Topics

1

Pond Chat / From NY to New Mexico... Ponding adventures.

« on: April 22, 2012, 09:30:06 AM »

Hey everyone.

In a previous post i mentioned that i had recently moved to a new home in New Mexico, and had quite accidentally renewed my interest in ponding because of all things... a Garage sale.  My previous ponds were all very much made from reclaimed materials, and i when i found a 14'x14' pond liner at a garage sale, i quickly snapped it up and discussed plans with my new partner on how make it happen in her very dry and dusty back yard.

i took about a month digging the hole myself in shifts, as my back and gimpy hip would allow. Once i had the liner dropped, and pond filled i continued to work around the pond as i looked for plants.

being that i did not have a lot of funds other than my partners generosity, i looked extensively for plants on Craigslist, and fish as well... unfortunately nothing turned up until i got a call while out at a water garden nursery one day.

A gentleman who had advertised 8 pond fish on craigslist got in touch with me about me taking the fish off his hands, as he was going to be filling in his pond, due to his young child starting to crawl.  I went over to his place, and his pond was thickly overgrown with rushes and lilies..

Well now.. the fish he had were easily 6 or more years old.. and very large... sarrassas, a shubunkin and 2 comets... we could only fine 5 of the 8 before we left... but he also offered me whatever plants i could pull from the pond.  I quickly agreed, and began to pull 4 HUGE pots of lilies from the pond... completely rootbound and nearly bursting from the pond.  add to that a few pieces of those rushes, and about 40 mosquito fish and a trapdoor snail, and i went home very happy indeed.

so added to my Craigslist haul i managed to find 2 god places that had nice plants... and even though things seem so expensive here in NM... i have the beginnings of a good water garden...  wich i'd like to show you now...

click on pic for the slideshow



still a lot to do... surrounding area; needs plots of work... but the fish seem to be happy so far

2

Pond Chat / Kennef returns, but from a very different Locale... :)

« on: March 31, 2012, 10:56:58 PM »

Jerry suggested that i post this here... so here i go...

hey all..

I used to frequent this forum way back when i was putting together above ground water gardens in Upstate NY.

well heck... thing have changed significantly...

I now live in Albuquerque New Mexico, a recent transplant in love with green chile... but not so mch in love with a lack of good NY style pizza and Buffalo wings... but i'm surviving...

I just recently began spring yard work here in hopes of getting a little bit of green in this very arid back yard... determined to do so despite my new Partners gentle warnings about poor soil and heat as well as arid climes...  SO is anyone here in the southwest that can suggest to a newly transplanted ponder how to best attack the challenges of ponding here?

3

Pond Chat / Wintering in the garage in a stock tank *questions*

« on: October 02, 2007, 10:45:14 AM »

hey guys,

Fall is upon us, and i have to over winter the fish once again. i have planned for some time to overwinter in a stock tank in my garage, but i wanted to discuss the idea with anyone who might have done something similar.

my plan is to pick up a 150 gallon stock tank from the  local Tractor Supply store, and use it along with an aerator and possibly a heater of some sort.  my concern is overwintering the larger goldfish, since my above ground deck pond would freeze over.  and ideas on insulating and keeping the garage temp to a safe level would be much appreciated.

thanks

kenn

4

Pond Chat / well... heres a bloom i didnt expect this morening, and other pics too!

« on: July 13, 2007, 04:15:53 PM »

heya all,

my daughter caught this bloom this morning, off a lily that i didn't expect to do much at all. it came from one of those walmart packages, the one i took back because they were rotten inside... well this one wasn't... i sorta didn't take that one back... 



and a general show of growth from the plants people sent me for postage. the filling in really well now, my wet little jungle 



a little bog bean



and the trickle tower with some umbrella plant in front...



apparently my Hen's and Chicks think they are Isengard in Lord of the Rings!



ok, thats the show for right now... thanks for looking and not scolding me for not weeding enough...

