Mi pawnd rebild tew

[j.w]

Yep, and I like how it crawls into the pond water also. I just have it tucked in between my rocks in the pond. I try not to let it root into the ground around the pond as it can really take over everything :regular_waving_emot

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Ah and that's where we differ... I plant it as an all-over ground cover as it holds the moisture in the ground and helps my other plants grow. Where it tries to spread into the yard, it simply gets mowed off, but it makes a great border around the entire pond. After it gets grown in, then about once a year I will cut off all of the plant hanging in the water, as it starts to get too thick there.

 

[j.w]

I tried that at first and it spread into the grass and even when mowed it would come right back up from the roots............strong little buggers :twisted:
I had it in a small area where I wanted other plants to show there beauty and Creeping Jenny wanted no part of them there................she wanted to be the one and only Queen of the garden :twisted: She can hang by my pond and I'll keep a watchful eye on her :twisted:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Haha yeah I've heard other people call it a weed, but in my region its exactly what is needed to make the overall pond feel even more lush. I've done a bit of reading over the years about using landscaping to change the climate in your yard. Since Colorado is technically a desert, anything I can do to control the climate around the house makes the Summer that much more bearable. Lots of plants help hold the humidity and make it feel a bit cooler. I'd really love to do more to make the whole yard feel like a garden, but its a balancing act between creating my own space away from the world, yet still maintaining a sense of wide-open space.

 

[j.w]

Yep it's whatever works for you and whatever you are trying to accomplish. It is a pretty plant.

 

[addy1]

Mine is slowly getting growing, but it does look nice. Would not bother me to have it in the grass, most of our grass is full of weeds. Not into the expense of converting acres of mediocre grass to great grass lol.

That plant you sent me jw is growing by leaps and bounds..........every now and then yank some out and put it somewhere else lol.

 

[sissy]

wow shdwdrgn your pond and plants look really healthy and I guess that really makes your fish happy too .Every things filling in .Looking at it you would never know it's all new looks like it's been there a long time

 

[j.w]

addy it prolly loves your nice warm weather and it seems to want to grow everywhere on land or in the water. I just let it go wherever it want to around the pond :lol:

 

[HARO]

Try the Creeping Jenny in a floating planter- it does well in the water! John

 

[j.w]

Never thought of putting the creeping jenny in a floater. Good idea John

 

[fishin4cars]

Picture updates today! Sorry for the harsh contrast in some of them, the sun was very bright and cast some dark shadows, so the camera did the best it could...

My largest lily finally bloomed today. Also several water irises with lots of new leaves. The irises in the dirt will probably pop back up again next Spring.

A few more irises. The ones in the pot were bought locally (for an outrageous price), so of course they are doing the best. Also at the front is one of four pickerel rushes which are doing nicely.

My hyacinths are doing terrible this year. I started with a dozen plants back in May, and this is all I have so far. Two more pickerels in front which are also doing great, and the moneywort on the banks is spreading fast. I also finally replaced the last blue pool hose with some black hose for the pumps, so they are much less obvious now.

Here's half of my strawberries, plus more moneywort, some variegated perriwinkle, and a couple little blue grasses.

And moving to the right of the last picture, some taller grasses and the irises again. The moneywort will completely cover all the bare dirt here by next year, plus I want to add more of these grasses if they survive. I also plan on digging in some landscape edging next Spring to finish everything off.

And finally... the pot contains a green taro and a dark taro. The plant to the left is a lizard tail (or something like that?) which has started putting up some really strong new shoots. And this shot shows how clear my water is, finally... that is looking to the bottom of the 3-foot section.

Looks good! I see some plant growth on some of the ones you got from me, looks like a good bit is taking off.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Wow, these pics are only a week old? The creeping jenny is growing like mad! We've been having a combination of hot days and evening thunderstorms, and I swear the jenny has nearly doubled in size. The koi have continued to do their best to destroy every plant I have in the water... The dark taro disappeared sometime yesterday. I'm still looking to see if I can find it drifting in the water somewhere. And they continue to uproot one pickerel in particular, I may have to use some larger rocks to anchor down the roots.

Remember my oldest comet, the one who decided to jump out of the water one evening when I was still building the river? Well she's at it again. This weekend she was spawning again, and managed to ram herself up underneath one of the big rocks on the edge. Apparently the male was right behind her, because he wedged himself in as well. My wife saw the male's tail sticking out, and when she went to rescue him, found the female comet clear up under the rock. They both survived, but the female is scraped up pretty bad. A couple of small rocks filled the hole they crammed in to, and I'll just have to watch for any other incidents to make the new pond safe for them.

I had four baby comets that were hatched late last Fall and survived the Winter. They were still small enough when they got released into the new pond that they were all black. In the past week two of them have started showing their colors. It's really a shame that they never retain any of the black. I really love the looks of some of them when they are half black and half orange. Ah well, they are what they are. Still no sign of any new babies this year though.

I guess there's just not enough poo in my pond for the hyacinths. There's been a small amount of growth with them, but nothing like I've seen in years past. That's rather disappointing, I do like having a bit of cover over the pond, but at least with the dense growth of pine trees between my yard and the neighbors, there's no chance of a hawk simply swooping in and picking off fish in flight.

Oh, and I decided to try once more with the dojos. Pet Smart has a sale going on the golden variety this month, and I figured if they showed any signs of problems when it gets cold out, we can move them in to the aquariums. I got one dojo and put down in the small pond. Since that one seemed to do well for a little over a week, I picked up three more last Friday. Their color makes them much easier to see in the water, and I watched one of them wander into the big pond yesterday, however none of the koi took any notice of him as he checked out the folds in the liner and eventually the sand in the bottom. So I guess all I can do is wait and watch for my original three, and see if they show up again. If they do well, eventually they will grow large enough that they can't hide in the sand anymore.

I have not seen any sign of my frog for a couple weeks now. I'm starting to think he got tired of me walking around the water all the time, and moved on to other places. Ah well, I'm still planning on getting some leopard frog tadpoles next Spring.

 

[addy1]

The hyacinths in my large pond are not doing as well as the ones in my little pond, same water same poo. But the little pond (stream) they are stuffed in it. Dark green and blooming. The large pond, the hyacinths in the center of the rope corral are darker and healthier than the ones on the edge. They just love being close to each other, like times square on new years eve, not enough room to even move.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Yeah I remember you mentioning that before. I moved most of my hyacinths down to the small pond, where they tend to stay pushed together, and aren't getting constantly nibbled by the koi, but it hasn't made any difference. I dunno, guess I'll see how they do next year.

 

[pinon ponder]

I'm enjoying your pics, Shdwdrgn! Lovely pond and plantings. Pretty fish, too!

I did not know the hawks would go after the fish. We have red tailed hawks but have never seen them land anywhere near the ponds. We did lose 2 fish last fall but was blaming a heron since they are seen around my area in the fall. I'll have to watch out for the hawks!