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[DrDave]

I agree, it is nice, but a little steep for walking on.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

DrDave - yeah I agree, it wasn't intended to be that steep. I started out knowing I needed to span 5', and wanted to come up about a foot to clear the rocks. As long as its not wet, there's no problem walking across it, and it sure saves a lot of walking back and forth around the tree! We will see how the wood holds up, but it's pretty old scrap-wood, so it was suitable for a first attempt. I think the next one will span across an 8' stretch, which should really help the angle.

Even though the bridge is a little tall, I do like being able to see underneath it. I'm waiting for the frog to find that area, I think he might like it... exposed mud, in the shade, protection from meddling humans...

Sissy - the strawberries and moneywort make a great combination. All those strawberries were started from a bag of 15 roots, and were packed into a 3' square patch. Now that they have lots of room to spread out, I can't wait to see what they do.

ponderpaul - Yeah it's been a *huge* amount of work, but the only thing left new is finishing up the waterfall, then letting everything grow in. I love moneywort because it spreads so fast. By the end of this Summer, it will just about cover up all of the exposed dirt. Probably the closest thing to instant-gratification you can get in this hobby.

So I released the three dojos into the pond this morning. Of course they were gone within a few minutes, however in the aquarium they spent a fair amount of time in the plants at the surface, so I hope to see the same behavior in the pond. Of course it will take them a few days to get settled in.

 

[addy1]

Great great job!
I am putting a lot of ground covers on my slopes, moneywort, vinca and others, there are even some weed ground covers that are growing great and have some nice flowers. Letting them grow.

 

[sissy]

Strawberries are my koi's favorite snack and I bought plants at lowes clearanced out to grow some also .They will spread fast mine are already sending off shoots .You will have plenty with 15 shoots .My father raised strawberries and every year they would spread ot so much it amazed me .We planted 1 acre in them and after 10 years we had 8 acres of them .

 

[Shdwdrgn]

sissy - You misunderstand me... I started out with a pack of 15 roots TWO YEARS ago. They multiplied quickly around the edge of the old pond, and what you see now is what we were able to dig up and save to transplant. I would bet there are closer to 50 plants now.

 

[j.w]

Nice looking bridge.......should have made it even steeper, maybe even some stairs going way up and then down....................cardio workout ya know :regular_waving_emot

 

[sissy]

that's why I had said with just 15 roots you will have plenty anyone who buys more than that are really going to end up with to many plants .I bought 3 different kinds ever blooming, spring blooming and late blooming .The only ones I could not find that my father grew were the sour strawberries .In a couple of years as long as you don't loose any of your plants they will be all over

 

[addy1]

Nice looking bridge.......should have made it even steeper, maybe even some stairs going way up and then down....................cardio workout ya know :regular_waving_emot

No kidding jw! and I bet he crosses it lots of times!

 

[sissy]

geeze stair stepper now bridge walker what next LOL

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Yep, I use that bridge every day, but I don't need a stair-stepper... I'm on my feet so much every day that my knees hurt every night. I go to bed with two advil and a tylanol.

Anyway, it finally occurred to me today that I've never shared any pictures of my fish! Well they've certainly been active, and one of the goldfish must be about ready to drop her eggs. Hopefully I'll start seeing baby fish soon. She's the orange one just right of center...

And of course my koi are getting ready as well. The orange/white one, and the orange/black one are females, with the orange/black/white male in the center...

They're all quickly getting used to me being nearby (finally after 4 years!) so I'm seeing a lot more of them now at all times of the day. I also did about a 20% water change yesterday (which I'm sure my lawn enjoyed) and it seems to have cleared out a lot of the dirt I was still seeing in the water. When I turned off the falls today, I could just see to the bottom. I was hoping any dirt would get trapped in the pea gravel, but apparently not. Still, its so much better than the pea-soup I had a couple weeks ago!

Oh and fishin... almost all those plants are showing signs of growing. Hopefully they'll spread out some healthy roots through the gravel before Winter hits.

 

[koiguy1969]

congrats.....everything looks just fine and dandy!

 

[j.w]

Nice bunch of fish enjoying your nice clean water w/ soon to be more babies to join them all. Your pond now looks as tho it's been there for a long time. Looks good and your plants will fill in just fine and be all ready to rest come winter time

 

[fishin4cars]

Looks good! Glad to hear that your plants are already seeing growth! cool! I didn't realise your koi were already that large, All three of the big ones are nice looking fish. And BTW, the water looks a lot better than a couple of weeks ago! LOL

 

[Shdwdrgn]

koiguy & jw - thanks, I can't wait to see how everything fills in by the end of this Summer.

fishin - When I waded into the pea-gravel to re-plant the corkscrew grass a couple weeks ago, I literally could not see where I was stepping, and I had to put the plants in completely by feel. The water is only 9" deep there! So yeah, I much happier with how it looks this week. I've been considering putting a fine mesh sock over one of the filter outlets to catch the fine silt in the water, but I would think the filters should eventually trap it all in the bottom anyway.

The koi are about 12-14" long. Can you believe they grew that large in a little 160-gal pond? We also have a new ghost koi who quickly found his way into the big pond, and has already noticeably grown... He was just a little $5 special from Petsmart - but then again so were the others. We're headed that way again tomorrow, always watching for the unusual ones to add to the pond and make more babies...

 

[addy1]

I had to use some quilt batting to get rid of the pea gravel silt from my bog. You could grab a bog from walmart and just stick in your flow for a day or so, it grabs that fine stuff well.

It all looks great! very nice. Love those corkscrew grasses.