To Pecan

[riparks]

Hi Pecan, I just wanted to tell you that your pond and yard are beautiful!!! Your backyard transformation is amazing, you and your husband must have spend every waking moment working in the yard since ya'll bought your house. Would you mind telling me what the big plant is that is in the picture of you, I must have one, lol. Also, do you have detailed instructions for your floating planter ring? That is a great idea!!!

 

[pecan]

Hello! and thank you very much!

I love yard work but to tell you truth it was a little overwhelming for me at the beginning. The first summer I never stepped foot out there LOL. But then my dear husband got the idea to rent a tractor (he loves playing on tractors) and spent an entire weekend out there with a box blade ripping all the barbed wire out and leveling the place. Once he was done It was something I felt more comfortable tackling. But had to convince him we did not need to buy a tractor LOL.

The plant is an elephant ear. Not the kind you put in your pond, there are different kinds, one can be planted in water the other can't but requires wet soil. They grow extremely fast from the ground to 6 feet in one summer. The bulbs aren't supposed to survive our winters but likely would survive yours.

The floating planter was made from a peice of 1" thick pink insulation foam from HD.

If I remember correctly it was about $14 for a 8' X 4' piece. You can cut it with a saw and it sands easily to smooth out the edges. I put three larger holes for pots and a bunch of smaller holes for bare root plants. But I only used 2 pots and the third larger hole now has a canna wedged in it bare root. If I build another I would not put holes for pots only bare roots plants as they do great and I am trying to get away from potted plants in the pond. I covered it with moss but it was a waste as the moss just died and the plants have almost completely covered it now. I also put my winter airstone under it to give the plants more air, they seem to like it. The fish love it, they spend a lot of time under it. Plus in the winter when there is no cover they still have a place to hide. All the plants I put in it are perennials except for the canna in the center, so I don't have to replant it each year. I also tied a string to a rock, put the other end through one of the holes and tied it to a stick to anchor it. I have found the left over foam has come in handy as well. I used a small peice to create a floating planter for one of my skippies so the plants would not be too deep and they didn't have to be in pots.

 

[don't ask]

great ingenuity pecan, love the floating planter. would never have guessed you made it yourself. one other question, can't tell from the picture but did you spray paint it or something because it doesn't look pink?

 

[pecan]

Nope, it just aged like that, I think the water and algea and stuff helped tone down the color. Now it is about the same color as some of the "red" rocks around the pond which are really more of a creamy pink color. It has been in the pond since Feb, but I only planted it April IIRC.

My neighbor uses that stuff for halloween decorations like head stones and stuff since it can be easily cut and sanded. He also paints them but I don't think he uses spray paint.

I used a jig saw to cut it (worked great!) and just a piece of sand paper to smooth the edges.

 

[don't ask]

sweet, thanks for the tip... and as many have said your backyard and pond look terrific!

 

[pecan]

No problem! and thank you.

I love finding inexpensive creative way to make things that cost a fortune if bought as a "pond product". I was looking to buy a floating planter and found one just like this on eBay for almost $200!!! That is what spured my thinking LOL.

 

[addy1]

I want to do one so bad, but with the green heron coming to visit, I don't want to make it a nice sushi bar to eat from. So going to pass, it would be pretty, but not going to help the birds fish.

 

[don't ask]

addy with all the wildlife maybe you could work on your dog whisperer skills, and have the heron not go after your fish.... :razz:

 

[addy1]

laughing , sure do wish that would work. So far we have won with the heron, this little guy sneaked in under the fencing. I have fixed the areas it could get in, moving the pump tomorrow and will get it fixed even better. Never know if you win until they come back. I try not to scare the critters until I see how they attack.

A nice island would give it a nice place to land and eat. I might make some small ones. might lol

 

[don't ask]

hmmm? really? would think they would want a more stable footing and not on a floating island...

 

[addy1]

I was going to make it around 5x5 feet, plenty of stability for the little heron. Just not worth the extra worry for me, we battle them enough. It might tip enough to scare the bird off, just not sure. But then again i do have a piece of net running down the center of the pond, if the island was under it then the bird couldn't land on it.


hummmmmmmmmm thinking this out lol

 

[taherrmann4]

I was going to make it around 5x5 feet, plenty of stability for the little heron. Just not worth the extra worry for me, we battle them enough. It might tip enough to scare the bird off, just not sure. But then again i do have a piece of net running down the center of the pond, if the island was under it then the bird couldn't land on it.


hummmmmmmmmm thinking this out lol

Take the chance, go for it! I think I might build a small one but don't have that much room after all the lillies, buddah, tree, and soon to be dock...

 

[riparks]

I'll have to look for that kind of elephant ear, I have several but none of them look like that. You're right, they do survive the winter here. I looked at your pictures again and transformation from that pink board to what you have is amazing. You have an eye for for placing your plants in the right place. Is that a pink calla lilly in one of your pictures? It's beautiful.

My husband has a tractor and he won't let me play with it, lol. I would LOVE to get my hands on it, I have lots of things I would love to do with it.

 

[pecan]

Thanks! yes, I have two pink calla's but they wont survive my winter Maybe if I leave them in the skippies and keep them running all winter which I might try. But I am not sure.

I bought my elephant ears at the local nursery, but not in the pond section. The ones in the pond section look different and don't grow nearly as big. You can buy the tubers at the any latin grocery store in the produce section as well. I tried that last year but the ones I bought from the nursery outgrew the ones I got at the grocery store. You might not have that issue since they survive your winters I think they are called Taro root.

 

[addy1]

lol tmann, think I will, if the heron lands on it, can always pull it out. The 5 foot end of my pond has a lot of surface area not used by anything. A five foot one would fit well, that is the size of the liner I have floating.

Taro's don't survive our winters, I dry them and bring them in.