Pond in Southern Illinois

[CountryEscape]

Sheetmetal, I can only assume that Pecan had a thread about that floating plant holder idea! It's outstanding! I'm definitely going to steal that idea. I could easily make one of them for each of my ponds. How cool to even have a fountain in yours as well! Yet another project to get started ... and finished before my daughter arrives home for a week on Monday and my mom the following Sunday!
Your new landscaping around your patios is looking so wonderful, too! And, the 2 trees really have filled out nicely. I never was able to get a Red Bud from the timber to grow, but you got a really nice one! BTW, watch the purple plum for the Japanese beetles and spray it with Sevin when you see holes in the leaves, or they will literally wipe out your tree in just a few days! Easy to get rid of them, but not if you don't notice the damage right away!

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Yeah I liked Pecan's Idea so much I stole it too (told her I was going to though) I think I'm gonna keep the 1 I made and just add one more layer of foam to make it float better though. Yea Redbuds are hard to dig up and get a good rootball with them--dug 2 last year and 1 lived--dug 2 this year and only 1 is alive this time too. Thanks for info on japanese beetles--no problem so far.

 

[CountryEscape]

I think the problem I always found with Red Bud trees is that their roots are usually shallow, and go wide, where most hardwoods go deep. So, you end up losing a lot of the root mass when you dig one, unless you really dig a wide path. BUT, I think it's a good thing to "prune" the roots when you replant, so maybe it's a good thing. You've had more luck than me. I think I tried with about 8 trees total over a few years before I gave up. Two of them lived, but only a couple of years. If you find a really small one or one that grew from seed in your yard, THOSE are the ones to transplant! They grow really fast the first few years, then slow down dramatically.

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Here are a couple pics of Anne's little reflecting pool on the backside of the pond, it looks cool with its blue water but nothing lives there but some frogs---blue frogs thanks to the pond dye she uses, lol

 

[j.w]

Very pretty inviting spot and so that dye really does turn stuff it comes in contact w/ blue.

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Various Sunny Pics around the pond. Yes, J.W. ive seen it even turn fish blue--supposed to not hurt them though. Including some of the creeping Jenny I got off Ebay. I planted some in the pond in pots--its doing so,so--but I also put some under a rock on each waterfall level and its taking off good.

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Me and Anne used to throw fall Mums away in the winter but a couple years ago after talking to my mom, we planted them around the pond and patio. Mom said that some Mums are a hardy variety and will come back in the spring--this I did not know, lol. She was right, about half died but 8 of them have came back, and this year 6 of the 8 are allready blooming.

 

[addy1]

i put some annual mums in some pots, they froze solid and grew back the next year. So yep plant and leave they may come back.

 

[j.w]

Those are nice photos of your pond and property and love the color of those mums around the base of that tree! I've had them come back here too for a few yrs and then all of a sudden they died one really cold winter. Might have rotted tho from too much rain.

 

[CountryEscape]

Great pics, Tim. I planted 3 mums last fall, 3 different colors, 3 different sizes of plants. All 3 came back this year! First year I've had that happen, so was happy, but then last winter was so mild. I pinched them all off about a month or more ago, as I didn't want them getting leggy and bloom too soon, and now one of them, the smallest, is blooming yellow, but just about 5 flowers so far. By the looks of things, they all will have about 50-100 blooms when they are in full bloom, or maybe they will only have 10 or so blooms at a time. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pics!

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Heres a frog that let me get close enough to take his picture--I usually have a lot of frogs setting around but they rarely cooperate on picure taking day, lol. I guess I need to break down and get a new camera with more of a long distance lens on it.

 

[addy1]

Looks like a bull frog, they are more nervous than the green frogs, they see you and poof gone. I think I have two bull frogs, they vanish as soon as you get near.

 

[CountryEscape]

Neat pic, Tim, and the water lettuce is HUGE!!!
If you want close up pics of bullfrogs, come to my pond. Someone must have not told them to be afraid. I have Smiley, the medium sized one in the goldfish pond I can get a close up with no zoom. And Bully in the koi pond, that is green and brown blotchy looking, very different, and he comes swimming over to me when I'm grooming the lilies. I've fed him Japanese beetles and worms and a cricket the other day, so he's looking for some handouts. LOL My little frogs are the jumpers, jump before I usually even see them!

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Well its now in the upper 80s-lower 90s, so I'm setting back outside by the pond--a regular cold streak after the 102--106 degree range weve been living with--now if it would just rain for a week straight we might be back to normal. Rains to late for the area corn though, its shot--thank God our fields are in beans this year. I finally found where Anne stuck my camera so I took a few pictures around the Pond.

 

[j.w]

Lovely looking pond and plants/fish! Your plants don't seem to mind all that heat.