Progress on my Pond!

[MoonShadows]

Nice job, Stephen. That water is clear! I particularly like you use of the slates on that wall.

 

[Stephen T.]

Thanks,

I'm just starting to think about the plants around the stream and ponds. In a couple years I suspect a lot of the "slates" will be hidden or will blend in better. They did make a pretty good and easy to build rock wall of sorts. All came from a local abandoned quarry, although some came indirectly from a local yard sale. We saw all those nice flat slabs and asked. "Oh, you want to sell those? Take them away, they're just in my way!" Sometimes luck is with us!

On a note related to the pond, my greenhouse and sauna are getting a nice upgrade. I've wanted to put cedar shingles on the entrance area and entrance roof. I mentioned this to a friend and he told me that someone had given him a bunch of hand split cedar shakes and he'd been splitting them into kindling! If I wanted the remains, I could have them. So, there were 160 32" long, gorgeous cedar shakes. I've started putting them up and love the look!

I'll have enough to do all the exposed wood on the sides, but there weren't enough to do the rest of the roof. The lower pond is just in front of this and since the greenhouse is sunk 42", you look right out on the pond, not far below eye level and 5" away. The north side, which we're looking at, houses the sauna.

 

[Lisak1]

Very cool! Love seeing that clear water!

 

[Stephen T.]

I'll have enough to do all the exposed wood on the sides, but there weren't enough to do the rest of the roof.

My friend that gave me the shakes found a bunch more! With what I had left and what he found, there were enough to do the roof. I had 15 left over, so it was pretty darn close to just enough.

The greenhouse glazing now has a layer of bubble wrap under it to provide a bit of insulation and still let the light through. We hope to have salad greens all winter.

 

[Stephen T.]

Here's last year, with the bog just planted.

View attachment 101147
And now that things are established,
View attachment 101148

This is a modified bog/filter, with 2/3rd of the water bubbling up at the surface to imitate a spring. 1/3 goes under the gravel base. I also put heavy weed barrier with slits on top of the gravel, then 2" of coconut fiber and some rotten wood/bark. The understory looks much better this way and if need be, I can separate the organic matter from the gravel. So far it's working great. My water stays crystal clear.

I'm happy to report that the water has stayed crystal clear through another summer, although I can't say the same for the air. We've had many fires in the PNW, none very close to us, mostly 50+ miles away, but... Our air quality has been ranging from unhealthy to hazardous from mid June until a couple weeks ago. At times, visibility was down to under a 1/4 mile. In 2 months, I saw the stars 3 times, all the rest of the time it was like heavy overcast. So, we've done practically nothing outside. All our planned hikes went down the drain, hiking at 7000'-8000' in heavy smoke just didn't appeal to us!

By conventional thinking, our bog was done all wrong, but it has worked very well in spite of this!

 

[sissy]

so is that a green house gotta love the burl what a work of art from a tree .

 

[Stephen T.]

It is a combination of a south facing greenhouse, sunk 42" into the ground and the north side is a sauna. The pond is about 5' in front of the greenhouse and the same depth, so looking out the windows, your head is only a little ways above the water, about level with the small waterfall the drops into the pond. It makes for a nice view!

Of all things, we bought the burl at an estate sale! We now have a pot with creeping charlie on top, it looks great, although with the frosts the last few days, the pot will have to winter in the greenhouse.

 

[sissy]

ah make for a nice hot tub location but sunk down so you can sit in it and see the pond .Heated with wood for the hot tub would be great

 

[j.w]

@Stephen T. we know how you feel about the awful smoke. Sorry it wrecked all your hiking plans. I wore a mask while riding my bicycle around here. So glad it's gone now!

So glad your pond stayed clear and what a difference compared to last year!