Pond and Landscape Plan Revised...

[Joyce]

It's evolving....the 5 year plan...   


Any suggestions?

Link to large file...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v389/SwimmingJewel/Misc%20Pix/GrigonisLandscape.jpg

[happyoutsidegirl]

It's looking great Joyce,  can't wait to see the real thing going in. Gardens and all!

[Julles]

Any way you can lighten the pic, Joyce?  It's hard to see.

[Joyce]

Thanks Deb!

Julles, It's gotta be your monitor. 
(looks fine on all 3 monitors here)
Click on the link to the big jpeg, maybe bigger will help. 

[Jerry]

we would have cactus and chapperalI envy "native trees"  If not for Mulholland we would have a few live oaks, chapperal and cactus.
Looks good!

[Indiana Karen]

Looks like you will have a really nice sized pond.
It will be fun seeing pics of your progress.

I, too, have problems viewing all of your pics.  They are always too dark.  I don't have any problems with anyone else's.  It's a bummer for me, cause you always have posted such beautiful pics and I'm missing them.

Karen

[sushi]

Looks awesome!  When are you moving?

[Esther]

Looks like you are having fun.

[Kat]

Don't have any suggestions but I LOVE the size of the pond 

[models916]

Lighter Pic?

[Julles]

Yes, THANK YOU!

When I get home from work, I'll study this a bit and see what I might add.  I love looking at diagrams.

Right off the top of my head, I will say that bearms, differences in height of both plants and land areas, stonework (paths and walls), winding paths, garden "rooms,"  "places for your eye to rest," meaning a statue at the end of a long allee (I read that in a magazine  ), and hidden things to discover (statuary, broken iron gates, etc.) all boost garden appeal.

Oh, and a bridge.

I would also suggest more than one pond.  You might want one for fish, and one just for lilies, safe from fish.  I thought you had several ponds.... Are those round blue circles at the far left ... are those small ponds? 

[Julles]

Oh, also, to plant plants in large drifts, rather than one scrawny plant here, another dot there, something different there, etc.

And viewing stations - if you could enjoy your gardens from indoors, through a window, that would be great.  Additionally, places to sit outside and enjoy the yard, that are easy access to the house, so it's easy to carry a tray of lemonade out there, etc. 

[Joyce]

Thanks models916!
Julles, in case you didn't know, I am a professional landscape designer. 
(I am at work now) This is our new house, that we will move into next month.
And yes, there is more than one pond already in the plan.
And there will be a couple of rustic fountains too for the birds.
This plan is just a prototype...in the works, forever to be evolving, like any landscape should be.
Thanks for your suggestions.

I don't like too much statuary and broken gates, non-growing stuff in the landscape....too cluttery for me.
This time around I will concentrate on plants being the focal point, with very little statuary and other cluttter.
Been there, done that...through with that phase.
Having a big moving sale to get rid of it all! 

Although I do believe in benches, and other resting places. 
And rustic bird baths...absolutely no plastic or resin allowed in my gardens this time around!
And a few fallen logs, stumps, boulder, boulders that hold water, etc.

Oh, and I do not enjoy too much formality in my gardens, so no allees, etc.
Everything MUST look natural.

The property is on a hillside, with the back and front elevations as noted in the plan.
Major elevation changes from front to back, so no berms needed.
If anything, this will have a asian influence when done. 

[Ruthie]

It's gorgeous!  I am intrigued by the banana bog.  Is it lined?  How deep?  That's just a really good idea!

[Joyce]

Thanks Ruthie!

I was trying to find a way NOT to have to dig a drywell for my bottom drain. (save $$$)
So I designed this banana bog which will be lined, about 4' deep in the center.
Then about 12" deep all around the edges of the liner I will poke a few holes so the plants have wet feet
but dry crowns which is the perfect bog conditions, especially for bananas.

Should cost about half the cost of putting in a drywell. Probably even less.
And the bananas will benefit from the pond sludge.

[Ruthie]

This is an excellent idea.  Bananas are such N hogs anyway.  I have several.  I bring the sludge to them in a bucket    I think your idea is much more efficient!

[miguynmkoi]

Very nice Joyce!  Must be nice to design a whole new pond after lessons learned.  Where will all your lotus grow?  In the big pond?

[-Greg-]

Joyce, you do tremendous work! As far as viewing your diagrams go, for what ever reason the resolution looks great on my powerbook, when I zoom in, all of the text is legible. However on my PC at work when I open the picture up with windows picture viewer and zoom in, the text is not, in other words it is not your picture that is the problem! Anyway, from your bottom drain to your banana bog, if you could tap into the drain line with a hose bib, you could also water some of your surrounding plants. Also, if you visit koiphen at all, one of the pond builders, Kent Wallace, did a retro pond build for a person that was up against a hill side, it was one of my favorite builds as I thought it melded in with the surroundings very well, below is a link to his build thread, along with a few pictures. Again, great design and I can't wait to see the finished project!!

