Country Escape's 2nd pond - Goldfish only

[CountryEscape]

Haha, funny so many commented on the color of the pea gravel! It's what is available around here, I would say. I got it in bulk, not in bags. Not sure what the price would have been at a rock place, like a cement place, I'm sure it would have been cheaper, but to drive another 40 miles to get it just doesn't make economic sense these days with gas prices, so I just got it close to home.
Funny, too, because the landscape place where I got it, the guy puts in ponds. When he was loading my third and last load (yes, it was the owner, same guy loaded me each and every time, and I SAID I was using it in my pond bog ...), he said, "I hope you're not putting this in a pond with fish! I dropped my mouth! Are you kidding, of course I am! I told him he better not be telling me it had some type of chemical on it, as that was the ONLY reason it would not be good, but he was afraid I would not be able to clean it out, he said he tells people to get the bigger rock (like river rock) so it's easier to clean out. I thought, Whew! And then I informed him that my friend Chris taught me to put the pipe UNDER the gravel, let the water flow up through the gravel, it keeps it cleaner and no need to muck it out. He raised his eyebrows ... I think I just taught him something. LOL Addy, you should have patented your idea.
Thanks for letting me know about the plants, Haro. I'm sure that the guy said that the one you are calling water parsley gets very pretty colors when in more sun, so maybe that's why I thought it was the chameleon plant. Or, is it the other plant that is yellow/green right now, does it get different colors then?
I separated the Pennywort into 5 different small pots, and planted 4 of them in the new bog. Didn't have enough cat litter to do any of the others, so had to quit. Will get that tomorrow.
AND, I checked at Menards, where I get my landscape stones, and darn it, they are back up to $1.18, from 88 cents, and I'm too darn cheap to pay 30 cents more (that's 30% increase!) for them, so will likely wait until they go on sale again. May be another 2 or 3 weeks, but they will, and then I will get them and finish the outside edge. If I get caught up on other stuff between now and then, or tired of not having it finished, I'll suck it up, but for now I have other things to keep me busy, so will wait a little while and see if they go back on sale. I made a "to-do" list for myself today, and even though I was busy beaver after work, didn't get to cross one thing off the list. Geesh! Moved about 10 wheel barrow loads from the stump mulch pile, and can't hardly tell I moved any. Pulled weeds around trees before I mulched them, so that took time, too. Oh well, all I have is time. My goal is to have everything totally completed when my sister comes Memorial Day weekend, including clear water, so that should be an easy goal to reach, or I sure hope it would be.

 

[CountryEscape]

I worked on the stream today. Pulled back the stream liner, dug it out deeper, put "humps" along it, so that the water would be somewhat deeper in places, and made deeper pool towards the end for my water wheel .... someday.

Once I decided the water was running like I wanted it to, I folded the liner back, tucked the pipe under the edge, and laid the few rocks on it that I have. Need lots more rocks!

Here's a pic (cropped it closer so you can see the big guy!) of Mr. Bullfrog. This guy has been in the koi pond bog all day long. He doesn't mind me snapping pics of him, or messing around the pond. Maybe he is one from last year, and knows I'm not a threat to him.

Time to get mowing done now. Hope everyone is having a beautiful day, and Happy Easter to you all!

 

[addy1]

very nice ce, I mowed today too, beautiful day for it

 

[CountryEscape]

Got all the mowing done, and swept whole yard as well, as grass is so thick! Mowed this past Monday, so only 5 days in between and still had to sweep. I think I would have to mow every 3 days to hopefully not have to sweep, and I just am not that interested in mowing that often. LOL I do have a life, geesh. It looks soooo nice, though! And, if I didn't sweep it up, I and the dogs would be dragging the grass clippings into the house more than we already do!
My brother came down from Champaign, IL on the Amtrak, so I'll put him to work tomorrow. Found out my landscape stones are on sale, so I will have to unload the other stones off of the truck (should have already done that, as that's a heavy load to leave on the truck OOPS!), so I can take truck and get the rest of the landscape stones tomorrow when I take him back to town to catch the train. Will be a relaxing day with him here, which works just fine with me.

