How Many Years

[Busy B]

did it take for you to be happy with the landscaping round your pond? Mine will be going on it's 3 season and I can see where I'm far from done. So many different ways and plants/landscaping to get the ultimate enjoyment out of a backyard setting.

Are you done fussing with yours, or are you still in the process and if you are what else do you want to do?

[Jackie Ramo]

For myself I don't think the fussing ever ends. Although the basic landscaping has stayed the same for the last 4 years, when it was originally done, I have moved the odd plant here and there. I need to redo the entire bog area, started last year but didn't get it all done.

For inside th epond it depends on what tropicals I add, the hardies I generally leave alone unless it is to thin them.

[Ian]

I'm looking forward to many years of continued landscaping and fussing as each season brings on a new beginning. It's part of nature that never truely ends and I take it neither does the passion.

[Busy B]

Love your explanation Ian...that was almost poetic:)

I want a gazebo and bridge, some huge boulders, some topsoil, more flower beds, more trees/shrubs, a rock wall....naw...I'm not dreamin' too big.

And of course add on to the pond.

[Jackie Ramo]

Yeah and I want a second small pond and a stream waterfall... some one to come and dig all the garden beds for me :-)

This summer we will be in this house for 5 years which means that the beds I put in the first year are due to be remodelled or revamped... plus the ones I haven't finished need to be finished... There are the ones I wanted to redo when we moved in to be done.. Hey winter isn't so bad after all :-)

[Busy B]

Anyone tried any of that landscape software...I bought one and never took it out of the box..it did have a section on ponds, so I may have to yet.

[Merlin]

Now gardening is not my speciality, but I do try to achieve what is in my mind, it just takes me longer to work out how to do it. With a small garden my options are limmited, so I leave the garden to the DW, and concentrate on the Pond. I have the usual things in the pond, reeds / bullrushes and lillys. ( the lillys do quite well now that I have learnt to add a lettuce to the Koi's diet every so often), I am looking at one area of the pond that I want to do something with. When I re-built it last year i installed an inner block wall, with a 10" gap behind it and the main outer walls, the gap was filled to 10" below the water line with more concrete. This top area was intended as a planting area, but it never happened.

Instead we placed rocks on top or the wall along the back and side. My intention now is to backfill the under the rocks with earth and plant a mixture of rockery plants ( type yet to be decided).

I will find some photos of the rebuild, as they will help show the area I am refering to.

[Busy B]

You get snow right Merlin? Do you get enough to insulate plants that high?

I love sedums...they love the heat of the rocks. I don't have good luck with the taller varieties cause our season isn't long enough. They get close to blooming and then get froze. I think our climate is pretty similar and they would do well for you.

[Merlin]

Hi Busy B, my Dw has sedums planted around the pond in my front garden ( old rowing boat) and they seem to last ok. I am quite lucky with the back garden, as we have 6ft fencing all around, the plants not get the cold winds as much as our neighbors, so our plants do seem to last longer, in the cold spells that we get. I am not sure if the fencing is the reason, or the care my DW puts in to the planting. The planting area on the pond that I want to uterlise has high back walls, and a covered roof, so that helps as far as the temp goes too. :)

[Jackie Ramo]

So Merlin with the cover and the fence how much sun will the plants get? Sedums like a lot of sun. Lamium and others do quite well in the shade.