Greg

http://koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9005&page=1

[EagleEye]

I don't like too much statuary and broken gates, non-growing stuff in the landscape....too cluttery for me.
This time around I will concentrate on plants being the focal point, with very little statuary and other cluttter.
Been there, done that...through with that phase.
Having a big moving sale to get rid of it all! 

Although I do believe in benches, and other resting places. 
And rustic bird baths...absolutely no plastic or resin allowed in my gardens this time around!
And a few fallen logs, stumps, boulder, boulders that hold water, etc.

Oh, and I do not enjoy too much formality in my gardens, so no allees, etc.
Everything MUST look natural.

Of course I can't add anything to your plan, but we do think alike in the above statement by you.
I'm sure that it will be drop dead gorgeous!!
One thing that I see that I do happen to agree with and do here at home, is that all lines must be curvecous, like a womans body
No jagged lines allowed

Have fun with your new space

Steve

[happyoutsidegirl]

  Steve, spoken like a true man. But I too agree, and no squares alowed.

[Joyce]

Thanks Steve!
Now I am thinking I should curve the front walk a bit more.

Thanks Greg, I would do that with the extra plumbing for other plants, but this yard comes with an inground sprinkler system.
Besides, the bottom gunk may clog smaller piping. I'd rather just work with a straight run and maybe use a watering can to catch some to feed certain other plants.
Thanks for the info on the jpeg quality and monitor issues. I know this forum software crunches anything too big which messes with the clarity (even when its linked to photobucket), but it's nice to know that the viewing issues aren't caused by me. Besides, on every monitor at work (over a dozen) and every monitor here (3) there are not darkness issues. I think it is the forum software that crunches the pictures. 

All my lotus will grow in container ponds spotted here and there amongst the gardens.
I have the 1 huge lotus pond at work, and that's enough.

The big pond at the house may have a couple koi, shubunkins and goldies,
but mainly for water lilies and other plants.

[karen J]

I think it looks great, love the banana bog idea. What style house is it? Are you getting rid of your Medusa head?  :'(

You had mentioned that the back was a hill? That will look nice.

We were getting too many little garden chatchkies, so I put our old Baker's rack out on the deck, and we put all our garden clutter there now. They look better all in one place and don't distract the eyes from the garden.

[Joyce]

Karen, its a basic 3 BR 2 BA ranch, but open floor plan, and built into the hillside. 
Back deck and porch overhang over the deck.
Keeping the medusa heads! 

If you can see where the woodpile is, I plan on putting my potting shed/bench back there behind some evergreen screenings.

[Jerry]

No Gnomes or cement mushrooms?
I have gotten rid of most of my tsatskes (knick knacks)

[Jonna]

That is going to be really gorgeous Joyce!  What fun.  The banana bog is a great idea.  Is the pond really going to be 6' deep?  and mainly for plants?  Won't that be too deep?  Is it existing? I'm wondering if it used to be a swimming pool.  I can't wait to see your before and after pics, what a wonderful project.

[karen J]

Joyce, That sounds perfect. Kevin has always wanted a house built into a hillside...only on a more radical scale.
It will be so nice when you can sit on that deck and look at the pond.

Jerry, is tsatskes how you spell chatchki?

[Joyce]

Thanks Karen! When are you coming to LI again? 

Jonna, no pond exists yet. I plan on only a small area around the bottom drain will be 6" deep, like a catch basin for all the gunk.
The rest will be slightly graded toward the bottom drain at about 3 feet deep.

I went there at lunch today to meet with the owners.
They want to leave a bunch of stuff, and I earmarked what I wanted.
The rest they will yardsale or send to the dump.

Jerry, I do have a few small ceramic mushrooms that will be allowed.

[karen J]

Thanks Karen! When are you coming to LI again? 

The gas prices will kill us, but we want to do it this summer. This time, dinner is on us!

I just realized that I've been looking at your plan the wrong way. Water flows downhill, not uphill. 
I've gotta stop trying to read stuff before I've had my 5 cups of coffee.

[Jonna]

OK, I get it.  That should get all the gunk into the area around the bottom drain.  I'm still trying to decide what I want and how to explain it to the builders down here, it's a little overwhelming.  It looks from your plan like the filters will not be connected to the bottom drain at all.  Am I right that you would just open a valve and use the down slope to drain the bottom gunk into the bananas?  Love it when you can use gravity for free.  Whether or not to try for a bottom drain has been one of the things I spend a lot of time pondering ( )  I might be able to work one in if it didn't need to be part of the filter/plumbing, I could just send it to some bananas!  What a great idea.