Greenthumbnails was kind enough to post a link to another site in my pond chat post) with directions for making floating islands. It looked easy enough, so I bought the supplies yesterday, and whipped one up this morning lickety split - less than 10 minutes. I substituted power lock cable ties for the plastic screws, as my husband had a huge container of them, and I thought they'd be easier to use - they were really easy!
Here are the supplies -
1 - green styrofoam floral wreath. I only found these at Michaels - the other stores had flimsier white ones that came apart when I touched them - I figured the fish could swallow parts - not good!
1 - coco liner - again, only found this at one nursery and 12 inches was the smallest size they had.
8 - power lock cable ties.
A scissor to cut the mat to fit to size.
The mat was too big for the wreath, so I had to cut a small wedge out of it to fit. This was fine, as the mat split on one side as I was handling it, and it was the perfect place to cut.
The split area
Cut and pieced together
Checking the fit before attaching
Cable ties locked around liner and wreath
Planted and floating in pond
I didn't have the best plants to put in it, but I had gone to many private nurseries yesterday and they are mostly closing out their plants already for this season. I put a lantana in the center, surronded by marigolds and dwarf zinnias. Hopefully they will fill out soon.
I am planning on making a couple more, and hopefully I will be able to find different plants. The pond is in full all day sun, so that's a bit of a problem for plants.