My Little Pond

Discussion in 'Water Gardening' started by Sydney Smith, Jan 5, 2015.

  1. Sydney Smith

    Sydney Smith In Flower

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    Hi all. If I may pse send a couple of pics of the little water feature in my garden. Just wanted to see some water amongst all the plants.
    Its about 4ft x 2ft by 20 ins deep. Has a couple of Irises in pots, oxygenating plants and a little water cress grows - four small fish.
    There is a solar operated oxygenator which works well even when little sun. Frogs and Toads plus once a small Grass Snake visited - also Dragonflies and others.
    The last two years there has been several Pond Skaters which I am told indicates all is healthy. Nothing special but it all fits in nicely and has that nice cool look to it.
    Syd.
    Edit . Further pic added.
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    ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden )

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    ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden )

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    ( photo / image / picture from Sydney Smith's Garden )
     
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2016
    Perennial Paul, Jewell, Kay and 2 others like this.
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  3. Cayuga Morning

    Cayuga Morning Strong Ash Plants Contributor

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    Looks gorgeous! So lush! I am guessing these photos were taken in the summer?
     
  4. cherylad

    cherylad Countess of Cute-ification Plants Contributor

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    I love it! I would love to have a small pond, but I'm afraid that bad snakes would take up residence.
     
  5. Jerry Sullivan

    Jerry Sullivan Garden Experimenter Plants Contributor

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    Water features are always fun and provide hours of amusement. I have two and when the weather warms up the sound of frogs serenade the night. I have seen wild iris on the edge pf ponds but have never tried them as a water plant.

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    ( photo / image / picture from Jerry Sullivan's Garden )

    What kind of Iris do you have?


    Jerry
     



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  6. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    We've always had water in our garden. At first it was just one little pond,then two. Now it's one pond again but a much larger one. I love to sit and watch the newts, toads, frogs and insect life we have visiting. The birds love it and honey bees come to the edges to drink.
    I know just how you feel about your pond Syd as I believe a garden isn't complete without one. Yours is lovely and if you're getting plenty of wildlife then you're doing everything right. :-D
     
  7. Sydney Smith

    Sydney Smith In Flower

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    Hi all. Thanks for the interest and kind comments - glad you like it. Glad also that I appear to have got it reasonably right since I am getting the "wildlife" interest. I always refer to it as "formally informal" with the shape and paved about - the plants give it some informality.
    My ideal would be a deeper centred saucer shape with gently sloping sides and surrounded by a wettish plantable area suitable for marginal bog plants (so many lovely ones) and more easily "get-at-able" by the "visitors".
    These are summer pics but even in winter it still has a nice something different look about it. For sure theres interest going on round ponds most of the time with so much wildlife visiting though not if the likes of bad snakes and similar would be about.
    Eileen & Jerry your ponds sound great, totally natural
    and exactly what I would like but...
    Thanks again.


    Hi Jerry. Will get back to you ref the Irises but they are of the regular grown in water type. My pond has no differing depths just the same all over. These plants grow just at water level so I have them in containers standing on bricks to get their depths correct.
    May have mentioned before that the plot here is in two parts - a semi-wild strip next the woods and garden "proper" round the bungalow. The strip is "as it comes" and grassed but a lot of the garden "proper" is sheeted over and has a layer of stones/shingle on it.
    Reason for this sheeting over is this area is teeming with Moles which do a collosal amount of damage and tear a garden to pieces. The whole of the front and along the side next the strip are covered in this way.

    It limits the garden usable area a lot but nothing worse than looking out of the window and seeing a mass of hills in amongst all your good efforts and the grass. Syd.
     
  8. Sydney Smith

    Sydney Smith In Flower

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    Hi Jerry. Ref the Irises. Afraid I am a bit of a duffer here and cannot tell you exactly their names - I no longer keep records as I did and they have slipped my "no longer as good as it once was ref plant names" memory. Can say again they are from the usual regular types grown related to water/margins and from I think the versicolor, laevigata area. They are not sibirica or pseudoacorus.
    Syd.
     
  9. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Jerry I have iris in my pond and they are all types of Flag Iris which love to be planted in water. Here are their Latin names:

    Iris pseudacorus - the Yellow Flag Iris
    Iris versicolor - the Larger Blue Flag Iris
    Iris prismatica - the Slender Blue Flag Iris

    They overwinter without being lifted from the pond and have survived temperatures as low as -20C.
     
  10. Sydney Smith

    Sydney Smith In Flower

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    Hi Eileen. Ref the Iris pseudacorus it does come in both plain green or variegated foliage - I grew both last garden. As you said they love being in the water or alongside it with their feet in it - as long as its wet.

    The variegations on that version are distinct early on but fade away somewhat later - love the flowers anyway - believe the origin of the Fleur de Lys?. They grow along the streams and riversides down here quite a lot - do you get them in Scotland?.

    I find Iris sibirica will also grow comfortably in a normal border as well as the wet. Syd.
     
  11. Jerry Sullivan

    Jerry Sullivan Garden Experimenter Plants Contributor

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    I will put it on my 'to get' list for springtime.

    Thank you

    Jerry
     
  12. 2ofus

    2ofus Hardy Maple

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    Hi Sidney, I really like your pond and the plants in and around it. Do you have any water lilies? I had them in the last 2 ponds I've had and loved the large leaves and the flowers. We will be putting in a pond this summer and I'm really getting excited.
     
  13. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    We do get lots of wild flag iris here Syd. Many larger ponds have to thin them out each year as they do so well. I have both variegated and plain leaved iris in my pond and the dragonflies and damselflies love to use them to perch on while looking out for their prey.
     
  14. Georgia Girl Beth

    Georgia Girl Beth Seedling

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    Oh my gosh, your garden is so beautiful! I wish I could grow something half as nice.
     
  15. Sydney Smith

    Sydney Smith In Flower

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    Hi all. Jerry. Ref the Iris sure you will be very pleased. They are nice plants for sure and look really good and sturdy in water. Be interesting pse to hear of some of the other plants you grow around your ponds - bog and marginals.

    20fus. Afraid my pond is a little small for Water Lilies even the pygmy ones. Totally agreed with you though they are so lovely in or out of flower. If I could have my ideal pond (mentioned earlier in topic) it would be of a size to allow for growing some. Wish you well with your pond making and well worth the effort I think.

    Eileen. Your pond sounds really great and much more natural than my own. My ideal I have mentioned and that would be bigger and as informal as I could make it. As I said we do get a few Dragon and Damsel flies plus Bees Wasps and even a couple of Hornets now and then - theres nests of them in the nearby woods.

    Our garden ponds apart from the beauty and pleasure they give, along with all our garden efforts are of immense value to wildlife and the environment generally. Its a fact they have lost so so much in the wilds now and our plots make up for a lot of this. Lets keep helping them.

    Beth. Thank you for the kind comment - my little effort is just one small drop amongst the many many beautiful gardens to be seen here on the Stew. Care to tell of your garden - maybe, growing conditions allowing, with the guidance of all the talent here you can achieve your wish.

    Thanks all. Syd.
     
  16. Sydney Smith

    Sydney Smith In Flower

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