I neglected my trees this summer

Pitoon

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
5,043
Reaction score
11,385
Location
Southern Maryland
USDA Zone
7b
That looks fantastic! You could have dug just a bit further to the water on the other side of the fence and claim all of it!
 

Sunwyrm

Mame
Messages
173
Reaction score
210
Location
Northern Virginia
USDA Zone
7a
That looks fantastic! You could have dug just a bit further to the water on the other side of the fence and claim all of it!
Oh! If only my HOA would let me! They're not speaking to me currently... I would honestly love to get my hands on it and put a waterfall/filter on the other side so it can have better filtration too. It's a hot mess
 

Sunwyrm

Mame
Messages
173
Reaction score
210
Location
Northern Virginia
USDA Zone
7a
And now you have niwaki to care for. No pot needed, nor daily watering. Net gain.
Loving them! I actually planned the pond around the trees. I think I'll replace my dirt filled pots with stakes soon, hopefully it'll look and work better.
 

ShadyStump

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
5,892
Reaction score
9,744
Location
Southern Colorado, USA
USDA Zone
6a
Loving them! I actually planned the pond around the trees. I think I'll replace my dirt filled pots with stakes soon, hopefully it'll look and work better.
If you are in fact thinking traditional style niwaki, I wouldn't stake them too tightly. My suggestion is always let the tree show you first.
I say that, but you probably know better than I do what you're doing with trees.
 

Carol 83

Flower Girl
Messages
11,126
Reaction score
27,129
Location
IL
Really nice job, looks very peaceful.
 

Michael P

Omono
Messages
1,207
Reaction score
1,842
Location
Dallas, Texas, AHS heat zone 9
USDA Zone
8a
Beautiful pond! Are you harvesting rainwater from the roof and putting it in the pond? That's something I've always wanted to do.
 

Sunwyrm

Mame
Messages
173
Reaction score
210
Location
Northern Virginia
USDA Zone
7a
Beautiful pond! Are you harvesting rainwater from the roof and putting it in the pond? That's something I've always wanted to do.
Thank you! I am going to and still have to finish its setup soon. Next year I plan on adding an reservoir to keep the water level steadier.

My super fancy and not yet finished/hidden rainwater collection system!
1603591520203.png
 
Last edited:

leatherback

The Treedeemer
Messages
13,939
Reaction score
26,881
Location
Northern Germany
USDA Zone
7
Cool pond.

At that size, a heron might just confuse them for breakfast. Have you considered nettings?
 

leatherback

The Treedeemer
Messages
13,939
Reaction score
26,881
Location
Northern Germany
USDA Zone
7
I always wonder..

Where do you get rocks like these? Collect them locally? Or do you buy them?
And how do you place these? Thy must literally weigh a ton?
 

CWTurner

Omono
Messages
1,266
Reaction score
1,732
Location
Philadelphia PA
USDA Zone
7a
Outstanding @Sunwyrm !
I really like the way you managed the edges of the pond and didn't just line up flat rocks, as is often the case. Very naturalistic.
And the large stone on the bottom of the pond is a revelation. I like that a lot.
Only thing that would make it better would be if the stone color was more uniform.
CW
 

Adair M

Pinus Envy
Messages
14,402
Reaction score
34,874
Location
NEGeorgia
USDA Zone
7a
Very nice! I put in one about a year ago.

Once you get some plants like water lillies, parrot feather and creaping Jenny, it softens up the rocks.
 

Sunwyrm

Mame
Messages
173
Reaction score
210
Location
Northern Virginia
USDA Zone
7a
Cool pond.

At that size, a heron might just confuse them for breakfast. Have you considered nettings?
We do have a net for when we're not out there, as we have a resident heron in the pond behind our fence, as well as a mink (who the net would do nothing for), owls, hawks, other waterfowl... I also have an motion detecting sprinkler, but I'm going to have to turn it off before we get significantly cold.

