What would you do differently.

[Carolyn22]

If I have to re-do..
1. I like my pond size right now where it's not so big/deep and I can see all my fish at once. I'm not sure if I'd like it if it's bigger or deeper.. May be a bit more, may be a 1500-2000 gallon.
2. Have a bog!!!! that's really one major thing I REALLY WANT!!!
3. Have the pond partial sun/shade so I can have a bog. Right now it's in full shade - good thing is, no algae problem, but very limited in plants selection.
4. plan better for my filter - I'm ok with what I have now with the size of my pond... just may be for the next pond.
5. have the pond closer to the ground so I have more visitors (frog) or can have turtle

6.... may be actually have some land other than my tiny back yard in the city limit

I have to agree with number 6. I really wish I had a lot more land. :biggrin:

Probably the #1 thing for me that I wish I had done differently was to be more diligent in looking up the types of plants to put into my pond. We planted water celery and that stuff is so invasive.I would never plant it again.

 

[sissy]

Thing is if you go to big and something goes wrong it just makes more work to figure it all out .I know I can handle the size of my pond but if i had gone bigger I don't think I could have .I still think I would have gone pondless .Less work and nice look and sound .Scares me also to think what I am going to have to do if I decide to sell this house .I will have to move them and fill in the hole as no one here would know what to do or even care about the pond .They would not want the hassle of it or the cost of it .I have gotten attached to the fish also .Gonna hurt to get rid of them . I never really thought about this until after my husbands heart attack and then it just hit me in the face .I just can't take care of all this by myself .

 

[Carolyn22]

Sissy - I take it there would not be anybody to help? It would be a shame to have to give it up.

 

[sissy]

no no one and mowing weed eating and pulling weeds and doing house work and cooking and taking hubby to doctors appointments are getting to me .I love the house and love the property but 3 acres is a bit much for one person to handle

 

[Carolyn22]

That is really too bad.

 

[sissy]

I put my house on the middle lot but my driveway is on one of the lots .I bought 3 -1 acre lots .But also don't want to devalue the house itself /May end up hiring some one maybe to help out .But hate it when you have to deal with strangers .

 

[Carolyn22]

My son lives 5 minutes away. Of that I am very grateful, although since I broke my foot several weeks ago, I have had some friends of his do my lawn work, as I have been unable to do it. I know that she just lost her job recently and that the extra money helps them - they have 2 small boys, so I like help them out as well.

 

[sissy]

I love to mow but hate the trimming .I find mowing as my time to relax ,but you never know what the future brings .I wanted water celery but could not find it here maybe that is why .Think what it would be like in a longer growing season .I would plant more grasses and lots more lemon grass and lemon verbena .Funny thing is I planted the lemon grass in the pond and one plant next to my porch steps and the ones in the pond are smaller but have a stronger lemon smell and the one by the steps got bigger but not much of a lemon smell .The lemon verbena wow gotta love it by the pond .It grows into a nice shrub i hope .i have it in pots until i decide where I want it .

 

[Litzi1964]

I'm not sure how big your pond is or the number or size of your fish, but don't give them up if you don't have to. I've had to think about this issue as well but for different reasons. My husband got laid off in 2008 with nothing since, and when unemployment and severance ran out we started taking $ out of 401k (or rather what was left of the 401k after the market crashed).
If heaven forbid we had to sell our house, my plan is to get an 8 ft diameter poly water trough from Farm & Fleet. I think they run about $300. The volume is about the same as my pond and it's something I could easily set up in a small yard or patio, or in the basement of a house if I had to.

 

[sissy]

We were lucky to sell and retire when we did .We were savers also .Only money we spent was on the house since we both worked 6 days a week there was no time for much else ,I don't know how people are getting by these days .When we sold our house in NJ we put money in one account that we could not touch and have not touched .Hubby keeps saying with the life insurance and that money I should be OK if something happens to him .Not on my watch it won't

 

[Carolyn22]

Sissy - Lemongrass is one of the things I have thought about putting into my herb garden. My daughter is a chef and swears by the stuff. Count your blessings on the water celery. If I were to do it over again, I would not put it in at all. I think I would load up my bog with water iris and perhaps some type of cardinal flowers. I think it was Addy that had such beautiful pictures of her bog garden and I would have to ask her what gorgeous plants she had growing in her bog.

Litzi - sorry to hear about your husband's unemployment. Truthfully, I worry about another market crash

 

[sissy]

I want to get lemon sage when they have those christmas tree ones for sale now and will wait until after christmas when they reduce the price .I got 6 trees for the other house at lowes in NC and they were 4.75 and were around 7 ft high already .I love end of season sales .All just flowering trees .But what a bargain .The economy and the weather scares me as they keep saying the storms have really reduced the amount of food available .I can tell when i go to the stores here also .I end up having to go to NC to grocery shop as the stores there are better stocked than stores here .Plus hate to say it but they are cleaner also .I have to pay more sales tax there but worth it .I just miss all the fruit and veggie stands back in NJ and now i really understand the meaning of the garden state .I had a great veggie garden and here it gets so hot things don't flower to produce fruit and veggies and ground is terrible .I have to add lime every year because of all the pine trees that grew on the property here .

 

[Carolyn22]

I have 3 Japanese maples in my yard that I didn't pay any more than $30 for any of them. My Kwanzen cherry was $10 - those end of year sales are the best and I really love the fall planting. It gives the plant a chance to get the roots established without having to put the extra energy into the leaves.

Hubs an I keep looking on and off for the SC/NC area to go when we retire. Sounds like I won't be able to grow a tomato - that is rather disappointing.

 

[Litzi1964]

One of the few bright spots of the economy is that labor costs are way down. If you can afford it, hire someone to do the stuff you can't or don't want to do. Even though selling the place and moving is a possibility, remember there's costs to that as well. Depending on what you're moving, that can be several thousand dollars.

 

[Carolyn22]

One of the few bright spots of the economy is that labor costs are way down. If you can afford it, hire someone to do the stuff you can't or don't want to do. Even though selling the place and moving is a possibility, remember there's costs to that as well. Depending on what you're moving, that can be several thousand dollars.

My in laws got quotes to move and I was shocked at the prices. I haven't moved in many many moons. Apparently things have changed since then.