DH says I can have my lily pond!

[marla]

Well my sweet husband has given in and says I can build a lily pond, I think he is tired of me askingl. Now my goal is to get my wrist healed up, had a steroid injection today and was told to put the stupid splint/cast back on for 2 weeks. I'm crossing my fingers if I baby it a little more maybe this time it will heal right. Then as soon as the snow melts I can get started digging. Ultimately I'd love to be done by the end of May when our next grandchild will be born, then I can relax and enjoy him. So any suggestions on size, depth etc. would be appreciated. I think I will place it near the other one, but I don't want to distract from the main pond. Plan on having hardies, some tropicals, maybe some lotus and marginals. Any favorite lilies you think are good growers and bloomers let me know, I need to get a list of options going. I'm pretty excited, the planning will help pass the rest of the winter, we are supose to get another storm through in the next couple days.

[Jackie Ramo]

You can consider having it behind the main pond with a fake bridge so they look attached. If it is just for lilies it doesn't have to be too deep but hardies do best in over 2 ft in the coldest winters. Terri has several watergarden ponds that are quite shallow, not sure what she does with the lilies come winter. I'll follow along here as my watergarden is hopefully to be dug this spring. Yes I know I said that last spring...

[clm]

I've got a couple of huge tubs that I'm going to be sinking in the ground behind the pond this spring. Going to put a lotus in each one. Love the idea of a lily pond though.

Heard about the lousy storm coming. The drive home from work tomorrow should be nasty if we get the freezing rain they're calling for here.

Cindy

[Jackie Ramo]

NowCindy, shame on you. We were here dreaming of spring and you reminded us its not here yet :frisbee:

Do you have the lotus now or will you buy them. i'm hoping to get to Canada Blooms next week. One year I bought a beautiful pink and yellow lotus tuber there. On the third year the fish ate it. Silly me put it in the pond to over winter and early spring the fish woke up and chomp it was gone.

[marla]

Jackie, my thoughts were to place it to the side, and have a short wide stream that would look connected and a bridge. Some day when all this snow melts, I need to get some pictures so I can start maybe a little photo shopping to get better ideas of placement.

[clm]

Jackie, I have the lotus in the pond, but don't know yet if it's going to come back this spring. Hoping so, and if it does, I'll be cutting some of those runners off it, but they'll go into another tub to see if I can get them to take. I want to get a sacred lotus if I can and the native yellow one if I can find one.

The year of lotus experimentation, could be an expensive lesson, but then my whole garden the past 20 years has been an expensive learning experience, so no difference. :roll:

As far as winter goes, let's hope this is the last big storm of the year shall we, the old in like a lion and out like a lamb. Maybe someone should sacrifice the groundhogs that predicted an early spring. !bonk

Cindy

[Jackie Ramo]

I killed the native yellow lotus the first year I had it :-x So much for native plants being hardy and easy to care for. Lotus certainly are not cheap. Seeds are reasonably easy to comeby and reasonable or if lucky free. But 3 years to bloom

As for the storm, I'm putting my head in the sand and hoping it all goes away soon.

[Charla]

Speaking of lily ponds and big tubs reminds me that I have an old hot tub ... and I do mean hot tub, it's all redwood planks ... that my ex and I sunk into the ground maybe 25 or more years ago. It's 8 feet in diameter and 4 feet deep; have thought of putting dirt/sand/gravel/?? into it to raise the bottom some and putting in a liner and making a lily pond out of it. The edge is only sticking out of the ground about a foot.

The other thought is to raise the bottom with rock and rubble, add good growing dirt and have a BIG redwood planter. :smile: The planks and bottom are warped ,not at all water tight and I really don't want to dig it out !rofl

Any thought or ideas?

[Jackie Ramo]

Either would work Charla. Although with a liner would you pot up the plants or use them in pots? I ask because if you left the plants in pots you could pull them and use the hot tub as a hospital or q tank if needed. Really depends on what you want to grow.

[BonnieIN]

Marla have you made your final plans yet?

[marla]

Not exactlly. DH now is trying to add his ideas. All in all the location is settled, size not, but I have a feeling it may be smaller than I thought at first, have to wait and see. Spring weather will have a lot to do with how the digging goes. But can't wait to get started. Once started I'll post pictures.

[Jackie Ramo]

Marla, as soon as the snow melts, get out there with the spray paint and mark where you want the pond. Possession is 9/10th of the law!!!

[BonnieIN]

Yes, the bright orange works well! :)

[Jackie Ramo]

Bigger is better. After all it is more work to redo it :grin:

[marla]

It will be at least 12x15, and most likely bigger. Once it's in there's no re-working, just making another, and another and another :smile:

[Jackie Ramo]

Well that is decent sized but the feature should fit the land and to my eye anyway blend in with the existing. This is where an overall plan of exactly what you hope to achieve in teraforming the garden is necessary. The over all plan can change but if the wish list is laid out as it exists today, it becomes art in motion. My problem is my wishes change so often... if it was only plants it would be easier.