Ah, nice! I need more tubs! I love all the different fountains. Here are mine so far: The stocktank yesterday Today the first black gamecock opened. The lily is unknown. I just call it Big Pink. The little tub with a helvola (no buds yet). I had just scooped out a bunch of duckweed to feed the fish. It was thick. The lotus is in another tub and keeps putting up floating leaves. It's the only place the W/hyacinth grows and blooms but I haven't a decent picture yet. I also have a tub of just duckweed. I'd like to get a 100 gal and combine the helvola tub and the duckweed tub. That Lizard tail needs a bigger pot and it doesn't like the sun. It got crispy in the stocktank. Who's next? Vanessa

Good advice about the plot plan from Babs. Understand, too, Joe, that we don't need something pretty for a board room presentation .... just something fairly accurate and that explains with some lines, dots and notes. (BTW, it is best to show a dot for a tree trunk instead of a canopy. The LESS busy the plan, the better. Most people try to put in too much and the plan can quickly become unreadable. We don't need to see every individual daisy. If you would get started a little I could advise, but it's hard to advise out of thin air.) I think you are mainly talking about creating the BED LINE (which would separate grass from all the other planted things, except a few trees that are in the lawn), paths, and the addition of a couple of elements (stock tank, table & chairs and fire pit.) Paths are often made to follow a bed line and act as the edge of a bed. We'll see if this makes sense in your case. But working out the bed line, paths and siting of elements is done as a 2-dimensional exercise. It couldn't be done from your photos because the area is too large and we can't see many things because they are too far away, blocked by foliage, or we don't know how one area fits with another. Neither is there a way to communicate back to you an OVERALL, artistically pleasant scheme for tying things together. You need to SEE it on a plan in order to be able to understand it .... whether you like and agree with it. BTW, if anyone else is considering adding many elements to their yard, they should create the plan before they turn the first shovel of dirt. It is fine to let the sun and existing conditions guide one's efforts. It's necessary actually! However, it should guide efforts one's efforts on to paper FIRST so that all the details (like how to make the bed lines, paths and element locations artistically pleasing, will fit, be properly organized, and avoid as many mistakes as possible). Then, one won't be "terrified of finalizing something [they're] going to hate"!

There's a really high-end finish that a lot of people use to coat the insides of their swimming pools and decks called Pebbletec, but it's fairly expensive. There would be a few competitors out there if you wanted to look around. My concern with your planned application is actually how to keep it clean. I think you might do better with a vinyl liner which you could also get from a pool supplier. However, if you are set on the pebbles, I do think you could run into some issues getting a mortar to adhere to the steel. Usually a product like Pebbletec is applied over existing shotcrete or gunite, a form of concrete. You'd find the vinyl liner easier to install. If you wanted to go all out, you could investigate having a concrete pond built on your property for the purpose.

Well, because you want to preserve the patio underneath, here's a couple ideas (not tested and true, just ideas). Idea #1: use landscaping block to build a circle slightly bigger than the tank, thus containing a layer of sand 2 to 3 inches deep (which should be enough to provide a smooth top layer, unless your patio is a lot bumpier than it looks). There are many blocks styles and colors to choose from. You'd probably need to mortar the first layer onto the patio, but that wouldn't be too awful to remove someday. It could possibly look like a decorative ring of steps around it. Idea#2: use exterior grade plywood to build a circle the same size as your tank. Use old carpet padding underneath, to even out the bumps. Or, use a lot more of the beams. Come to think of it, I like idea #1 better than #2.