Our Pond Maintenance and Set-up
cliff_and_joann
8 years ago
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cliff_and_joann
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agocliff_and_joann
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoRelated Discussions
How To Create A Small No Maintenance Pond
Comments (15)I linked the photos to show the OP the three outer ponds surrounding the column pond, they are all pretty much no maintenance wildlife ponds. The columns are basalt, they are quarried near here in the Columbia River Gorge. They split off the mountain in columns naturally. I work from home selling gifts and home decor wholesale to stores not at a quarry. ;) It took my husband several hours (each) to drill them using a rotohammer he brought home from work and this saved us hundreds of dollars. Pre-drilled columns are available all over the place here but very expensive. He built the bases using standard 12" cinder blocks and 12" slate floor tiles mortared on to cover them. They sit on extra pieces of liner. There are PVC pipes going up through each base into each column there is a trident shaped piece made of PVC that the hoses connect to so all three columns are run by one pump. There aren't any valves on yet but there are going to be. The pump is a Pondmaster Hy Drive 3200. There is too much splash so we need to dial it down. Smaller pump was returned because it just produced a trickle. I designed the entire water feature back in 2004 but it took until fall 2008 to get the columns done. The first liner pond was done in 2004. None of the three planted ponds has ever had pea soup algae but the column pond tried to turn green earlier this year when we cleaned it out completely to paint the pipes black and remove debris from the neighbor's box elder (now cut down). I added black dye from Microbe Lift that I have been using in the greenhouse pond and the green algae stopped....See MorePond maintenance tips/advice wanted
Comments (32)Plants You have a lot. I'm not on site so hard to tell, but from the pics I'd probably remove all the plants from the pond and vacuum or scoop the bottom with a swimming pool leaf rake. When removing the plants note how deep they are. Moving them to deeper water might be an issue. For everything other than lilies moving plants to more shallow water, or even above the water is almost always better for the plants, so that would be OK if you like. Then I could assess the plants and pond better. Pots, baskets, directly plants? Can pots be reused? I can now see the pond without plants. How's it look to me? Were some plants hiding something that I want to continue to hide? I come up with a plan. Buy replacement pots? Maybe reduce the number of species returned to the pond. If the plants are planted directly in soil, not pots, you really have to empty the pond and deal with the plants. Fish have to be moved. That's a whole deal I won't get into now. Most (all) the plants will have to be divided. Depends on when last done. I just made a post on this. Most of dealing with plants just has to be learned with experience. But here's some things you may not know... When removed from the pond the plants can stay out of water for a really long time. Weeks, even months. The leaves may die back but the roots (rhizomes) last a long time out of water. Keeping them in water can actually cause rot. You can also plant them in regular garden pots with dirt, same as a regular garden plant, and just keep them well watered and they grow great. This is true for every plant except lilies, floaters and plants that grow completely underwater. Some times if you look up a plant on the web or printed on the label when buying a plant it will say 6" of water, or 12" of water, or whatever. Many people think that means the plant must be in that much water. This is actually the maximum depth the plant can take. Most of these do better the less water. Even planted in the yard many of these plants will do well. Here in Phoenix many kinds of "pond plants" are used in yards. This is because "pond plant" isn't really a very good term... "vernal pool plant" would be better. They've adapted to living in standing water and also dry periods when there's no water which is what a vernal pool is. So knowing this can make your life easier, more options. Plants inside the pond = more work. So reducing them will be less work in the future. You can put some of these into pots around the edge of the pond, or in the ground, or switch to other kinds of plants around the edge. Gives you the same lush look with way less work and the pond appears much larger. Here are some pics of a pond I built in San Jose CA to demonstrate. No plant is inside the pond. And here the pot on the left is a "pond plant" called Horsetail Rush. It's a foam pot with no drainage hole, soil from the yard. This plant, like most "pond plants" can be very invasive, but no problem in a pot. And no drainage holes means no straining from leaking water (the pot on the right need drainage and therefore a catch pan under it). Go on vacation for a week or two the pot is fine with no watering. When it's time to divide it's no big deal....See MoreHow we decided on where to placed our pond in our yard.
Comments (4)Thanks for the comments. jpinard, Long Island is very lush and green. In the early Spring I put out all my house plants and Bonsai plants and they just thrive outside. I believe it's the dampness at night. Many moons ago we spent 3 months living in Las Vegas (on an extended business trip) Upon returning to Long Island, I couldn't believe all the Green and lushness I saw from the ride home from the airport. We lived on the Island all our lives, but it was like I was seeing it for the first time. No, I don't have any allergies. Why would you ask?...See MoreNeed Advice on setting up our office/filing
Comments (8)Hi Bouncing... Here are a few random thoughts from someone who has worked in "Office Environments" and had my own home business for 15 years now. You've mentioned some of the types of items you'll need to save. Think them all through and create a list of categories. Then think of where you would be most apt to look for a document. Truly the art of a good file system is what works for YOU. Would you be most likely to look for billing with the contract for that customer? In a separate binder filed by month? Set up your accounting files separately so that tax time or pulling out a paid bill is fast and easy. I find it easiest to file paid bills by expense type (all phone bills together, all computer maintenance bills grouped, etc). A good guideline for categories is simply the expense line items shown on schedule C (I think!) of a tax return. Create a very basic index of how/where things are filed. If your DH wants to find the invoice issued to the Smiths, where should he look? Set up your files in a manner that allows you to easily box them up at the end of the year and start fresh. If you have to sort through folders when it's time to archive, chances are it won't get done. Make your archiving process as simple as possible. Know that you will have to spend time on "company administration". You've just become the office manager, bookkeeper and head of computer and systems maintenance. Allow time in your day for billing, filing and maintenance. Finally, I know you weren't asking on advice for *where* to put your office...but I'm going to throw some out there anyway ;-) Please reconsider setting up your office in your MBR. IMHO to work at home successfully you have to be able to focus on business - and you have to be able to shut that off from time to time as well. It can be hard to separate home life vs business life if the business is a few feet from your bed. Find a little corner of your home for your office. Truly, office furniture doesn't have to be really nice...just really fuctional. Determine what you'll need for file space and worktop space then determine your furniture needs from there. I've read your profile here and maybe you could even incorporate an ebaying station within your home office area. Best of luck for a very successful business for you!...See Morecliff_and_joann
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