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Ponds & Aquatic Plants

staying out of pond while caring for lilies

16 years ago

hey ponders!

I am ordering water lilies for the first time for my new pond. I know that one of the truisms of ponding is that "if you have a pond you will eventualy get wet". But I really want to avoid it if I can, it's just too green an nasty. I know ponders are a resourcefull bunch and I am wondering if any of you have come up with a way to pull out those lily pans off the bottom of your pond to repot them with out getting in. My pond is ~2 feet deep. I'm thinking hooks , poles, ropes, levers etc...

thanks

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Comments (8)

catherinet
16 years ago
Hi rexanne,
I suggest a crane. lol!
Actually, about all of heard of is people who put a rope around their lily pots and just leave them on there all the time. That way, when its time to pull them up, its a bit easier with that rope handle.
Sure would be nice to have them come up to the surface and onto the yard by themselves!
annedickinson
16 years ago
My pond is 2 1/2' deep. I put the lily plant close to the edge and when I want to raise it, I put a garbage bag over my arm, anchor it with a rubber band at the top of my arm, or it could be duct taped, and then just reach in.

However Catherine's idea of a rope left on there makes much more sense!!!

Anne
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lsst
16 years ago
Have you considered hip waders? 2 feet is very doable.
jenion
16 years ago
My friend's pond is deep, so he gets in with waders. Mine is fairly small and only 2 feet deep. I'm able to lie on the patio, roll up my sleeves to the shoulders and reach the bottom!
nancyd
16 years ago
Take the plunge - it's not that bad. I haven't found an efficient way to maintain plants without getting in the pond. You'll spend more energy trying to avoid it. Hip waders and long aquatic gloves work very well. Don't forget you'll have to fertilize and prune your plants, too. I'm not sure how wide your pond is, but that's hard to do from the edge.
catherinet
16 years ago
I use those long ponding gloves and they work well.
I also fertilize my plants this way: I got a piece of PVC pipe (I think its an inch diameter). It has to be big enough for a fertilizer tablet to fit through. Then I position it over the area in the container where I want to push a tablet in. I drop the tablet into the PVC pipe, then take a bamboo stake and put it in the PVC pipe and push the tablet down into the soil in the pot. Works great!
kalevi
16 years ago
I take roughly 1/4" black nylon rope, drill a hole in wine bottle cork, feed rope through it, then drill holes near top of pot on opposite sides, make sure it is even to balance, and knot rope so I have a handle for the pot. The cork allows the rope to stay up so I can snag it with a pole with a hook threaded into it. This works great to get at my pots and move them around without getting my feet wet.
catherinet
16 years ago
That sounds like a good idea kalevi!

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