Brokensword's bit of pond heaven [Deleted]

[brokensword]

@brokensword Hey yeah, where is my snow? Late charges are occurring daily!
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ifn ya read THAT, then you know my answer was ALSO in the same reply; check's in the mail! Or in this case, that big ups package that's leaking all over the truck? That's yer snow! heh heh

 

[Jhn]

Nice shots of your pond over the years, love the shots of the turtles basking and how well you landscaped around the pond to blend it in to your yard.

 

[brokensword]

Nice shots of your pond over the years, love the shots of the turtles basking and how well you landscaped around the pond to blend it in to your yard.

Thanks, @Jhn ; BEING a landscaper, sorta seems my duty, ya know? Got a rep to keep up, even if minimal! The turtles through the years have been a huge part of why I do this, from the very beginning of 'too big now for the aquarium' to the kiddie pool on the driveway, and then as the reason I started the pondhouse in the first place!

Glad you could stop by, hope you grabbed a libation while you were visiting, and know you're welcome back anytime (IRL, too, should you ever visit SE Michigan!).

 

[Jhn]

Thanks, @Jhn ; BEING a landscaper, sorta seems my duty, ya know? Got a rep to keep up, even if minimal! The turtles through the years have been a huge part of why I do this, from the very beginning of 'too big now for the aquarium' to the kiddie pool on the driveway, and then as the reason I started the pondhouse in the first place!

Glad you could stop by, hope you grabbed a libation while you were visiting, and know you're welcome back anytime (IRL, too, should you ever visit SE Michigan!).

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If ever up that way will definitely look you up, you are welcome by too if you are ever in Maryland. Hear ya on the turtles, is a huge part of my pond too, also like diversity of life in my ponds.

 

[addy1]

BEING a landscaper, sorta seems my duty, ya know?

utoh never come by my place, it is wild planted! no where close to landscaped.......................started out that way then it just took off, the bees and bugs and critters love it.

 

[brokensword]

utoh never come by my place, it is wild planted! no where close to landscaped.......................started out that way then it just took off, the bees and bugs and critters love it.

don't worry, I've got the right equipment for all that 'wildness'! I'll even leave islands of 'bee-friendly' insurrection fer ya!

 

[addy1]

don't worry, I've got the right equipment for all that 'wildness'! I'll even leave islands of 'bee-friendly' insurrection fer ya!

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lol dear hubby wants groomed , mulch, spacing, me if it fits I stick a plant in sort of like my mom did.
I did the mulch etc and it just grew stuff, so gave up and just planted and let it grow. I do a knock down grooming every few years or so.

 

[brokensword]

lol dear hubby wants groomed , mulch, spacing, me if it fits I stick a plant in sort of like my mom did.
I did the mulch etc and it just grew stuff, so gave up and just planted and let it grow. I do a knock down grooming every few years or so.

well, that IS the thing; if you go wild, you can worry less and just let it be but if you groom, then you have to do some routine maintenance on it. I can see with all your property and the slope, groomed would take a LOT of your trim regularly and from every post I've seen from you, I doubt you have that time. Still, you COULD start small and maintain that, then expand as you learn what/how to keep the bees AND hubby happy. Mulch is best if put down every year, as you get maybe 3 months with no weeds before you have to do something about them. The nice thing is, weeds growing in mulch are easy to pull!

 

[addy1]

, groomed would take a LOT of your trim regularly and from every post I've seen from you, I doubt you have that time

Hey I treat grooming the yard like I treat cleaning the house, in 100 years will I care.....................nope. I don't let either get totally trashed but I also don't spend my life taking care of either.

I had a German friend she did not even like people to stop by to talk to her, every every every day was cleaning. Every piece of furniture had at least 4 pieces of protective plastic..................

I have better things to do.

 

[j.w]

I agree w/ @addy1 cleaning is on the bottom of my list. Only clean right before get together's w/family or friends. Our yard tho is much easier and I don't really mind driving the mower. Weeding tho is not my friend!

