Hi Coastal: Thanks for that. We got a few bloodgrass plants recently as well. Lovely colour right now. Pretty healthy pumps! Our solar system provides 24 volts nominal, which is inverted up to 120 volts. Just one of your pumps would show up as a 20 amp draw on our system. That would be certain battery death in nothing flat. I might try a single dedicated solar panel to run a 12 volt bilge pump. Of course, it would only run when the sun was out, but better than nothing. What do you have in the way of fish in your pond? Due to our resident herons, I think fish are out of the question here.
You'd probably be best with a mag drive pump, they seem to draw the least power. A 20 amp draw!? yikes! I have about 30 koi, mostly big suckers, some up to about 18" long. We have many Herons around here too, one stopped by the other day, my Bullmastiff chased it off, and it hasnt been back. :) The trick is how you build your pond to make it Heron proof.
Hi Coastal: Thanks for the rapid reply. When we were down to Saltspring last month, the neighbour next door to the B & B we were at had a lovely cascading pond setup. He had figured out how to outwit the herons, but the first time the heron had a delightful lunch at Ray's expense. One way is to make the pool deep enough. Keep the sides straight down and not gently sloping in, and use the fine herring net. We have a dog, but she wouldn't chase her own tail, never mind an innocent heron! I think I will be quite happy without fish. Maybe a rubber ducky.....
Someone wrote about no need to go more Japanese, and that it looked good now. Sounds like a good idea. Part of the Japanese garden success, is that that the maintenance is diligent. That's really what you need to do, is just stay on top of the maintenance and manicuring. ~
Just a comment from a reader who is also attempting a Japanese theme: frankly, I would think a heron would add something to the Japanese theme -- and although something ate our goldfish from our small patio pond, fish which we have not replaced and may not [marten-type animal, raccoon, or owl, I have been told], if I could sit and view a heron I would almost want to supply him/her with some fish! But not quite, as whatever came to get the fish at night frightened the remaining ones [who also disappeared] so badly that the poor things hid under various rocks and we provided more to hide under... to no avail. To see fish which learned to be afraid when they weren't previously, and each having a small personality, and which obviously had a functioning nervous system to do that, was so uncanny and made us feel much less superior as supposedly advanced humans...
Wow, awesome pond and accessories! I love your waterfalls! Plus everything else, I do love your new tree as well. Your pond does seem to be more of a natural looking pond and the pretty tree that you bought might not go well there. Only you would know where to put it and make it fit in.
Ha! Thanks! This year should be a good year for the garden, now that the structure is in place, I can concentrate on the details.
Wow, I haven't seen all the new pictures! Your has come right along. It looks great!Thank you for sharing.
What a beautiful japanese garden. It is so important to have a strong vision and now all your hard work has paid off! Sit back and enjoy...
Hi Coastal, I must say I am truly impressed and inspired by your garden, it's looks like such an amazing place to be. That is probably the most dramatic change in landscape I have seen posted here. I am a weekend gardener myself, is a stress relief after the busy week. I think your interpretive Japanese theme is dead on and has that BC flair to it:) I would like to see more pics if you have them, please:) A couple of my future Japanese Garden specimens. The Coral Bark is a tribute to my stepson who was in a car accident and hospitalized last Sunday, coming home from a gathering. I purchased, planted, and gifted the tree to him, giving a long speech about the value of life. The Lion's Mane is my absolute baby. :). Thank you coastal, your gardens are beautiful and can't wait to see your progression:)
Really amazing Japanese garden! We are working on turning a part of our backyard into a small Japanese garden but by now means do we have that much space available. Keep sharing pictures with us if you can :)
Very lovely. I can't decide where to plant my Sango. I guess reading your post that you gave the coral bark maple to your son. I'm very sorry about his accident. I hope he is doing well.
Love it. Very nice. The tree styling in the first pic is called 'ueki' (pronounced way-key). I've been doing bonsai for a while, and just purchased a house this year, and want to have one or two styled. I want to get this book: http://www.amazon.com/Ueki-Te-Ire-J...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263493725&sr=8-1
I keep forgetting to come back on here! The garden is doing great, the koi are swimming around like its spring! Moss is growing like mad....this spring should be awesome. I will try to get some winter pics of it today and post them up. Thanks everyone for the replies!
Love the photos of your garden. It looks like it is settling in and filling out beautifully. Next comes editing, I suppose.
Wow, I'm new to the forum and stumbled on this post but feel I need to join the chorus in saying 'Great work on the landscaping.' I live in Utah so it makes me pretty envious to be able to have a plant selection as lush as that.
Wow! I love the rocks and how the water pours on to the pond. I would suggest though that you add rock steps on the side. I remember visiting a Japanese village once and they had a small tea hut that really made the garden look exemplarily good. Not to take away anything from your garden though, it looks impeccable.
I am not at the point of building a bridge but have given it some thought as I am interested in Japanese joinery and Japanese woodworking. I found this picture of the wooden timbers, joinery, and framework in the 5th and 6th photo very helpful: 廣美塗装日記 太鼓橋新設工事２ I like how painting the frame black gives the illusion of it being much thinner as seen in the 4th picture of the finished bridge.
Sorry about the link that did not work. I fixed it in my post above. Everything should work now, instead of going directly to the photo, you now have to scroll down to the 5th photo and click on it for enlargement.
I am glad you are still contacting me to read posts. I will examine this closely, we have a water feature in our back townhouse patio that might be of interest, we tried for a Japanese style. Will send photo of this when we have it up and running, busy with other things at moment, it's not ready to turn on this year yet...
