Author Topic: My Little Puddle  (Read 20479 times)

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Offline Tina

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #25 on: Mar 20, 2007, 05:48:35 PM »
Tina, I love that puddle of yours.

It looks so natural with all the ornamental grasses out there!

How large is it and how many fish do you have in there?

The 'grassy leafed stuff is loriope, big blue. The pond is approx. 110X5X 3 ft deep. It has changed over the years and gotten smaller than originally dug. We have about 8-10 larger fish in there at once and usually an uncountable  mess  of dark babies. I love the things that are attracted to the pond like dragonflies and bats. We get some really noisy tree frogs.
Because it is fresh water all the time we don't get skeeters.
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Offline Bonnie

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #26 on: Mar 20, 2007, 08:50:38 PM »
Well Tina, I'm glad you have the bats and not me. Can't stand um.

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Offline Dianna

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #27 on: Mar 20, 2007, 10:14:11 PM »
I don't mind the bats as long as they are on the outside of the house. It is when they come in and make themselves at home that I get a little leery...

Bats eat skeeters and that is a good enough reason to want to have 'em. I told Jim one day when we saw a "bat house" at the garden store that we needed a couple of them. The bats  might would stay out there where they belong if they had a home to live in. A buffet of skeeters would supply their food and the pond their drinking water...

I have, also, read that dragonflies can eat a million skeeters in one night. I love those little critters. And they are so curious. They will hover around and land on you just to show you that they can! I love to watch them when they are teasing Angel...
"Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success." - Lao Tzu

Offline Tina

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #28 on: Mar 20, 2007, 11:30:35 PM »
I made a typo. The pond is 10 by 5 feet. I put 110 up there. That's a LAKE!
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Offline Dianna

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #29 on: Mar 20, 2007, 11:55:31 PM »
I would love to have a lake myself, Tina! Your pond is still bigger than ours, and fantastic! I wish I could put a natural spring flowing through it. Mine is full of string algae right now...

I am already thinking of ways to expand the puddle that I have. I think it is on the back burner, though, until Jim gets his "ham" shack finished (as it should be)...

"Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success." - Lao Tzu

Offline Tina

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #30 on: Mar 22, 2007, 12:10:02 AM »
Even with the fresh water I got a nasty black stringy algae when I got some pond plants from someone.  We had to take the whole pond apart and clean everything in a strong bleach solution to get rid of it. I was scrubbing rocks (Small boulders) like crazy. We put the fish into the jacuzzi with about a foot and a half of water. which was outdoors at the time. Raccoons came and 'fished' away all of our fish. We forgot that they didn't have any rocks for  protection in there like they do in the pond. Had to get  new fish too.
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Offline Dianna

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #31 on: Mar 22, 2007, 07:41:17 AM »
Tina, I am getting that string algae in my pond, too, at this time. I guess that with the sun putting out more heat and the pond not having natural plants for cover, that it has the right conditions in which to flourish. Hopefully, we will be getting some "real" pond plants soon to cover it...

I have been wondering how to clean it all out. Will I have to completely empty my pond to correct it? Can I just "fish" all that yukky stuff out and trash it? Wonder if a soft brush with bristles would make a good tool to get that blanket of green out of there?

I am curious as to if the new plants that I just put into the pond the other day is causing it. The water was clear until I added them...
"Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success." - Lao Tzu

Offline Dianna

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #32 on: Mar 25, 2007, 10:43:04 PM »
I worked some on my puddle when I got home today. I have an idea....







I am laying down these 4' x 5' squares made of polypropylene extruded board with carpet laminated to it. I plan on smothering the grass below it and keeping weeds from poking their ugly heads up. ;D Please, wish me luck!

I worked a good two hours today on getting it around the pond edges until I ran into some fire ants. I went inside, boiled some water to pour on them. Well, I missed some... :P

Went to weed the front garden bed until the ants calmed down and Jim could help me. Running into a big black widow put the brakes on the job for the rest of the evening. I will go back out there in the morning with some more boiling water to find both the ants and the spider and exterminate them!

