Wisconsin Pond Build

[j.w]

I've heard blood meal works to keep rabbits away but really invites the dogs/cats to come and visit! The deer have never eaten my Hosta's. Those deer that were here the other day just sniffed them and then I saw them and they left so either they didn't get a chance to find out if they liked them or they didn't like them. I have not seen the deer again since. I will keep that Deer away spray in mind for special plants if I do have a big problem w/ them.

 

[herzausstahl]

JW,
I'm suprised the deer didn't get spooked and take off, the closet I can usually get is 20 yards if I'm lucky and moving slow!

The rabbits got in under one of my gates, its built on the side of the house and due to the small slope, there is a gap so I will now just have to lay down a board across there to make sure that is where they are getting in. If so, then I won't need to use any of the great products you guys listed. For some reason the rabbits chewed on our barberry bushes (a year ago before the fence) and with all the little thorns on those you would have thought they would leave them alone. Gonna be a couple cold days coming up, highs are dropping down to 60 degrees and in the 40s at night, about 20 degrees less during the day and about 10 at night than what it has been lately.

So here is where I redid the stream outlet to raise the water level in the upper pool:



This is the "T" from the outlet I had made this spring that didn't work.



Here it is covered up by rocks. I figure I will have to take down the rocks and screw in the cap I made for overwintering the pipe. A little work, but not too bad and worth it to stop water from freezing in the line.

Here is what the stream looks like now with all the river rock I added to it to take up space and keep the level of the pond higher when the stream is running.



I also had a blue dragonfly stop by the other day and hang out on one of the horsetail's for awhile, was pretty cool.



Here is what the pond looks like in the late afternoon as the sun is going down:

 

[j.w]

It looks beautiful herz! You planned it out so perfect and the stream is going to be a great help in filtering your water!
Love the pretty blue dragonfly!
Those 2 deer looked kinda lost and I think I've seen them before w/ their mother but she was no where in sight. I have heard there are poachers in the area and some here don't want the deer on their property cuz they have crops that they earn money from so they scare them away w/ loud noises or guns. If they come around here I usually don't bother them unless they are actually looking like they are going to gobble something I really like. They are so pretty to watch and I do really enjoy them coming around. Rabbits too are welcome but not too many around anymore.

 

[herzausstahl]

Thanks JW,
I don't mind the rabbits until they started eating my plants, so prevention is my goal. Plus thats also why I will try to trap them in a live trap and relocate them up the road. Don't see too many deer around here, but they are around.

So here are some more photos, these first ones are of a stump I recently found:



Here is my waterfall with the water hyacinth and water lettuce added to it:



I also added 3 LED pond lights and they look pretty cool. Two are in the waterfalls for my filter return and the third one is pointing toward the center of the pond. Here are the two lights in the waterfalls:



And here are the lights lit up at night, I used the yellow colored lens to make them seem more like halogen/incandescent lights than the white glow of LED's. I asked my wife if it would be wierd to use the red lens and she said yes, so I will save that for Halloween.

 

[j.w]

Where do you find all those neat stumps? Your lights look very pretty in the dark and I especially like the way they light up your waterfalls

 

[addy1]

That is a neat stump, and great lights. Herz there is no way I can keep out rabbits, deer, ground hogs, fox, all open land and yard. The only thing fenced is the veggie garden. I plant enough I don't notice a nibble here and there.

 

[herzausstahl]

Where do you find all those neat stumps? Your lights look very pretty in the dark and I especially like the way they light up your waterfalls

I just keep my eyes open wherever I am, but a lot have come from the 13 1/2 acres of land my parents own. Anytime I take the 4 wheeler through the woods I have my eyes open for any driftwood from the creek or stumps in the woods. Thanks, I was really happy with the results of the lights also.

That is a neat stump, and great lights. Herz there is no way I can keep out rabbits, deer, ground hogs, fox, all open land and yard. The only thing fenced is the veggie garden. I plant enough I don't notice a nibble here and there.

I can believe that from your gardens addy, they look amazing. Mine are just beginning, so they are going after the plants I just planted this year. And I only do a little bit each year, wish I had $ for more, but then I guess it wouldn't be any fun and I'd be done too fast.

 

[addy1]

I just keep my eyes open wherever I am, but a lot have come from the 13 1/2 acres of land my parents own. Anytime I take the 4 wheeler through the woods I have my eyes open for any driftwood from the creek or stumps in the woods. Thanks, I was really happy with the results of the lights also.

I can believe that from your gardens addy, they look amazing. Mine are just beginning, so they are going after the plants I just planted this year. And I only do a little bit each year, wish I had $ for more, but then I guess it wouldn't be any fun and I'd be done too fast.

I wish I could look in our woods, darn poison ivy is too thick, woods just for the critters.

Most of the plants were throw a way plants from lowes. 1-2 bucks. A bunch have been cuttings, pieces, sales, and costco, love the garden center when they open it, cheap and great plants. I can't afford my addiction to plants if I didn't buy things on sale, throw aways, etc.