5

Pond Chat / Amazon Swordplant goes in the pond... what could go wrong? :)

« on: June 19, 2007, 11:27:30 AM »

So this plant got way too big for my 30 gallon aquarium, so i potted it and placed it in the pond.  i have heard of other people growing amazon swords emersed in tubs outside before, so i just thought i'd give it a try...




and a few more

6

Pond Chat / suggestions on the hardiest most weedlike hady lily you can imagine

« on: June 09, 2007, 11:16:00 AM »

ok so here the situation.

my mom has a good sized earth bottom pond thats been dug for at least 10 years, but she has some issues about planting in it. she lives on a farm, and there are a few geese that wander over from time to time, and she's sure they will destroy anything she tries to plant. Also she has an extensive duckweed problem, as the pond has little else in it to fight for the nutrients.

so my clever idea...    is to find the most OBNOXIOUS and INVASIVE water plants (other than duckweed of course) to try and combat her issues.  i don't really care of the damn things bloom or not, just so long as i can assume that they can grow fast enough in the pond to ward off the occasional goose and be hardy enough to come back after a NY state winter. the pond is a minimum of 5 feet in most areas, is earth bottomed and spring fed, and doesn't have any thing mechanical running for filtration.

i know i ask for the weird stuff... but you know me by now.... i'm weird... 

7

Pond Chat / some plant ID's and some pics just to share...:) more pics updated

« on: June 05, 2007, 06:51:22 AM »

heya all,

I wnt to a little flower farm run by a couple of older folks, and picked up some plants that they kinda had bare root/overgrown in their pond section.  they had phenomenal terrestrial plants, and their display pond was nice, but the plants they had in stock werent new nursery samples. i thought i might like some starts of stuff, and hoped to get a deal. what i got was some interesting starts and some stuff i am now sure the name of.  pics below:







looks like i have some sweet flag maybe, and some bog bean... but i cant tell the others very well... maybe the pics are not that great...

Also... osme pics of my pond assistants.

Gillian on Bird feeder duty:


Tank on "Tough Dog guarding against Squirrels" duty 



and fish on "Where is my damn food?" duty



ok... got tons to do today.... ciao

Kenn

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Aquatic and Terrestrial Plant Exchange / Have some Hen & Chicks to trade for water plant starts

« on: May 31, 2007, 03:38:46 PM »

i never thought anyone would want hen & Chicks... i was sure they were very common! i'm willing to part with some so long as Patsy liked the ones i sent her.  i could use some hyacinths or water lettuce, frogbit, parrots feather, marsh marigold, or really anything at all.

I would also accept plants and pay for shipping if anyone didn't want hen & Chicks (but how can you not want them, they are so cute)

thanks!

Kenn

9

Terrestrial Gardening / "Liberating" a lilac from an abandoned lot - questions

« on: May 22, 2007, 06:09:30 AM »

Hey folks,

my wife would love a lilac in our yard, and i see one frequently growing in an abandoned lot where houses used to be years ago. i was thinking about getting permission from the lot owner to try and transplant part of it to our back yard.  Has anyone done this and is it very difficult if the bush is about 4-5 feet tall? i wasn't thinking to taking the entire bush, but perhaps someone could give me some pointers?

thanks

Kenn

10

Pond Chat / revival of an old topic: greatest ever Free Plants (or Cheap) you've ever grown

« on: May 15, 2007, 07:25:02 AM »

ok, i remember years ago a thread about this, but i wanted to revive the discussion simply because i find myself with no budget for the next month for plants, and i need to get something in the pond for now. I used to use native bog plants like water potato and such in my container gardens because i could get them for free in ditched and creeks around my house. water mint was also very easy to find.

So i'd like to ask the community for their experiences finding plants that they have used in and around the pond from unlikely and inexpensive sources...
 

11

Pond Chat / ideas for the SuperCheap Deck-Pond? pics

« on: May 15, 2007, 07:14:48 AM »

hey folks,

Looking for some advice or ideas on how to plant in the upper part of the deck pond, now that it is as large as it is. I was thinking that i want my marginals in flower boxes possibly, but i'm not sure how to hold them there. i dont really have the room for a shelf in the pond itself, so what do you all think of hanging them off the side, partially sunk in?

anyway, i'm gonna show you where i am at today,  and please excuse the mess, i'm working on cleanup today after that busy mothers day weekend..

Here i was thinking about running some brackets along the wall and setting the lip of the flower boxes on them... so that they were half sunk into the pond, then landcaps cloth under the soil to wick up water maybe?



