Thanks, Karin. Thinking about questions such as yours will help us to clarify what we want and how to arrive at a solution. A canopy or pergola over the patio would certainly help, but I don't think it would be sufficient. Dh wants a place to grill, not under cover, and to extend our existing patio (also not under cover.) Basically, we want to screen the entire backyard, small as it is, from three sides, with the rear being the most problematic. We'll add an irrigation system and hopefully a water feature that will help to muffle sound. The lot is smaller than we've had for many years, with closer neighbors, so I'm concerned that we may be sensitive to the noise. Your point about fence maintenance is well-taken, and I'm chagrinned that I didn't think about that. The fence is ours, set slightly inside our property line. We could get to one side and a small portion of the rear, but not the entire back, without going onto a neighbor's property. Since our dog died last year, and we don't plan on getting another, we could remove some or all of the fence and take care of screening with trees and shrubs. Perhaps just the rear of the fence could be removed if a raised planting area is constructed. Dh intends to have some fairly large trees installed rather than have to wait 5+ yrs. for growth. Our kids have not remembered to water very often, so I think the trees' failure to thrive was mainly due to lack of water as you suggested. However, the soil is hard clay with lots of rocks as well as some construction debris such as broken bricks. It's very hard to dig in, which is another reason we've done so little to this yard thus far. This job will be hired out. The drainage easement is inside our fence, and is only about 2 - 3 ft. across and 12 - 15 inches deep. At the low spot on either side of the yard, the fence has a section of wire mesh attached (mainly to keep the side neighbors' dogs from visiting ours previously.) We're hoping to build the raised bed about a foot behind this small swale and on back to the property line, which is how I came up with its 5 ft. depth. So far, I haven't seen very forceful water flow even after the last tropical storm. I'm envisioning a low border grass between the drainage area and the front retaining wall for the raised bed. Part of my concern is whether there would be enough space for tall narrow conifers and other skinny evergreens (although they could overhang the front somewhat.) I get the impression you think this is overkill, and you may be right. I need to play around with the idea of multiple pergolas/trellises and research what vines might thrive there. I sure would not mind finding a less costly solution, as I don't know if this will be our last house or not. Thanks!

Marlene, the filter will work in the sense it will remove turbidity - just as it did for a swimming pool. However, whether or not you replace the sand with new sand won't matter in the long run. First, the pressure drop across the sand bed is high (compared to biological filters and other systems often used for ponds) which requires a much higher horsepower pump to operate. Second, the filter will plug rather rapidly requiring frequent backwashing possibly more than once a day. Back in the days when we had a swimming pool I remember that the amount of water to backwash the filter properly required quite a few gallons. You could redesign the system to use things such as bioballs, etc. but the inconvenience for access, the problems of rebuilding....I guess I'd use something else. You could put it out by the pond, take the top half off and use it as trickle tower (fill with loose, plastic straps or other biofilter media and let water flow over the top of the media and out the bottom of the unit back into the pond - if you want a nice, shiny art-object out by the pond. :-) ---David

I just received a beautiful Oregon cedar 8x10 greenhouse as a retirement gift from my husband in May. I have been an avid gardener in Butte, Montana for 25 years. So, I thought a greenhouse would be a nice addition to adding longevity for my tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. There are 3 raised beds in the greenhouse. At the bottom of each bed I put a layer of small stones. Then black landscape fabric, followed by 12 inches of soil. In one bed I planted 3 tomato plants, the second 2 cucumbers, the third 4 pepper plants. After 3 weeks all the plants were dying. The tomatoes had leaf curl, end blossom rot, and yellowing leaves. The peppers and cucumbers never did "take off". I went to the nursery that sold me the soil for the beds and asked for a hard copy of their soil analysis. The pH in the soil was 9, and all the other soil components were low. I removed all the sad looking plants. Then I removed about 1/3 the soil in all the beds, and I patiently re-added manure, peat moss and store bought topsoil to each bed. After rototilling all the soil mixtures together in the beds, I replanted the same things. And the same thing happened with the plants. My next step was to have a soil analysis done with the county extension office. The pH level was now 6.5, however there was a "trace" of Nitrogen in the soil...potassium levels were very high. Today I removed all the soil from the beds right down to the small stones...hosed down the beds and am starting over. While I will probably wait until spring to add any medium to the beds, any input would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, good idea, that's why I feel a little bad throwing a couple of "killer balls." Is the pool gunnite or liner? How well does the soil perc? Holes in gunnite or vinyl liner might drain through adequately, depending on how well your soil percs. Around here, where we have clay soil and vinyl liner pools, such a pithouse would likely fill with water without the pressure of the water within the liner to keep it out. The drain, without modifications, won't help much. It probably comes back up to deck level where it attaches to the pool pump. The line would simply fill with drain water. You would have to keep a pump on the other end to keep it functional. Alternatively, you could figure a way to dig this drain line out and run it out to daylight, but this would require that the pool be set on a hillside or steep slope. If you can figure out this drain issue, the issue of water seeping in wouldn't be such a big deal. Finally, to comfortably work, you'll need perhaps 5 feet of headroom on the sides. My pool, like most pools, has a shallow end 3 to 3.5 feet deep. To get enough headroom, you would either need to dig out the shallow end or build about a 3 foot sidewall all the way around the perimeter of the pool. These aren't insurmountable obstacles, just a couple of potential problems that come to mind. Give us more details on the pool and let us throw around some more specific thoughts and ideas.