Wisconsin Pond Build

[addy1]

tmann way back you asked about the kitty litter, mine is still kernels not mush. It has been in the pond since spring.
herz, looking great, the horsetails will be neat as they grow

jw aren't you in hawaii yet?

 

[taherrmann4]

Sissy,
Put a camera on Peewee and send him in the pipe to see where it goes!!! :razz:

 

[j.w]

Nope not in Hawaii til the 18th and my kitty litter just sits in the pond being hard little pieces that never mush up also.

Ha Ha Tmann that's a good idea!

 

[sissy]

NO WAY geeze my poor pee wee .Has anyone raised the mini black elephant ears for there ponds .I like the ones I just got in NJ and hope they keep sending up new shoots because that means more tubers .It would look great in any pond .It says direct sun but says no afternoon sun and I understand why as the hotter afternoon sun burns the leaves .They have one on florida hill nursery that says caladium but says elephant ear and has red leaves

 

[addy1]

My taro's are all full sun sissy, and no sun burn. Even have some in the deck pond which is hit with the hot west sun.

 

[sissy]

I says on the ones I bought afternoon sun can burn and when I left them under the carport where the afternoon sun hit them you could see the leaf burn.these say on the label colocasia diamond head

 

[addy1]

prob a different type, I have the "black" ones, ie. dark purple, green and purple, all green and green with the white center. They are all neat looking.

 

[sissy]

these are all black and the stems are black burgandy color .I looked at the sight florida hill nursery .com and it has them .I am going to keep them in the basement this winter ,I want to try and get more tubers from all of them .

 

[herzausstahl]

Sissy,
I understand your property is on a hill, does the hill extend past the road and keep going down? Only thing I can think of is its a drainage pipe for something, who knows from what or for where, and since your ditch doesn't seem very deep all the way down (in the pic it looks like it is getting shallower as you move into the foreground in the picture), they added the pipe on the other side to go under the road to keep the water draining down the hill. Did the developer say your hill was always there, its not artificial? For all you know it could have been from someone else a long time ago who put it in for drainage from another site, that no longer is needed. But a nice annoying mystery for you. But I see why you want a fence, should definitely help. Haven't experimented with too many plants yet, will do more next year probably.

 

[herzausstahl]

Ended up buying some Soft Rush grass for the pond on Ebay for pretty cheap, here's the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160657876731?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Here is the description of the plant by the seller.



For Sale I am offering 2 bunches of Soft Rush for your pond or moist garden. Each bunch is approximately 3" in diameter.
Height x width: 18-48" x 12-24"
Growth rate: moderate
Foliage: hollow, cylindrical, basal
Flowers: small, non-showy yellowish cymes in summer
Hardiness: zones 4-9 (less for cultivars as noted)
Soil: wet, pond edges in 3-5" of water, prefers acidic
Light: sun
Pests and Problems: none serious
Landscape habit, uses: watersides, water containers, bird cover by wateredges
Propagation: spring division
I have other aquatics for sale and I do combine shipping, so check it out.

Got it today and put it in the pond. The bunch was large enough I was able to tear it into 2 bunches and added it to my border.



It will be interesting to see how everything grows next spring! Hopefully more of my Lily's grow, but I think I will want to repot them into better pots even if they do.

 

[sissy]

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:36229]
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:38510]
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:38511]
the hill has always been here and it used to be even higher and when the house was built I had it taken down lower .The hill all the way across used to be as high as where I put this rock and I had most of it taken down .The hill keeps going across the back of my house for about another 300 ft and then dips down to a gully then another road and there are no pipes back there the county checked .

 

[sissy]

I tried the cork screw rush and it just will not grow and I had some in the pond and some out of the pond and still died .I gave up on it after 4 failures.I was looking close at some of the rocks around your pond and they really have some great textures .holes and pitting make them interesting have you ever thought to do what addy did and hollow some out for your pond .They would look great .I have checked and the place I get my rock charge 25 dollars to do it for a granite rock I picked out there .

 

[herzausstahl]

i got it on ebay for about $4 with shipping for the bunch just to add some plants to it, kind of one of those 99 cent auctions with no bid to see if you win and I did. lost out on a cattail rush one so I got those locally. thanks for noticing the rock! i did hand pick a lot of the finer detail ones from various places to add the texture, color, grains, etc and made sure for those that I placed them mostly above the water line so they wouldn't get covered in muck eventually. would you hollow out the rocks to use as planters or to add water volume? at least with all of that rock you have lining the hill side you don't have to worry about erosion. doesn't explain your mystery pipe though...

 

[sissy]

I want the rock I am getting hollowed out to be a planter and not really for my pond .I went to the stone yard and they have some great sinks and even a bathtub from rock .I couldn't believe what you can do with rock .I guess you get some neat textured rocks where you live .I have yet to see any or be able to get any like that around here .LOL maybe I will drive up there and snitch myself some rock

 

[addy1]

These are a few of the rock planters I hauled with me from arizona. I have them in my stream, let the stream water them for me. The rock sucks up the water.

These shots are from way back during the build last year.