Help with future Japanese garden

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden



Hi, I thought I would show you a bigger pond. Somehow my clematis got involved. I'm practicing some more and seeing what is all on my computer under some files I haven't looked at. The clematis is named 'Elsa Spath', the pool is at my brother's house in Oregon. It is for sale now, but at the time it was being built while we had a reunion.
The person with the dog is me. The trees in the back are White Oaks.

I really love the stones and the waterfalls. There is a stone on the leftside of the photo and closer to my dog. It is called the jumping rock, which is more dangerous than a diving board IMHO, because it is slippery and boring. I would put a diving board in since the pool is 10 ft deep. Now for me, I would not have that much stone. Maybe around a pond it wouldn't be too bad, but a swimming pool. It is dangerous.

I guess a diving board would stick out like a sore thumb, and the look they were going for was Asian and/or Tropical.

I do have photos of the finished house and landscaping, etc. But where on my photo files are they? But I have actually posted which I haven't done for a long time as I'm always learning new programs, blah, blah, blah...;-)

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

Looks like you are all doing good ......

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

I really enjoy step stones across water.

Even if it means stacking mortared blocks underneath the surface and capping the top with a flat stone just above water surface.

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

It's nice to live in an area where stones are native. I need to find the coquina (shell rock) quarry up the road in Micco. I'm still amazed at the way gardens in Portland, Oregon (such as Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden) are sometimes able to bring in rock by the ton.

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

I love stepping stones across the water as well. My Koi pond has them.
This house is in Ashland, Oregon where this stone seems to be not too far away. I noticed this color stone along the route of Interstate 5 to northern California, through Shasta Lakes and also where my Aunt lived near Chico, CA but in Paradise, CA. A lot of green colored stone. Where I live I can go up to the Salmon River area and there is all kinds of colorful stones, and you can see the mountain is one gigantic piece of rock. And there are different outcroppings of different colored mountains along the peaks of the Big Salmon River valley.

I haven't heard of Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in Portland. I've only been to the Japanese and Rose Garden over there. I will have to make it my goal to visit that garden in the spring when the Rhodies are blooming.

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

Hi Shayne:
Now that spring is upon us, or allegedly so, how is the garden coming along? I'm interested in seeing pics of as many gardens as possible, as I am just getting underway on my small effort.
Has enough changed that you can grace us with a new photo?

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

Cocobolo, Have you seen pictures of Whiskey's Japanese Garden in Ireland?

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

Hi Karalyn: I don't believe so. But I will Google to see what comes up.
However, I have just received an order of 11 books on Japanese gardens and gardening from Stone Lantern. What a haul! I am now blessed with unlimited ideas, far more I fear than my failing energy can cope with.
Our temperature here has finally started warming up to tolerable levels outside. About time, it has not been a good spring at all.

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

We have had the same springtime temps here in Idaho and Utah has had the same. Finally the nights are staying up in the 50's, I don't mind the cooler temps in the 70's or less as it helps with garden work, but if I were at a lake or pool, I would definitely want hotter temps! I have someone coming over on June 4th to look at my koi pond and the 12 ft deep pit dug for the filter and pump vault. I haven't been able to run my pond's waterfalls and fill up two other pools that cascade into the koi pond for quite some time.

So I'm hoping this guy can give me an idea of how he can help to finish it and give me a good bid. I just don't have enough helpers around here anymore that are willing to put in anymore energy into the pond. They grow up and move away or have other interests, and hubby is busy and getting old like me. lol Sore muscles!

Now for my entertainment, my goldfish and koi have left some eggs that are fertilized for me, and the first batch from just a goldfish pond have already hatched, and can finally be seen by an unpracticed eye for baby fish. I, of course, can see them, as I know when they were deposited and I put the twigs in a bucket of water.

Now to see what the koi pond in my front yard eggs produce. I moved them into a bucket yesterday or the day before. There were a lot of them on a miniature cattail plant.

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

Hi Karalyn: So now you are going to raise fish as well!!
I remember something over 30 years ago when I built a small pond over on the mainland a few miles out of Vancouver, I had some Koi, Shubunkin, and several goldfish. The goldfish always had babies, but the others never did.
Best of luck with the koi.
How long have you had koi in your pond?

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

Ahh...the question should be... which pond? I have a large one in the back yard right off of our deck next to the house. I started it 15 to 16 years ago when I moved to this house we live in now. As it was ours and I ran a daycare and was always outside watching children and my father had moved to boise and brought a little giant pump that was in their water feature, which they left in California.

So I found out where to gather up granite rocks that I could lift, learned about mortar, and had a 12 year old son that would help me out back then digging.
When he could drive with a permit, he could practice driving by going to this area and help collect rock for me.

Also, there was a swimming pool liner with a hole in it and that became my blue liner.
I just wanted waterfalls, maybe a few gold fish to eat mosquitoes. Wasn't interested in waterlilies nor think that my pond could hold koi. After I had joined the Idaho Watergarden and Koi Society. (Koi wasn't in the title at the time) a pondkeeper said that my revamped pond could hold koi in it. I changed the liner to a black rubber one, made the pond deeper and wider and then DH put a an extra deck canterlevered over one side of the pond and I butt up another side of the pond right next to the existing deck.

