tbendl
T
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Rrasco, the "if it fits it ships" boxes do just fine for shipping and are inexpensive.
South Texas Backyard Oasis
- Thread starter rrasco
- Start date
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- Jun 23, 2011
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- 86
- Location
- South Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b/9a
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What kinds of plants do you guys think I should start putting around the edging and/or on the upper shelf?
CountryEscape, how much should I send? I'll totally take you up on that offer. Dwarf cattails, do they grow little corn dogs on them? I like corn dogs, never knew where they came from.
CountryEscape, how much should I send? I'll totally take you up on that offer. Dwarf cattails, do they grow little corn dogs on them? I like corn dogs, never knew where they came from.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
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- 130
- Reaction score
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- South Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b/9a
- Country
Been doing a little plant shopping. Picked up another rush for in the pond and several edging plants not pictured yet; I ran out of light before I could get them planted. I also started working on hiding the plumbing. Built myself a little trough to hopefully keep the hose from getting too dirty, should also double as a little berm. I will be planting the front side of the plumbing so it won't be visible from the viewing side. I used cedar so hopefully it resists rot for some time. I will be getting a large piece of flagstone to place over the skimmer.
Additionally I ordered a "Tina" Water Lily (a variant that is supposed to do well in shady areas), some Dwarf Umbrella Palms along with some Hornwort.
Here is the Lily. I hope mine look this nice, but this is a picture from the supplier so I have high hopes.
Additionally I ordered a "Tina" Water Lily (a variant that is supposed to do well in shady areas), some Dwarf Umbrella Palms along with some Hornwort.
Here is the Lily. I hope mine look this nice, but this is a picture from the supplier so I have high hopes.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
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- 130
- Reaction score
- 86
- Location
- South Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b/9a
- Country
Also, I have birds visiting my waterfall (imagine that) and they are knocking the pea gravel down the waterfall where it's accumulating over my lighting. Anyone have ideas on how to prevent that?
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
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- Location
- South Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b/9a
- Country
I moved some dirt in this weekend and finally have most of the landscaping done. Put a lot of plants in the dirt and the pond. I guess I just wait for it to all start growing in now. Also added a little bit of solar lighting, just path lights to accent some areas. Waiting for a few solar spots to come in so I can light up a few more dramatic spots. Getting close to fish time!
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Dig a shallow bathing spot for them in the pea gravel. I have my waterfall rock laying on top of the gravel, keeps it from wandering out
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
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- South Texas
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- 8b/9a
- Country
That's a good idea. I was actually thinking about that yesterday, I was sitting in the kitchen watching 7 or 8 birds take turns bathing on the waterfall stone.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
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- 130
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- Location
- South Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b/9a
- Country
It's been a while since I have updated this. The plants have really taken off this year and I finally completed the landscaping the way I wanted. The aquatic mint is absolute going bonkers, I cut it back about once a week so it doesn't overtake the other bog plants, waterfall, or out into the ground cover surrounding the bog. My fish are getting BIG too!
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
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- South Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b/9a
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Finally my lily bloomed! This is the second flower it put out this week, but they only seem to stay open for a day, or during the day. Is that normal? I missed the first one while at work and this one was only open for a few hours this afternoon.
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Hardy lilies tend to open in the am, close by afternoon. I have some that stay open longer than others. Tropical lilies tend to stay open longer, most of the time, there are night lilies to.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
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- South Texas
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- 8b/9a
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Three years since an update!
- Joined
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- South Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b/9a
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It's been many years since an update but bigger better things are coming!
I've wanted to dig out more from the main pond for years and now was the time. The weather is (mostly) right and there is no livestock. We had a topping off incident last year and sadly lost all of our finned friends
Improved safety measures will be taken in the future.
The pond will be converted to more semi-modern with a raised edge, improved drainage, and a complete bog makeover to help make it serviceable. I'm gonna add a snorkel and keep a void in the bottom so I can backwash it. More to come soon!
I've wanted to dig out more from the main pond for years and now was the time. The weather is (mostly) right and there is no livestock. We had a topping off incident last year and sadly lost all of our finned friends
Improved safety measures will be taken in the future.The pond will be converted to more semi-modern with a raised edge, improved drainage, and a complete bog makeover to help make it serviceable. I'm gonna add a snorkel and keep a void in the bottom so I can backwash it. More to come soon!
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
- Messages
- 130
- Reaction score
- 86
- Location
- South Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b/9a
- Country
It's cold outside so you get a window pic. Pretty sure a cat found a meal this morning.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
- Messages
- 130
- Reaction score
- 86
- Location
- South Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b/9a
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Photo dump from today's work. I am using a 12 gallon HDPE food grade barrel for a pump vault. And plastic pallets that I chopped down to use as a basin grate. I propped the pallets up above the manifold so I should be able to backwash the bog using the pump vault.
I modified the manifold by cutting off an arm so the pump vault could sit as low as possible. I also added a bunch of slits in the manifold since the first time around I only had drilled holes and a lot of them seemed clogged. I added large outputs at the end of every branch too so that should help keep things flowing nicely. It's flowing freely right now, so much so that my cleanout cap isn't even needed. Before I did all of this it used to come flying out of the cleanout if I had it open. Hopefully that's not an issue.
Before I put the pea gravel back in I wanted to do a flow test and make sure everything was working as intended. A lot easier to remove the larger rocks than pea gravel. Everything seems good but I'm gonna let it run overnight at least.
I modified the manifold by cutting off an arm so the pump vault could sit as low as possible. I also added a bunch of slits in the manifold since the first time around I only had drilled holes and a lot of them seemed clogged. I added large outputs at the end of every branch too so that should help keep things flowing nicely. It's flowing freely right now, so much so that my cleanout cap isn't even needed. Before I did all of this it used to come flying out of the cleanout if I had it open. Hopefully that's not an issue.
Before I put the pea gravel back in I wanted to do a flow test and make sure everything was working as intended. A lot easier to remove the larger rocks than pea gravel. Everything seems good but I'm gonna let it run overnight at least.