Koi proof planters?

[mrsclem]

My plants are doing fine in our one pond as the koi are small but with the other pond we still have large plant killing koi! It doesn't help that the pond is 5' deep with no plant shelves. I built pvc plantstands to hold my large square planters.
They are right at water level and tied off so no snacking or uprooting (hopefully).


Also redid the window box idea I tried last year. Critters knocked the boxes into the pond last year and I had to go diving to get them back. Put a small screw thru into the cap board, opened up the drain holes on one side only. Just have the plants anchored with stones and a spray bar keeping everybody wet. So far so good.

Thanks again Addy for the lilies. Doing great and my lotus I bought last year actually had 5 buds!

 

[don't ask]

like the plant stand idea...and thee lilies and lotus look great

 

[j.w]

Cool idea!

 

[buckry]

haha, ok now I get it. Geez when you described that in the other thread I had no idea what you were doing, but yeah now that I see it that definitely is a great idea, I think I will try that. How do you adjust them though when it's time to send the pot deeper? Just use the right size stand for each lily?

 

[ididntdoit99]

Cool idea, now if i could just stop my fish from eating my lily pads, life would be good, but besides corralling them into some type of planter, which wouldnt allow them to spread and cover my pond, im stuck with holy pads.

 

[mrsclem]

Not using these for lilies but mostly bog type plants. Anything that will help filter the water and give me some shade. Have cannas, lizard tail, elephant ear etc.

 

[buckry]

Is all elephant ear ok in water? I bought some for the edges of my pond, buried it in dirt, don't know if what I have can go in water or not but if it can I'd rather it just be in there.

 

[addy1]

Is all elephant ear ok in water? I bought some for the edges of my pond, buried it in dirt, don't know if what I have can go in water or not but if it can I'd rather it just be in there.

They do great in the water, I have had mine as low as 7 inches over the crown, to water level to the crown, to bog.

 

[mrsclem]

The stalks on mine last year were over 12" across by fall. Leaves 3-4' long. It was a 3" plant when I got it. Fish poo rules!!

 

[sissy]

just make sure if you are in a longer growing season area trim the roots or they will grow between the folds of the liner and grow up and out of the pond ,mine did that 2 years ago and the dusty miller did it this year .

 

[mrsclem]

I had mine in a milk crate last year and it took my husband to lift it out of the pond. It had split the crate in half with the roots! Hoping the large koi will keep the roots under control. We had a storm herelast night and lost power on one pond. Not sure if water got in some thing or the pump in my quarantine pond got pluged and overheated. It's going to be a long day.

 

[sissy]

my koi would knock those over ,but with stiffer pipe and elbows would make great planters for on my front porch .I would love to make them stand at different heights and those plant stands you by a weak and flimsy and end up rusting or coming apart .I could even get the krylon and spray them nice bright colors and they would be good to have inside also .Like in my bathrooms where I love to keep my lower light plants .Great idea

 

[mrsclem]

I did tie the tall planters to posts along side of the pond. The 2 large koi are too busy raiding my floating plant ring to mess with the new pots. Krylon paint is great for craft ideas. Got these boys rain boots at Walmart for $5. A little paint & a couple of plants--

 

[j.w]

I have a friend (Esther) on another forum who makes stuff out of pvc. She won't mind if I post them on here to share. She is Queen of pvc!:

First is a sliding baby/pet gate on the deck. I wanted the cat to be able to come on the deck but didn't want the dog to get through.



Then a 3 section plant stand. The lower piece in the middle will eventually be built in. I just didn't have the idea when I did the three parts.



Then a two level plant stand. By the way, I use these in the living room in the winter.



This is a two tier towel bar for the shed. The towels are old rag towels that I embroidered today to try out the design.



This is a homemade finch feeder. It has a PVC cap, top and the bottom is filled with plaster of paris with a piece of doweling running through it. The outside is, I think 1/4" hardware cloth spot glued with hot glue. There is a piece of strong weed wacker string going up through the center and through the cover of the bottom of a pop bottle. I used a pointy tip soldering gun to melt a hole through the pop bottle bottom.



One more. A marshmallow gun for the grandkids.



We needed a paper towel holder in the pool shed so slapped together some PVC 1/2" 90s and a 45, a cap and some straight pieces. Found some copper pipe hangers and put it up with them.



The chair in the middle was made from PVC. I don't like it because it doesn't fit me. I mismeasured. If it had a cushion, then maybe it would be OK.



Another type of pond plant stand. These are not glued, just banged together with a rubber mallet. They have different length legs so can be flipped over for varying depths. If you use the caps, drill holes in them so they don't want to float. As you can see they eventually get green so I didn't paint them or try to get the print off. The elbows can turn inward to press against the pot and hold it from sliding.

 

[taherrmann4]

Keep in mind any pvc plant stands for the pond might float unless you drill some small holes so the air can escape.