Our heron is pretty happy so far with his own pond, and I'm hoping he continues to be vary wary of our yard and dogs. I'm sure it would only take him a short time to wipe out our pond given the opportunity.

Here's Dorkbird, if he eats my koi I'd like to roast him instead of a turkey:
1603717914596.png
I always wonder..

Where do you get rocks like these? Collect them locally? Or do you buy them?
And how do you place these? Thy must literally weigh a ton?
I bought most of them from a local rock yard though we did collect a lot locally from our housing development. Filled up our car's trunk about 5 times with local rock, and still ended up buying several tons of boulders and gravel.
We rented an excavator to move the large rocks into place with ropes:
1603719474464.png
Outstanding @Sunwyrm !
I really like the way you managed the edges of the pond and didn't just line up flat rocks, as is often the case. Very naturalistic.
And the large stone on the bottom of the pond is a revelation. I like that a lot.
Only thing that would make it better would be if the stone color was more uniform.
CW
Thank you! I did the Aquascape method and really tried hard to do different rocks in different places for a more natural look. The large rock is actually a big piece of my favorite flagstone, and it's a giant fish cave. Everything is very stable and able to be stood, walked, and climbed on. We wanted to be able to sit in the pond with a beer if we wanted, and let our daughter swim and play too.
One big issue I had was getting uniform rocks! Interestingly with Covid, everyone was out of stock on pretty much everything. I found a rock yard with what I needed, but colors were a little off as I was buying different types of rock in different sizes and still bought nearly everything they had. I still need a few melon sized rocks that I just can't find anywhere...
It'll get better once plants fill in and they get covered with algae and moss, though I do like the non-uniformity and uniqueness of some that makes them stand out. Glad I didn't just go with matching grays like I initially had planned.
When we were washing all the rocks:
1603719188115.png
1603719208315.png
Very nice! I put in one about a year ago.

Once you get some plants like water lillies, parrot feather and creaping Jenny, it softens up the rocks.
Your pond was a big inspiration! I didn't even see your August updates til just now, all your plants look amazing! Going to be creeping in your thread all day. I also did a bog/wetland and an intake bay, but can't find hardly any plants here now that it's fall. Once spring hits I'll be getting more, I still have some I need to plant before it gets much colder. Everything just needs more time to grow in. I showed my husband your updated pictures - he's been so worried it'll take decades to look grown in.
Regarding reef tanks - I've had to explain everything to him in reef terms... the intake is like a sump, the bog like a refugium, next year we're adding the equivalent to an overflow/ATO reservoir for our water level 🙃 Although I will say aquascaping a large tank is cake compared to this! It's funny how all of these hobbies coincide.
 

leatherback

The Treedeemer
Messages
13,939
Reaction score
26,881
Location
Northern Germany
USDA Zone
7
I showed my husband your updated pictures - he's been so worried it'll take decades to look grown in.


Nah, don't worry. After one summer it will look good. In 2-3 it will be grown together.

Ours..
oct 2012, end of construction of ours:
1603724281395.png

Finished in december 2012
1603724365254.png

May 2014 at the start of the 2nd growing season,
1603724196411.png

In 2018 I really needed to clean up and prune back..
1603724487312.png
 

Bonsai Nut

Nuttier than your average Nut
Messages
12,420
Reaction score
27,871
Location
Charlotte area, North Carolina
USDA Zone
8a
Nice! I miss my pond. When we sold our house in SoCal, we made it very clear the koi were not included. After the contingency period passed, I sold them. Then the buyers got snarky and said they wanted koi in the pond... even though I was pretty sure they weren't prepared for the work necessary to keep them. Fortunately @Si Nguyen had a few extra that he was willing to donate to the cause.

Fast forward six months, and I got a note from our realtor. As I assumed, the buyers let the pond more or less go wild, didn't clean it, didn't backflush the filter, and ultimately turned the filtration completely off. And Si's koi started to spawn like rabbits and now instead of four koi there are about 50 :)
 
Top Bottom