 

[j.w]

Your stream is exciting to watch being built CE. It's going to look wonderful. It sure does add a lot to the whole scheme of things. Can't wait to see all the stones in place and it really looking like a natural stream. Good they are on sale for you and you have your brother there to help you!

 

[fishin4cars]

CE, Your whole project is really coming along nicely. I just went back and read the last two weeks of post. I haven't been following as closely lately due to my own build. I have to say you really did the smart thing by letting the bog rinse before letting it back into your pond, your water looks great compared to mine and we even hand washed the last 1.5 cubic yards of gravel after the first 3.5 cubic yards turned out like mud soup. It took over 8000 gallons and three days of rinsing before I started getting back semi clear water. It's still very cloudy even now but I'm filing and hoping I can clear the rest after it's up and running. Can't wait to take pics tomorrow of mine, I've been in the pond all evening and it's now after midnight and I'm taking a break to fill some easter eggs for the kids to hunt and planting some plants in the bog while the pond fills. Hopefully I will get the plumbing done and the filter falls moved Monday. If all goes well we should start moving some fish Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[j.w]

Geez fishin go to bed get some rest and enjoy the day tomorrow w/ your family. I know you can't wait to get back to the pond work tho,lol!

 

[CountryEscape]

Actually, my brother can't do much as far as lifting and carrying, so I'll be on my own with that. I think he will be able to handle driving the tractor, but not positive about that either. He had a stroke 2 years ago November, and then a couple of seizures a year ago December and January, so he's not full force anymore. He has never been married, so really doesn't have any family except me that is close. Our next family is in WI, about 5 hours for me, 3.5 for him. BUT, I try to have him over as much as possible.
Larkin, your new projects are full week projects, ongoing for a long time. I've wanted to post comments, but your post is closed, if I remember, so I just have to admire and wait for the next posts! Hopefully you will get to post more pics. Yes, Addy suggested I drain to the yard for a while, and that worked very well. Didn't have to drain near as much as I assumed I would either. Walked through the bog while it was running with the hose, and that helped clear some of the top, but I'm sure the bottom pea gravel is saturated with dirt and dust, but it doesn't come through for now, so doesn't matter. Good luck with your build!

 

[addy1]

Wish I had remember sooner ce, that is what we did when we first turned on the bog, my honey's suggestion. I have been so busy since moving here, things get lost, i.e. just do it and move on. Then need to think .........hummm what did I do that worked lol

 

[CountryEscape]

I'm just really glad you suggested it, Addy! Kept all that dirt and silt out of the pond, and now just waiting for everything to even out, bacteria to kick in and so forth.
Also bought 3 more bags of kitty litter yesterday, so I'll be moving and repotting lots of bog plants today, maybe even get my original bog filled a little more with pea gravel, but now that there are frogs in there and so forth, may just wait until about June to fill it back in, so I don't dump on top of tadpoles. We shall see. Sure have plenty of stuff to do.

 

[CountryEscape]

I got lots of my plants from koi pond bog separated and planted in the new goldfish pond bog today. Everything is small and sparse, but I know they will all grow and multiply, so figured now was a good time to separate them more than less!

And of course Tarzan had to give his two cents worth of how well I was doing on my planting skills.

 

[addy1]

You will be astounded at how fast they will grow. Esp this second year, they are really growing. That is looking good ce

 

[CountryEscape]

You're absolutely right, Addy. After seeing how much they multiplied in just one year last year, that is why I separated them so much this time. It may not look full this year, but that's fine. I don't want it totally bushy! Next I'm going to take the long roots from the tree that I had to chop out, and lay them on the top of the bog, to give it some "naturalization" look to it. Do you think that will be fine, if it's laying on top of the gravel, or best to leave it totally out of the water? Some of the bog will be dry gravel on top (I have more gravel to add) and I'm going to leave both ends with water showing, and hope my dogs learn to drink from that, rather than the edge of the ponds.

 

[addy1]

I have some roots, rocks, even a frog flower pot sitting in the bog. All seems to be fine.

 

[pondlover]

CE everything is looking great. I love your rock wall separating your bog from pond. Did you plant all your bog plants in pots or did you put any directly into the bog? Is it necessary to put them in pots?