"Offshore Garden"

[Timothy]

Hi Folks,
It's been a while. I've been in and out, lurking, and watching, but not participating as I should be. Truth be told my pond pretty much ran itself last season and I didn't do anything new in it, but did build a trellis for "she who must be obeyed" so a couple of climbing rose plants could be put in, reclaimed a section of over-grown yard since I bought a new riding mower, and put up a couple sections of split rail fence. I put a metal roof on the "Inn", (which I wish I had done a couple seasons ago!) and just tended to what needed tending to.
I have a new project for next pond season, and as the header above eludes to, it'll be another "what was he thinking?" sort of thing just like the last several "brain cramps".
As some of you know, I usually have two shelves in the pond for lilies and cat tails all in containers, plus a couple of islands that have Creeping Jenny, some grasses, Iris, and some other volunteer plants that I don't know what they are. Next season there won't be any islands, or the east side shelf because of a new idea I want to try.
Years and years ago (middle '60's) I was stationed in Thailand. During that time I saw and rode in a lot of sampans. Recently I saw an ad for a genuine sampan that had been imported decades ago from Bangkok. This sampan is 10' long, shallow, and water-worthy with a little maintenance and fixing up. My goal is to fill it with colorful annuals that will spill over the sides, a couple of unusual pots on the bow, and a staff with a hook at the top to hold a lantern that will be remotely controlled from the "Inn" for some evening ambiance. All of the plants will be in purpose-built trays that will line the inside edges and they will be easily removed with a couple of hoes should the need arise. (Hoes! You know, garden hoes for weed control? Shame!) (There won't be any soil actually in the boat, just in the trays.) The end result will be one 10' X 30" island full of flowers that hopefully will be the focal point of the pond even though ours isn't even close to a "Japanese Garden" in the strictest sense, there is a Japanese Maple in one corner...does that count? The boat will be tied off at the bridge, and the opposite side of the pond making it easy to bring the whole thing to the side of the pond for pruning and maintenance.
I'm working on a bilge pump system for when it rains, and any watering that may go astray.
Oh, and one more thing.......I saw in another thread some re-purposed shelving for pots and vines. I thought I'd share what we did with a shower hanger thingy that's designed for hanging from your shower pipe and holds your shampoo, sponges, and various smell-well stuff. Ours got rusty and needed replacing, and I told Herself that we'd use it outside with little pots and annuals. Now as these hangers outlive their usefulness inside, we'll hang them on the shed wall and each will be a little different.

A couple of the "Offshore Garden" potential....


This is the shower hanging basket thingy.....

 

[j.w]

You have lots of neat idea's spinning around inside of your noggin! Hope you post more pix of the things you are talking about doing for Spring.Can't wait to see you float your boat. The shower thing is such an easy idea and looks great. I see them free at garage sales. Got me thinking now

 

[addy1]

You have the neatest ides and the drive to do something with them! Love the boat idea. I would love to do something like that but mr heron would use it as a fishing boat. They used my islands as a fishing island, so no more islands.

 

[Lisak1]

Good to see you @Timothy ! I love the boat idea and it fits your pond perfectly! Can't wait to see you put your ideas into action!

And that's a great use of the old shower caddy... really got my mind rolling with that one!

 

[Timothy]

Thank you all!
I only have three and a half months to do this project and your encouragement will accelerate the project thus dampening my procrastination. Right now there's a foot of ice on the pond, but I've seen a couple of named denizens up by the heater basking in the relative tropical temps in that small circle, so I know the fish are doing OK.

Addy, I know what you mean about the heron. I bought one of those plastic ones to put by the pond a couple of years ago having read that they were territorial and wouldn't land if one had already staked out the area. It seemed to work for a while, but I looked out one day and there was a live heron flirting with the decoy. No shame! Like a daughter's protective father I made a lot of noise and threatened what I'd do to him if he ever came back. He very quietly took flight looking at me with a wide yellow eye, circled once and said something in heronese that sounded like "Grooonkk!" Not sure what he said, but pretty sure what he meant.

I have since taken a more direct and threatening posture with visuals.



Not sure if it's working, but if it needs some enhancement I do have an arrow I can push through it's ribs.

 

[j.w]

@Timothy I had to finally resort to a net as nothing else would stop the bugger.
He comes back once in awhile and does a walk around, puts his foot up on the net and then turns around in disgust and leaves. I need a sign that says Sushi Bar closed!

 

[Lisak1]

@Timothy - I love your sense of humor! Life is always more fun when we can laugh, isn't it?

 

[Timothy]

View attachment 118318@Timothy I had to finally resort to a net as nothing else would stop the bugger.
He comes back once in awhile and does a walk around, puts his foot up on the net and then turns around in disgust and leaves. I need a sign that says Sushi Bar closed!

I do have a net, but use it mostly in the fall for a few weeks to keep the leaves out of the water. It's not 100% effective, but catches most of them. I take it off before the pond freezes or it will be stuck all winter and eventually the snow would close in the holes and I'd have too much weight to support.
I don't leave a net on during the summer because one of my other hobbies is RC boats. (Which was the main reason for converting the swimming pool to a 3' deep "Water feature".)

All of these models are animated with remote control. Even the dock has lights, the doors open and close, and there's the obligatory radio embedded with country music.


Lisak1, thank you. I totally agree with you. I'm not advocating a Pollyanna attitude towards the issues of today, but we have to seek out the lighter side as well to maintain a balance. Lord knows there's enough to be "down" about!

 

[j.w]

Ah yes I remember all your cool craftsmanship of all your buildings and boats. Maybe put a gunner man on one of those boats that shoots fake shooting sounds ever so often w/poofs of smoke in the Summer. That would scare off the heron but then it would scare every other little critter off also. Guess you could use a solar powered boat to cruise around during the daylight. That would also scare the heron I would think w/just the movement. Kinda like one of those Roomba vacuum cleaners,lol!

 

[Timothy]

Hmmmm. Solar, constant motion, blend in, un-stuckable, omni directional.........
What do you think J.W., with or without a flame thrower, cannon, or bear trap??

 

[j.w]

Go for marble sized light weight cannons, just for effect,lol! Flame thrower would burn all your buildings down and bear trap, well it would hurt the poor bear or you when it's least expected. I have thought this through thoroughly

 

[Timothy]

OK, I'll get right on that!

 

[MajorDan]

Great work on the boat works etc. would love to see the boats in operation. Very clever!
Thanks for sharing your work and your humor.

 

[addy1]

Floating alligator heads worked for a while. I had two in, tied to a rock on the bottom with fishing line, so they moved around all of the time. Then the lilies took over and trapped the heads, mr heron came back and ignored them. Took him a while to figure out they were not a threat, walked around checking them out for around 45 minutes while I watched. Then decided to fish, that is when I went out and yelled at it.

After a three year fight I went with the high hanging wide weave net. The herons still fly over but keep going.

 

[Timothy]

Hi Addy, I have one of those alligators. It's three sections and really looks pretty cool undulating in the current. I had him anchored in the skimmer return flow. He developed a leak in his tail and his back end began to sink. (This "leaky tail" scenario could go sideways pretty quickly................) Anyway, I think I'll dig him out of the shed and do some repairs, then re-introduce him to the pond next season. Actually, I had forgotten about him.