OK, I just looked at the pictures in your other post  very nice! Others may disagree, but in my opinion, cleaning a filter even weekly is too much. I clean my filter about every 6 to eight weeks, but I have ~1500 gallons and only 8 Wakin Goldfish. IÂd replace your current filters with a " retro bottom drain" and some version of a " skippy filter." There are many versions, but this one looks adequate for your pond, and would be easy enough to hide. A skimmer is a good thing to have most of the time. I pull mine before the pond freezes and put it back in early spring. You might have to dump it a lot more frequently in fall, but thatÂs relatively easy to do depending on the skimmer design. If you donÂt want to dig, you pretty much have to choose from the types of skimmers thomba suggested or a DIY version. I think the " Pondmaster Mini Skimmer" could work for your needs: Inside the pond and no digging required, although a little digging would allow you to hide it better and still keep it inside the liner (assuming you have enough extra liner buried). The "Oase AquaSkim" could work too. All of this should run you $200 - $300. You could save a little if you made a DIY skimmer. I didn't find any that I liked, but the concept is little more than a bucket with a pump in the bottom, covered with a filter pad, and topped off with a strainer basket - pretty simple. Hope that at least gives you some ideas. Here is a link that might be useful: nmpondguy's pond

The wild rose is probably Rosa multiflora and most often the blooms are white, although there's a naturally happening light pink sport that shows up every so often. (Rosa caninda, the dog rose, has larger pink blooms and can be a more elegant rose, holding itself up in a vase shape.) Can you talk your husband into bushhogging this weekend? IF your temperatures are not yet in the 70s, burn them (with proper permits). Multiflora isn't supposed to be red at this time of the year nor are you supposed to be able to see that something is wrong from a distance. Please read my e-book. Come back here with questions. And could you tell us which county you live in? Ann

I'm sorry for such a long wait for a reply, Things got crazy around my house during the holidays. Thank you all for confirming my suspicions. I separated the three crowns and planted the two live ones in mini pots made from dixie cups. I will be picking up some plastic pots for my violets tomorrow (as opposed to the terracotta ones that people were saying would absorb the plants' water). Thank you again!

I shouldn't have said cankers, I thought the word cankers was interchangeable with frost crack and sunscald, and now I know that they're not. My trees had frost crack and/or sunscald, due to being planted on the south/southwest part of our house. The trees i planted were susceptible to it, which I didn't know at the time. The Crimson King didn't survive no doubt because I didn't water it enough. I watered it, but it was like 8ft tall, and i only watered it about 5 gallons a week (puny for my fast draining soil). And probably the same could be said for the red rocket maple. But the golden Raintree died during a bitter cold winter. I read it was to zone 5, but most sites have it at zone 6, so it wasn't right for my zone in the first place. Dh and I decided this morning that we're going to do a 6ft L fence blocking the 3 properties that abuts ours, including the next door neighbor, the neighbor's Christmas tree property, and the empty tract of land belonging to his parents. The entire fence will be about 150ft long. That's an immediate 6ft screen. And no waiting for 10 years for conifers to do the job. He's going to take some time off in May or June and we'll do the fence. Just a simple wood fence. No one around here has a fence. Not a single solitary person. But then they don't have 3 properties abutting their backyard either. We're doing an L fence because we don't want to close off our entire back yard. We like the openness to be outside barbecuing and being able to say hello to neighbors walking down to the lake, or the elderly couple who lives up the road, they must be close to 80yrs now, and they walk hand in hand every spring and summer past our house, and then back. I love them. I would hate being fully blocked off from ever seeing them. I admit every spring I look for them, and always a little scared they won't walk anymore. I have 3 Lilacs on that side, and they are quickly growing and will provide some screen, so the yard won't be fully exposed to the road. We also live out in the middle of nowhere, so the only people who drive past here are the people who live here, and the few people who take our road as a short cut to a nearby town. And now, I'll be able to relax and plant what I want, and for no other reason than pure pleasure. Who knew! lol We still plan on planting Junipers and other shrubs, but now they''ll be here and there, for a focal point, not for a screen.