 

[brokensword]

Weeding tho is not my friend!

unless it's like 85+, I actually like weeding; sorta carthartic, listening to the sounds around me (or an audiobook/sermon on ipod), usually in the shade (I work along the shade lines so it's still comfortable) but I hear you; maybe it's some form of ADD, I dunno. I don't look forward to getting a lot older and having arthritis etc. Been (already) thinking of various plants/ground covers that minimize weed growth just for this reason. I have a LOT of gardens and it generally takes me 3 days to get all of them weeded, in the spring, with half that every so often as a maintenance. But I like my plants/flowers, so the end result, visually, is worth the effort to me.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

unless it's like 85+, I actually like weeding; sorta carthartic, listening to the sounds around me (or an audiobook/sermon on ipod), usually in the shade (I work along the shade lines so it's still comfortable) but I hear you; maybe it's some form of ADD, I dunno. I don't look forward to getting a lot older and having arthritis etc. Been (already) thinking of various plants/ground covers that minimize weed growth just for this reason. I have a LOT of gardens and it generally takes me 3 days to get all of them weeded, in the spring, with half that every so often as a maintenance. But I like my plants/flowers, so the end result, visually, is worth the effort to me.

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Wow. If you can get "all" your weeding done in three days, I'm envious. My gardens are very extensive & I try to strike a happy balance between 'wild enough' for the native critters & 'manicured enough' to keep the OCD side of my brain happy. I plan out an area & a limited amount of time - then work until I hit one of those goals & quit.

As I get older, I can't work as many straight hours as I used to, but... I can still crawl around on hands & knees long enough to keep things looking tidy enough for human happiness.

It's one form of my exercise. I walk/hike with my dogs & landscape my gardens. No need to pay monthly fees to the YMCA around here! lol

 

[j.w]

I can't get mine done either in 3 days! Wish I could but it takes me over a week or more to get all mine done. I was just out there today in the cold, wet yuck and noticed all those dang weeds enjoying life out there. Enjoy life while you can suckers cuz your days are numbered come the first dry day......................maybe in May if I'm lucky.

 

[brokensword]

I can't get mine done either in 3 days! Wish I could but it takes me over a week or more to get all mine done. I was just out there today in the cold, wet yuck and noticed all those dang weeds enjoying life out there. Enjoy life while you can suckers cuz your days are numbered come the first dry day......................maybe in May if I'm lucky.

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I used to have this rule; if I walk past a garden bed, and I don't mean slowly, and SEE a weed, I pluck it out and TRY not to pull more that are smaller, around it. Then I saunter onward, hoping this whole process can be done in half a day. I found that while I LOVE seeing absolutely NO weeds, it can get tiresome to ALWAYS see the little weed sprouts. That's why I do the 3 day marathon in the early spring and quickly put down mulch wherever the perennials aren't thick enough to smother MOST weeds. My aim is by mid summer, when temps are dang hot, I can just wave at the remaining weeds that were too good at camoflauge.

Once upon a time, when I first built the house in '87, and probably for 10ish years thereafter, I'd get 36+ flats of annuals and every Memorial Weekend, weed and plant. Over the years, I decided it was both too much money and a lot more work, so perennials began entering the picture. Now, 34 years later, I'm down to half a flat of annuals and some for my wife's pots by the driveway.

But you know what? I'd not trade the garden and what it brings both visually and inner peace-wise, for that condo/getaway many in my area have. The pondhouse is sort of the crown on the garden's body now and for sure, I'm blessed to be a part of it!

 

[addy1]

But you know what? I'd not trade the garden and what it brings both visually and inner peace-wise, for that condo/getaway many in my area have.

Neither would I.

To "weed" my yard, it takes weeks, then it is a start over.

I quit weed wacking fence lines, now what grows there grows there. Mainly escaped bog plants.

4 of the large plant areas are "weeds" that birds, bees, bugs, critters etc like. I do a bush hog in the spring after I check for praying mantis egg cases. Then everything grows again lol. I collect seeds from the weeds and toss them out in the spring.

We MIGHT hire someone to maintain a bit of the yard that is near the house. My hands are incapable of caring for some of the areas, weed pulling, running equipment etc.

But I still mow, still run my tractor, still groom with some arthritis friendly clippers, can never give it all up.

I don't look forward to getting a lot older and having arthritis etc.

Enjoy it now, never thought my hands would give out on me. Luckily it is not rheumatoid, just plain old osteo. You learn to adjust how you do things. And tumeric is a hand saver great anti inflamatory