Building pond in Israel by a Granny!

[YShahar]

Just beautiful! Love the rock work! and everything else.

Thank you! The hard part (well, other than lugging the rocks) is trying to match the rocks by shape and color so they look natural together. I started out thinking that limestone is limestone, so how hard could it be... Turns out, limestone comes in all shapes, sizes, and mineral compositions! So I end up putting things together and sitting on the patio looking at it for a while before trying something else. Very, very slow going!

Oh, and I found that all that gravel I'm moving down from upstairs through my DIY sewage-pipe rock skid is filled with little flint "arrowheads". So in between everything else, I have to wash down the gravel in order to sift through it, one handful at a time and take out all the pointy bits. Bummer! I did have two big bags of nice round pebbles delivered at the same time, but I'll have to wait until I've got all the stuff down from the neighbor's front yard before repositioning the skid to deliver the good stuff. Fun times!

 

[GBBUDD]

@YShahar I can relate but arrow heads talk about painful and the last thing you need to see.
That pitcher plant bog had African violets in it completely loaded. I was trying to putt it all out from the most and pitcher plant roots what a royal pain in the arrow head

 

[addy1]

Take a pic I have never seen them in any pea gravel I bought

 

[GBBUDD]

Flint is probably what's she's referring to addy her geology is so different from ours here

 

[YShahar]

Flint is probably what's she's referring to addy her geology is so different from ours here

Indeed! We have a lot of flint in the rocks here, which would be great if we were still using stone tools. But as the technology seems to have moved on a bit, these sharp pointy bits are quite a nuisance. Here's a pic:

I'm finding that about 5% of each handful of gravel is flint or just very sharp gravel. So I'm using a screen to rinse and sort every bucket of gravel before putting it in the pond. Extremely time-consuming. I really do have better things to do with my time. Books I should be editing and a book I'm supposed to be writing.

I may be erring on the side of caution here, as all the sharp stuff may be cancelled out in aggregate. But I really don't want arrowheads in my pond!

 

[SarahT]

Indeed! We have a lot of flint in the rocks here, which would be great if we were still using stone tools. But as the technology seems to have moved on a bit, these sharp pointy bits are quite a nuisance. Here's a pic:

View attachment 151094

I'm finding that about 5% of each handful of gravel is flint or just very sharp gravel. So I'm using a screen to rinse and sort every bucket of gravel before putting it in the pond. Extremely time-consuming. I really do have better things to do with my time. Books I should be editing and a book I'm supposed to be writing.

I may be erring on the side of caution here, as all the sharp stuff may be cancelled out in aggregate. But I really don't want arrowheads in my pond!

I'd agree with removing the very sharp pieces, as flint is sharp enough to cut feet and probably EPDM, too.
Will your book be titled, "Pond Building for Grannies?"

 

[addy1]

Thanks now have a visual of your flint!

 

[YShahar]

Will your book be titled, "Pond Building for Grannies?"

Ha! Now there's an idea! In fact, we could do a whole "for Grannies" series:

1. Excavation Tips for Grannies

2. Solid State Physics for Grannies

3. Advanced Airplane Mechanics for Grannies

...

But actually, the next book is a bit on the whimsical side -- a nice change since the last one was so serious. This one is great fun to write and will hopefully be an enjoyable read. The writing has taken a back seat to pond building of late!

 

[SarahT]

Ha! Now there's an idea! In fact, we could do a whole "for Grannies" series:

1. Excavation Tips for Grannies

2. Solid State Physics for Grannies

3. Advanced Airplane Mechanics for Grannies

...

But actually, the next book is a bit on the whimsical side -- a nice change since the last one was so serious. This one is great fun to write and will hopefully be an enjoyable read. The writing has taken a back seat to pond building of late!

The finale of the series, "Geology for Grannies"!

 

[GBBUDD]

Take a pic I have never seen them in any pea gravel I bought

They weren't even in pea the majority was 3/4 river with moss and peat and sand. It grew everywhere with minimal mounts of anything . But if you look at any recent pic of the pitcher plant bog you'll see a thick violet leaf carpet at its base . The whole thing was covered

 

[rubyduby]

Wow....I just caught up on this post...Great job YShahar! So glad you were able to post a pic of "the rock" that had such a great story behind it...Can't wait to see it in it's final resting spot where the sun can showcase it's beauty

 

[addy1]

They weren't even in pea the majority was 3/4 river with moss and peat and sand. It grew everywhere with minimal mounts of anything . But if you look at any recent pic of the pitcher plant bog you'll see a thick violet leaf carpet at its base . The whole thing was covered

lol I was talking about the flint...............

 

[Lynnski]

I'm enjoying your saga so much! And wanted to say that I have beloved family members near Rehovet (on kibbutz na'an) who are totally pond-obsessed. They didn't plan out their pond like you did, but just keep adding to it and changing it over a great many years. The craziest thing is that whenever they travel, what do you suppose they bring home? ROCKS! It's wild; they'll travel overseas and bring back with them the heaviest souvenirs imaginable.

 

[addy1]

Lol I bring rocks back all the time. Hauled a bunch from AZ with me when I moved.

 

[GBBUDD]

On Friday I pumped all the filthy water from the initial fill into the garden (was quite a chore, let me tell you!)

Well knowing our industrious granny I'm betting when you say pumping the water was quite a chore , meaning you used your sippy straw to drain down the pond you wouldn't even let his hineass the cook have a turn