My plan? I am covering all the ground with the carpet board and then will mulch with cypress chips. I just hope that when it rains, that the rock slabs around the pond will keep the chips from getting into it. I am then going to build a brick wall three bricks high to keep all the chips inside the area....

What say all of you ponders, out there? Think it will work?

And, yes, that is a lounge chair upside down over the puddle. I have to shade it with something to get rid of that string algae!  ;D

« Last Edit: May 08, 2007, 03:29:21 PM by Dianna »
"Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success." - Lao Tzu

Offline Jim

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #33 on: Mar 25, 2007, 10:53:26 PM »
Just a quick note on the boards Dianna is using.  They are rejects from work.  They are about 3mil thick, made of black PP as she said with a thin layer of carpet laminated to it.  These were blanks that are used in a manufacturing process for trunk deck lids and the hood under panel for automobiles.  We would have to pay to have them landfilled so I brought about a half-pallet home thinking we could find some use for them. 

I even cut one in a circle thinking I could put them around my trees so that I wouldn't have to mow so close.  We did punch some holes so that the water could drain in some of them and I think Dianna is going to cut some drainage slits in the rest.
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Offline Tina

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #34 on: Mar 26, 2007, 12:36:59 AM »
That should work. Those are cool. i love free things.
 I haven't run into fire ants yet. They are here in Cal but I haven't seen the imported ones. We have several types of ants and I'm allergic to the big red ones I grew up calling fire ants. . Not looking forward to meeting  the  imported fire ants.
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Offline patches

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #35 on: Apr 15, 2007, 11:10:49 PM »
Oh Tina, that is awesome!  I wish I had a little puddle like that in my yard.  I think water always adds something special to a garden and the birds and critters love it.   :)
« Last Edit: Apr 15, 2007, 11:13:36 PM by patches »
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Offline Tina

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #36 on: Apr 15, 2007, 11:38:14 PM »
I must say that John does most of the work necessary for the pond. We actually have three '"ponds". Before the water goes into that one it goes into a smaller one up the hill that is not picturesque at all. That one is for the critters that want a drink. I have seen deer there and a mountain lion. A bobcat or two.  Thought about getting a critter cam but never did.
After the water leaves the big pond it goes to a lower one (through pipes) that the coyotes like to drink from. Then the water goes to different planted areas depending on who needs a drink.
When we first put in the pond and things we had a lot more water coming in. We had three waterfalls on the cliff side behind us. But the water slowed and we directed it all towards the pond.
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littlebrat

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #37 on: Apr 15, 2007, 11:55:42 PM »
I must say that I think that pond is coming along nicely. I am sooo jealous! Wish I could have one here!

Offline Dianna

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #38 on: Apr 16, 2007, 07:05:12 AM »
Well, the 50 mph winds around here yesterday played havoc out by the pond. Jim had to chase my little black boards all over the field. ::) He, finally, put some more bricks down on them to hold them in place.

I haven't been able to get out there and finish what I got started yet, because of my foot. I am hoping it will hurry up and heal because I have a lot that I want to get done outside before winter comes back...

My front garden bed is full of weeds now...  :(
"Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success." - Lao Tzu

Offline Tina

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #39 on: Apr 16, 2007, 11:12:30 PM »
It will all come together soon Dianna. You need your foot to heal so you don't end up with something chronic there. A garden is never, ever "finished". It is always a work in progress. The weeds will wait for you.
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Offline Peggy

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #40 on: Apr 26, 2007, 10:28:25 PM »
Next year when you go to the feed store, just ask for straw instead of hay. 
That will be a sproutless mulch.

 ;) Peg
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Offline Peggy

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Re: My Little Puddle/Filtration
« Reply #41 on: Apr 26, 2007, 10:39:31 PM »
I see that Jim said that you BUILT your own filter?

I am wondering how you built it. I have seen one home made filter, where the lady uses gravity to run the water basically through a small cow trough that contains rocks and it seemed to work. I'm looking for directions for something like that. 