After years of cleaning out locust tree leaves from this pond I enlarged it more and put a drain in it and no pebbles at the bottom. Then this pond got added to it 2 more above ponds or pools that are about 5ft across and 2 to 3ft deep and then a long wall where the water pours over into the koi pond and there are granite stepping stones that go across this area.

My helper at the time glue the pipes with inferior glue and filtering system needed more help and we added a 6000 thousand gph pump to this scenario. Then the mason that helped didn't know much about pondbuilding as he does masonry and the mortar wasn't sealed and there are cracks due to temperature changes. So, I have lived with 5 large koi in the 5ft deep koi pond which uses well water to fill it up and really no filtering system. Just me, draining it and adding more water. Then a clean out once in awhile when it I can't get rid of the string algae without me getting down in there with the fish and my rubber boots.

We have had the trench dug up where the pipes were and they are resting on the above ground pools until I get help to reinstall them with the right glue and also continue going into the future pump and filter vault. Also, electricity work involved as well.

Then seal up the two custom made liners in the above pools and fill them up with water. These have drains in them also and then have my great mason finish the outside rock work.

There is more work than just this, the main catch pool the waterfall begins with has cracked mortar that leaks into a pile of sand that my mason guy put into a well looking stone structure. It really should have had a liner in this structure. As the mortar wasn't sealed. So that catchpool doesn't hold water now and the water leaks out and gradually is probably taking sand away.

So basically to get this pond working the way it should is pretty simple, but does take man hours and some money. And my men don't have enough hours, even though DH just told me after I told him a guy was coming over on the 4th to look at the pond and pit, that he and dear son 17 years old could get working on the vault themselves. Now I've heard this a lot. I don't see it happening until a leader comes in with fresh eyes.

Now the other koi pond is in front of my living room floor to ceiling windows, butted up next to the basement wall. It is 4 ft deep and 7 ft long and 4 ft wide. It has a drain for it, but not set up yet. It is raised above the ground about 2 ft or less. Good sitting height. Rock work can't be done until the guys that custom built the liner comes back and fixes a flap of liner so that it can be attached to an adaptor to the box skimmer by Pond supplies of America. A large one! so this one gets drained and refilled, and sometime I do filter it and have a water fountain.

This was dug by my late son who died in 2003 at 15 1/2 years of age. His birthday is June 4th, so it will be the 5th birthday without him. So many things didn't get finished as he was gone and we have been in mourning.
He was always helpful and had lots of energy. We miss him very much, but have peace in our hearts.

Now I have some round tanks where I keep waterlilies and goldfish, etc. And I started a growing nursery to help pay for my koi pond to get finished.

So I love my shubunkins, sarassas comets, long finned goldfish and my koi. Garter snakes like to visit occasionally, otherwise besides my cats and sheltie collie these are the only critters that I have.

Now plants are a different story...;-)

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

Wow!
That is some book you wrote there.
First I have to say that I am indeed sorry to hear about your son. Our best friend here on Ruxton Island has just lost his wife to cancer, just over 2 1/2 months ago. I can only imagine how sad that must have been.
I have a black pond liner for my one and only pond. I will put a small pond a little higher up the bank with a short stream between the two. Since we live on solar power here I will only be able to use something like a 12 volt bilge pump to move the water.
I don't want anything too fast anyway.
About your algae problem....there was a pond specialist on the local radio garden show here on Saturday morning, and he was saying that you can get some sort of product to help control that. Can't remember what it was. It sounds as though I may not expect too much of an algae problem here, as I do not get that many hours of direct sun on the pond area. He also suggested that I may not have enough hours of sun to get waterlilies to bloom. Evidently we need 8 or 9 hours a day here for that to be successful. Time will tell.
Do you have any pictures you can post for us? Pretty please!

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

Your pond sounds like it is going to be very pretty! Yes, I have photos, I'll post them this evening.

My string algae is just one of those things that grow in sunshine and with fish adding to the nitrogen needed. One way to get rid of it is by put salt in the water, then I have to be careful where I drain the pond as I usually like to water my yard with this rich green mixture of algae, fallen leaves, and fish waste. Right now I could have it go into the 12 foot pit we have dug for my pump & filter vault.

Once I get my filters going again and the waterfalls, I won't get so much algae.
Although string algae clears up the water from the pea soup kind.

I have other products that will clear it up, but it isn't that big of deal to spend money on chemicals when good old rock salt does the trick. The pond does get partial shade from a honey locust tree. Plus its tiny leaves and then flower blossoms that drop. If my box skimmer was running, I have no problem with that, but as the pond sits now,
if I raised the water to reach the box skimmer, it would just leak out of the drain pipe due to water pressure. And the drain pipe is open close to the top of the pond.

Actually there might be a check valve on it, have to check with DS my young engineer.

 

Re: Help with furture Japanese garden

Definitely looking forward to seeing your photos.