I am also toying with the idea of setting something up in that corner, as you can see i have extra liner there and could maybe make a little waterfall or something?


the old barrel filter, has been 2 years since i used it, but i think with the added pond, it will need it



the wife insists we keep this trickle tower... it has character, even if it is crumbling apart



still working on the spillway, the bricks are temporary....



any suggestions you folks might have would be welcomed as always... it helps get the brainstorming going...

12

Aquatic and Terrestrial Plant Exchange / Does anyone have pond starter kits availible?

« on: May 11, 2007, 05:54:38 PM »

folks,

I know its a bit late to ask, but i kind of need some pond starts since our winter was so late in leaving us. basically i am looking for a reasonable starter kit with a basic assortment of plants to get me rolling. i would be happy to pay around $20 plus shipping for something.

thanks so much

kenn

13

Pond Chat / DIY ideas from my other hobby....:) aquatic soil for the planted aquarium

« on: May 08, 2007, 01:13:37 PM »

Hey guys,

all winter long i have been kind of nursing my need for wet pets by setting up aquariums in the house, and of course since i cant leave well enough alone, i tinkered with DIY projects such as Compact florescent lighting and co2 injection to make my aquarium plants grow big and beautiful.  One big issue with planted tanks is subtrate that will make for easy rooting. 

A lot of people spend tons of money on special substrates, but one guy on another forum i frequent just went to Home Depot and bought some Shultz's Aquatic soil from the garden department! I tried it too, and loved what it did for my aquarium, but for potting my pond plants, its just too expensive for the size bags you get.

Can Anyone recommend a potting substrate that i might be able to try on the cheap that wont cloud the water much? i was thinking of half sinking some flower boxes filled with substrate for growing bog plants since my pond isn't on the ground like others might have....


thanks much

Kenn

14

Pond Chat / from the dark and snow covered ruins of Upstate NY... Kennef Returns! more pics!

« on: May 08, 2007, 06:19:35 AM »

  ITS GOOD TO BE BACK!!! 

hey folks, good to be back in the swing of Ponding. this winter in Upstate NY was Brutal, and i am so glad to see an end to snow.  the SuperCheap DeckPond of years past is just in the initial stages of renovation, because the preform that i had been using for years suddenly cracked over the winter, plus the fish are getting to the size where i needed to expand anyway.    

Since we are expanding, i figured, let me just build another box like i did before, only larger.  then i said, "let me use the wood i have been collecting from free piles on the side of the road." Of course, the only thing i needed then was a liner, and since i didn't have any luck finding a roofer giving away scraps, i went to the pond store and priced a 10'x15' liner. cheapest price i found was about $91.00, and the wife balked at that, as did i. I always do these things on a budget, so i shopped a bit more and even considered using alternate lining for the pond.  However, it just so happens i found a nursery who had done ponds in the past, but really didnt do much with them anymore, that had all their pond stuff on clearance. I asked about the price on line, and found that they were selling PondGuard liner for 5.45 per foot off the 15" roll!!!   I snapped up 11 feet to be safe, and took it home.

we are still cleaning the deck up from the winter mess, and excuse that i didnt clean up my tools when i took the pic, as i am still working on and around the pond.  the old pond is the little one, about 6'x3'x18" deep.  the new pond is 8'x4'x about 26-28" deep. 

On With the pics!







more pics from today!! plumbing the pond and trying to think of a way to support half-submerged flower boxes on the edge of the pond for bog plants.  also need more flow to my trickle towers.





the Barrel Filter, still needs filter material



the mini-trickle tower... still needs a pump...




thanks so much for the help you folks have given over the years, once i have the rest of the deck all cleaned up i will post lots of pics!

Ciao,

Kenn

15

Terrestrial Gardening / Mutants attack in the Front Yard!!

« on: August 23, 2006, 12:41:49 PM »

hey all, i thought you might like to see some of the crazy stuff happening in my yard...



Pumpkins are in our flower bed, and on your lawn, and or driveway...





I dont even KNOW what this thing is!






My Wife, Cristy... she says next year we should frow pumpkins on PURPOSE, because we sure didnt this year!