grin>.
For a change of pace, this afternoon I raked out the sand in the bog and cut in the underlayment material (two layers). I found that a single-sided razor blade was the best way to cut it to fit. It took five blades, but went relatively easily. Soon I can put in the liner: just have to get the bulkhead fitting ready to accept the liner.
Perhaps pix tomorrow. It's pouring rain outside now, so it's well that I stopped the cement work earlier.
I also have found that this is a real messy job. The space is tight, and I've got the mixer, three wheelbarrows full of rocks being soaked (so they bond better) and mortar. And water everywhere, mixing with the clay soil --- I almost went down a couple of times because it's so slippery on the slight slope that I have.
I also found, again, that the lime in the mortar can burn. My thighs (I told you this was a messy operation) and hands both have burns. I got smart and put on some rubber gloves after a while, but they wouldn't fit on my thighs <grin>.
For a change of pace, this afternoon I raked out the sand in the bog and cut in the underlayment material (two layers). I found that a single-sided razor blade was the best way to cut it to fit. It took five blades, but went relatively easily. Soon I can put in the liner: just have to get the bulkhead fitting ready to accept the liner.
Perhaps pix tomorrow. It's pouring rain outside now, so it's well that I stopped the cement work earlier.
Picture time. Here is the wall of the bog with stones mortared to it:
You can also see the liner which I got roughly installed yesterday: the bulkhead fitting put into it, and some of the folding done, though not at this end of the bog yet. The bog is oval-shaped, so it takes a bit of folding to get a reasonable fit.
Soon, it will be time to fill the bog with gravel. Here's a picture of one type of stone that I have easily available to me:
It's called locally 3/8" gravel. There is also similar material that's 2 or 3 times larger. Which would be the better choice, or is there something else that would be correct to use? Thanks for any suggestions.
Bob
You can also see the liner which I got roughly installed yesterday: the bulkhead fitting put into it, and some of the folding done, though not at this end of the bog yet. The bog is oval-shaped, so it takes a bit of folding to get a reasonable fit.
Soon, it will be time to fill the bog with gravel. Here's a picture of one type of stone that I have easily available to me:
It's called locally 3/8" gravel. There is also similar material that's 2 or 3 times larger. Which would be the better choice, or is there something else that would be correct to use? Thanks for any suggestions.
Bob
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The smaller the gavel the better, but not real small like sand, crushed granite etc. More surface area for bacteria to grow on. That looks like a good size, I would not go larger.
The bog wall looks great!
The bog wall looks great!
Thanks, Addy
Making progress: installed the bog plumbing yesterday:
Here's the end where the water comes into the bog:
There will be an air bleed valve so that the input line can be drained in the winter. We can get pretty cold weather here, and the input line is not buried all that deeply in the ground.
Today's activities: getting the left-over liner inserted under the distribution lines in the bog for added protection for the liner (and to get rid of the left-over pieces!), and testing the water flow into the bog.
We had fun last night watching a bat collecting mosquitoes over the pond. He/she would also swoop down to the water surface.either getting a drink or getting food off the water surface; we couldn't tell which from our vantage point. Nice to see wildlife attracted to the pond already.
Making progress: installed the bog plumbing yesterday:
Here's the end where the water comes into the bog:
There will be an air bleed valve so that the input line can be drained in the winter. We can get pretty cold weather here, and the input line is not buried all that deeply in the ground.
Today's activities: getting the left-over liner inserted under the distribution lines in the bog for added protection for the liner (and to get rid of the left-over pieces!), and testing the water flow into the bog.
We had fun last night watching a bat collecting mosquitoes over the pond. He/she would also swoop down to the water surface.either getting a drink or getting food off the water surface; we couldn't tell which from our vantage point. Nice to see wildlife attracted to the pond already.
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Love watching all the critters that have come to the pond!
I don't drain my lines, but they are 2.5 feet down. The lines that come out of the pond and bog always have left over water in them. I just remove the pump leave the lines open they freeze up, never break and we have had some cold weather. -15 a few times
I had one break, a deer stepped on it, I saw the frozen deer hoof mark
I don't drain my lines, but they are 2.5 feet down. The lines that come out of the pond and bog always have left over water in them. I just remove the pump leave the lines open they freeze up, never break and we have had some cold weather. -15 a few times
I had one break, a deer stepped on it, I saw the frozen deer hoof mark