It's too late for me to take a picture of my puddle.. it's dark outside. My puddle is a
large cow trough in the ground... still being planted around and decorated. It houses four koi.

 :) Peg
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Offline Dianna

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #42 on: Apr 27, 2007, 07:08:02 PM »
Peggy, here is where we got the directions for the filter Jim built for my little puddle. It works really well and it is very simple to build. Inexpensive, too!
"Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success." - Lao Tzu

Offline Peggy

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #43 on: Apr 28, 2007, 03:53:04 PM »
Broken Link Removed...

This is my fish pond as of yesterday morning. I still have more plants to plant around it, and I still have to go to the river and collect rocks to go around it.

Luckily, we live very close to the South Umpqua and Cow Creek, where there is an abundance of large rock.

I like your slate better on your pond, but we are living on one income here until my son is old enough to move out on his own.  :)

There are four large koi living in it.... I had some beautiful greenery in there, but last fall some kids got into our yard and broke up the plants and hurt the fish.  We lost two fish to this baloney and the four that are left had major injuries.  One fish is "on loan"-- I'm babysitting her, until her mommy can come and get her.. she is about a foot long.. or so.

Hugs, Peg
« Last Edit: Mar 28, 2008, 09:42:10 PM by Dianna »
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Offline Peggy

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #44 on: Apr 28, 2007, 10:00:24 PM »
That is a very cool filter you all built!
I'm going to try that... a container like that is gotta be cheaper than another cow trough! ($100.00)

Thank you, and Adam for sharing!!  I really appreciate it!  :D Peg
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Offline Jim

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #45 on: Apr 28, 2007, 10:16:30 PM »
We had some trouble finding the large scrub pads.  We ended up using 4 small ones in each layer because we couldn't find any large enough to cover the whole filter.  The size of the plastic container is a factor also as the pump with filter attached has to fit down inside.  When this pump we have now has to be replaced, I think we will try something a little different but along the same lines.  I may just make a filter box, and use one of the smaller pond pumps from Lowe's.

I've been cleaning ours about every 4 days lately with all the trash and stuff that has been getting in it.  Now that we are mowing again it's difficult to keep the grass from blowing all over.
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Offline Peggy

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #46 on: Apr 28, 2007, 11:51:17 PM »
I wondered about that...

I think our "pond" is going to require a larger tub too.... I figure we'll have to use more batting....  But, I still think it's a great idea...

I was reading tonight on a website about people who actually use shop vacs to vacuum out the sludge from the ponds!  I've been completely emptying mine and getting in there and scrubbing about ever 3 months or so!

Hooooooray!  No more of that! hahahaha!!!

One thing I really want is some pond plants...  Anyone have ideas about plants that can grow in  pond.... and how to plant them??

:) Peg
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Offline Dianna

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #47 on: May 17, 2007, 09:35:22 PM »
Peggy, I'm sorry. I didn't see this til now or else I read it and meant to post later...

Some of the pond plants that I have this year are the mini cattails, calla lilies, and water lilies. I bought them from Wal-Mart for around $5 each. If you are in an area that doesn't outlaw the water hyacinths, you would love those. I saw some in Florida last year during the summer and they were simply gorgeous. They, also, make a great "shading" plant for your pond. Parrot's feather is another good one to have in the pond for your fish to hide in...

On another note, the water has cleared up. You can see clear to the bottom of my little puddle now. Thank you, Jim, and Adam's filter!



"Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success." - Lao Tzu

Offline Penny

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #48 on: May 18, 2007, 12:48:42 PM »
Looks great you guys!

Offline Peggy

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Re: My Little Puddle
« Reply #49 on: May 18, 2007, 11:03:59 PM »
I went to walmart today, and I got one iris, one cattail, and one lily. 
So, i got home cleaned the filter, did a water change, and tomorrow, i will plant the plants.

They were on clearance, for $4.50 each!  And that is the only way i could have have done it!

Thanks for telling me about the walmart plants!!
hugs, peg
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