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks for the pics of your lights in your waterfall, Herz. I intend to do that in my waterfall, although I don't have as much drop as you do, I'm hoping it will still look ok. Right now I have 3 lights at the end of the waterfall, in the pond, and I really like them, so want them up the falls, too. Maybe even put some in the stream and then over the edge into the goldfish pond. I love lights at night. I have the cheap dragonfly, hummingbird and another shape that are solar, change colors while they are on. And, I have 2 solar spotlights for the frogs in the koi pond, plus 2 more solar "path" lights that hang on a short pole. None of them put out much light, but just make a nice ambiance to view in the evenings.

 

[herzausstahl]

I wish I could look in our woods, darn poison ivy is too thick, woods just for the critters.

Most of the plants were throw a way plants from lowes. 1-2 bucks. A bunch have been cuttings, pieces, sales, and costco, love the garden center when they open it, cheap and great plants. I can't afford my addiction to plants if I didn't buy things on sale, throw aways, etc.

I have been getting shrubs that way for the last few years, so no I will have to look for the closeouts on the flowers too! I don't want many more in the garden with the pond, I want to keep it mostly looking like a pine forest kind of, but I did add some for some color like you would see in the wild around here or at least along the stream. I do plan on making the other gardens in my yard more like yours. Luckily my mom has a lot of great ones that I can get cuttings/split plants from. Will add some pics of those on here soon.

Thanks for the pics of your lights in your waterfall, Herz. I intend to do that in my waterfall, although I don't have as much drop as you do, I'm hoping it will still look ok. Right now I have 3 lights at the end of the waterfall, in the pond, and I really like them, so want them up the falls, too. Maybe even put some in the stream and then over the edge into the goldfish pond. I love lights at night. I have the cheap dragonfly, hummingbird and another shape that are solar, change colors while they are on. And, I have 2 solar spotlights for the frogs in the koi pond, plus 2 more solar "path" lights that hang on a short pole. None of them put out much light, but just make a nice ambiance to view in the evenings.

Patti,
I would go for it, they will look cool shining on the water.

 

[herzausstahl]

So I was at my parents house last monday night and looked up and saw this cloud, I know exactly what it reminded me of, but tell me what you think...



Probably one of the coolest, clearest, cloud shapes I've ever seen!

So I also decided to repot the plants I just got. I moved the water lily I had in the whiskey barrel into the pond since it was really growing nice and moved one of the ones I just got at menards this spring into the whiskey barrel. I ran out of cat litter to repot it with so just left it in its original container and moved it into the whiskey barrel.



In the pond I repotted the water lily that was in the whiskey barrel. It was in all pea gravel, but to lighten the load so I could hand lower it from the side of the deck I used cat litter like a lot of people do and then dressed it with an inch or so of pea gravel over the top. I put two of the water lilies from menards into one of the new pots. I put the parrots feather into a larger pot to see if it will root out and spread, guessing it will. I also put my hornwart into a smaller pot.



On the shelf I had two water lilies, one went into the whiskey barrel, the other I repotted into a new pot.

Here is the hornwort



the Red stemmed Parrots Feather



The two water lilies. The one from the whiskey barrel is in the pot on the left. The pot on the right has the 2 water lilies that were in this location in the pots menards sold them in



At the top I thought I might have had some seapage and the only part I could find was where the 2" Flex PVC entered the pool. It was fine before i raised the water level. After I believe it was wicking/weaping out. So I trimmed some of the liner and was able to adjust and raise the pipe up and backfill with pea gravel and clay. Haven't had a chance to test it out after, had to leave for work, but will check it out tomorrow.



Then I will replace the rocks. Was losing and inch a day and think the majority is from the waterfalls running, but figure some was leaking out this way.

And since its the bottom of the post, the first thing I thought of with the clouds, was an oriental dragon. You can see the head right here:



This one has the forearm in it and the next shows what would be the trunk of the body:



I've had 2 of these tattooed on my body for over a decade, so was easy and cool for me to spot.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Hertz, I SAW what You DID!! Looks really good too! Never realized how long your stream is, the possiblities are endless, yellow monkey flower could twine in and around stream, little snips of this and that, and than the stream will really come alive! BUT ...... I Saw WHAT You DiD! ..... your little Stacked ROCK Thing!! You know,...... that's how it starts, ..... only Real HARD Core rock people can identify each other.... they all STACK The ROCKS. Ha ha ha. P.S. Coming to steal the stump ......
I once stacked rocks in this real stream at the park and made it look like a little man.... have you tried making stacked rock people???

 

[callingcolleen1]

Oh yea, your cloud is very cool, looks like a gaint catfish! Nice pictures too and I LOVE your stacked rocks!

 

[j.w]

Looks like a flying dragon to me!
Hard work tearing things apart to get at the problem.........oh yes I know, but not from leaks for me, just have the re-arrange the falls addiction. Haven't done it in a long time so think I'm happy now!

 

[CountryEscape]

Herz, you "had" 2 of the dragons tattooed on your body? Do you mean you have them removed? How did that turn out?
My ponds have been dropping by about 1" of water every 3-5 days, and I see no leaks, so can only assume that the wind we have been having is doing it. Doesn't take very long to "top it off" though, and since I have well water, no worries.