Progress on my Pond!

[Stephen T.]

I really lucked out with the pumice. A neighbor's estate sale got me about 200 cubic feet of them, ranging from basketball to 3 basketball size stones. 30 or 40 years ago, they made planters from pumice, they ground the bottoms flat and made large hollows in the tops, then sold them as planters. This pine needle covered and weed overgrown pile just needed to be gone, so for $30 we got it all! We only had to haul it about 600', 3 trips in our utility trailer, bulk, not weight made multiple trips the only way. The largest chunks might weigh 25 pound, so they are easy to move. On the other hand, I hope being half buried will keep them from blowing away

 

[addy1]

lol what a find!

 

[CeeJayH]

Well worth the effort.

 

[bagsmom]

Wow!!!!! Wow to everything!

 

[Stephen T.]

The headwaters bog/spring background needed something, and I found it! Around here, a bush, manzanita, when it dies, lasts a long time, even on the ground. Some call it mountain driftwood. Often it's 4-6 feet tall and very attractive. I drilled a hole up into the base to match a chunk of metal pipe I had. It's a force fit. I then pounded the 30" length into the top of the "hill" so a few inches were sticking up and plopped the "tree" down onto it and filled in around with more soil. The birds love it and we're finally getting black-billed magpies to come around and perch here every evening.

The south side of the stream area is a nearly vertical bank about 30" tall. I've gone around and around trying to come up with a way of treating it. I finally decided to use some large flat rocks and a talus slope down to the water. The top edge has to be finished yet and some moss and other "green stuff" growing here and it should blend in pretty well.

Looking upstream, things are starting to take shape (moving all these rocks, so am I).

 

[callingcolleen1]

looking very nice and natural, a little oasis in the desert! Love your rocks!!

 

[addy1]

Very nice, love the rock work!

 

[haver79]

Very nice. Cool rocks!

 

[Stephen T.]

I've been getting more done, early in the day, as we're getting mid 90s in the afternoons. At least the relative humidity is very low, yesterday it was only 11% and it cools off into the upper 40s at night. I've been buying quality artificial Xmas trees and other fakes at yard sales lately. They have the advantage of growing fast and no transplant shock in this hot weather.

As far as fake trees, I can't afford hundreds of dollars for a bunch of 4'-6' trees and this is the worst time to transplant anyhow. In the late fall, I'll get some small ones from a friends property , under 8"-12" so I can be sure to get enough roots. It will take 2-5 years of growing to block some of the views I want "erased", around here. So, fake trees will work ok. The birds like them anyway. I also have a couple fake rocks that are actually good quality outdoor speakers. I was listening to Bach and Vivaldi this morning while working on more rock placement.

Here's a view of the "headwaters" spring/bog with dead manzanita and on the right, fake alpine looking evergreen. Just to the right of the fake tree trunk is one of the fake rock speakers. I still have a little liner showing that will get covered tomorrow morning while it's cool out. On each side of the short stream, there are a white, flat rocks that form stepping stones. I actually cut a chunk of pumice in half, so it would match the other rocks I used up here. It cuts pretty easy with an old buck saw with coarse teeth, the hardest part is clamping it so it stays put while cutting.

 

[addy1]

Nice use of fake!

 

[Usman]

W

The sauna is especially appreciated after hauling and placing tons of rocks! 3 more loads (our little trailer can only haul about 1000 pounds per trip to the quarry), sure it'll be enough rocks... NOT! They must be disappearing into a black hole or something, I can't believe how many it takes, when trying to get them to look good and fit tightly when dry stacking!

I decided on a narrow "canyon" above the waterfall, cutting through the "hill". The right side will be built up more, although sloping back and around 50 degrees, with layers of rock sticking out, separated by tightly packed soil further up the hillside. Around the bend, the rock wall will continue on the right side.

View attachment 90853
Here's the view from upstream, looking down my little canyon. The pond below the waterfall can be seen near the top of the image.

View attachment 90854

I still have to finish the rocks that form the "capstones" on both sides of the waterfall. Gravity will hold them in place, as they are around 150-200 pounds each, but I'll have to use waterfall foam to direct the flow. It will be nice when all the water goes over the falls instead of dribbling down behind and over the edges!

Of course, I can hardly wait to get things planted and growing, but that's at least weeks away still.

Steve

wow stephen one of the best landscape ihv seen , very natural ur very creative and good. hoice of rocks , yes in 1st pic it looked like 5000 g pond lol , iloved the way u made streams and watterfalls , bravo , any new updates with fishes? Ithink native common fishes will look good too , will look like natural pond , wondering how do u move big rocks alone?

 

[Stephen T.]

Thanks,

I'm going for the "natural" look. My whole system is more like 1000-1200 gallons. Wide angle lenses do wonders making things look larger!

Moving rocks is... interesting! I've always had a good back, thankfully and I'm always careful about how I lift. Obviously, the pumice is easy, none of the chunks weighs more than 30 pounds. On the other hand, the slate like stuff is very heavy. Several of the large pieces weigh around 350 or so. With a combination of end-over-end and "walking" them, I can usually get them tipped into a large wheel barrow, then onto my small trailer. I often set them on a hand truck at home, which lets me dump them very close to where I want them.

In the past I've moved a large granite slab weighing about 700 pounds on a hand truck. That was challenging as I had to walk it down a highway on an 8% grade to where I could park, scared I'd lose my grip and have it take off down the mountain road! The largest rocks I've moved, 1500 pounds or so, (on a limited budget) were done with planks, ropes and a come-a-long, slow, but it works.

As far as fish go, I've got some native small minnows or something that I got out of the local lake and 6 feeder goldfish. All got through the winter, which was a surprise. I had no water flowing and ice 12" thick. The pond is 3 1/2' deep in places, which was apparently enough.

 

[Stephen T.]

This morning I got ambitious, while it was still cool outside, and did more rock moving. The area on both sides of the waterfall are pretty much completed, other than a couple more rocks on the far left edge of the point. From the first bend in the stream above the waterfall, to the upper pond, is now complete along the stream also. On the left, I've roughed in the path from lower to upper. I suspect I'll put down weed barrier, then a couple inches of partly rotten sawmill sawdust and bark, pretty much like beauty bark, but free for the hauling. It should be ready for planting in the fall.

Here's looking downstream in the just finished section. I still have rockwork to do above the "rock cliff".

 

[CeeJayH]

Stephen,

that is going to look fantastic when you get it planted up.

 

[addy1]

Stephen,

that is going to look fantastic when you get it planted up.

Can't say it better!