Jumping in

[Crow]

I'm tired of looking on in jealousy of my son's water garden.

So I got my own half barrel pot.

We rearranged the front porch a bit since we couldn't sit and look at his at all the way things were, and I was tired of sitting in the slll I also wanted to be able to sit next to mine.

 

[Crow]

Those pics where from yesterday. Today I visited a local pond and got a few plants. One large and two smaller arrow arums, and a handful of this other unknown plant.

Now I'm wondering if I should fill that barrel half full of dirt and leave about 4 inches of water so that its a bog container. I'm not sure if I want to deal with multiple pots in the barrel. I think it would be too distracting. Plus I think it'd be cool to lay a layer of gravel over the dirt, toss in a couple rosy red minnows...

What do you all think?

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I wouldn't fill it with dirt. Pea gravel would be the way to go, but I don't know how container bogs work in comparison, so maybe others can chime in.

 

[Crow]

Good morning JB!

My thinking was that the plants were pulled from mud and muck in about 4 inches of water. Instead of having multiple pots with individual plants, which in my opinion would be distracting in this tub, I would have one pot with multiple plants.

I was recently at a pond store, and they had 2 gallon pots with bog and marginal plants in them and the pots had standing water in them. This wouldn't be too different, just bigger pot..

Or am I being silly? Pea gravel is used in in-ground ponds for drainage, and it assists in the way they are used as a biological filtration right? Am I understanding this correctly?

 

[addy1]

Since it is a bog pot garden, dirt, kitty litter, pea gravel anything will work. The dirt might be better since you don't have a bunch of fish doing their business to give the plants food.

Nice arrangement. I have had pot gardens used kitty litter to plant the plants. Mainly because I had a bunch of it and our dirt is yuck.

 

[rebelangel_3733]

This is one of my water gardens I just threw together. I have pea gravel on the bottom and everything seems to grow fine in it. I do have a small pump to keep the water circulating (and the mosquitoes from having any fun in there).

 

[sissy]

everything works what ever the space you just have to find what works for you

 

[Aaron S]

Keep posting these container gardens then I will have to try one.

 

[Crow]

so far my pond had only cost me $15 and the 20 gallons or so of water to fill it.

I'm going to try the dirt. looking at the arums, it looks like they were sitting in about 8 inches of water, not 4. even better, less dirt.

 

[j.w]

I have a tub pond that I put some liner in out in the back and I threw in some old leftover mucked up compost mixed w/ sphagnum moss and dirt I had from growing Taro in it. It was like compost and I put it in the bottom of that tub so I could grow some Azolla and a reed plant. Boy that really worked well for those plants. They are growing like crazy! I had to take out the first reed plant and replace it w/ a smaller one in this photo cuz the other one grew so big.

 

[Tula]

I planted a resin barrel earlier this summer and filled it with pea gravel and bog plants from Addy It's done beautifully this summer. I keep the water level, just below the gravel so I don't have mosquitoes.

I'm not sure what will happen to it this winter though.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Listen here old crow... he he he.... Container gardens are just like "crack"... they get you "hooked" and by time you know it, you will have three big ponds in the back and a pond in the front yard like me!!!

 

[addy1]

I have some container type planters, they stay full of water, I just let them freeze over winter, they seem to survive and the plants always come back.

 

[Tula]

Yeah, that's what I was hoping to hear

 

[Crow]

I was considering letting mine just freeze too. I know for certain the ground I pulled these plants from was frozen a good three feet down this past winter. at least let it freeze so that the water doesn't slosh me when I move it. might take it to the basement ...

calling Colleen, line 1, my son and I have ambitions for a pond, but aren't looking to rouse the boss. Were thinking a preform liner pond in the 200-300 gallon range would do.

Im already hooked. I'm a gardener by nature and the plants are so enticing.

I just may end up with 20 pots around the yard all filled with water..