Allotments 4 All
Produce => Ponds 'n' Stuff => Topic started by: maz on May 22, 2005, 15:50:54
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I thought as Im feeling a bit more positive about my backyard I would show you what it looks like.
This is the view from the house
(http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0TQAdA1UXw5FGjO*aGKG06H9wRxpZe3zyT286nE5klhUlbOi4921k9vdI2hFAuCuzLEjfjFM1XM4QAmATwKXjr1Rm8y9rgRfPLFM*B69B6pe6z!EtcbN4dQ/yardsun%2022.JPG?dc=4675523431449550981)
Close up of the ponds and their planting
(http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UgAdA8oXNsKEAaYJ8aFt13S4X0HVNWSzH7Xsqt9Md!0CPftls!sbEiZ5b7bGOqDe29YO4R1Zj9zxSDOvCDvDCFUErj83hUmjdUNik9UarjJ!X9cN90szSFCS4XDzujo*/ponds22.05.05%201.JPG?dc=4675523430096429489)
(http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0WgAAAHEa!qsgL94oNM0efvgNZKrKZQe0hmV0gpdhs6j7WFtGLumEC9FGev7ft0Pb971fx3rHfji*puRInSb*Z0PueZX73jxcwHpQ!K9gNNv2B*fvLnILIqYbPqlamnKC5JdZt!O5doE/pondplants%2022.05.05%202.JPG?dc=4675523429625600857)
and these are some of my fish playing 'Sardines' !!! ;D
(http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UAD9AvUYFgei7uBUyvmRCt9lhY6TUK66MzkibQL66gLTkAw7VytsR8qm*QLjvod1EFyErCld2nj0McV!UokorL10xFQjsC7tSF14BADHAePS2bI!l4xNQXSCaB4AcGge/pond%20sardines.JPG?dc=4675523429619735841)
I have been really busy out there for 2 days , rain and shine, due to lovely Dibber helping me so much and giving me a kick up the wotsit to get going! :-*
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Maz, honestly it looks just fantastic, it really does look wonderful. You've done a great job :
You must be so proud of your efforts.
Oh and Dibber,any friend of Maz's is a friend of mine ;D
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Well done, looks really good and you should be pleased with yourself.
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o it looks lovely maz!veeery nice! ;D i wish my bloomin fish would swim about-they are permanently hiding :(
wot did dibber do..and why were you feeling despondent?its gorgeous!
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Lovely ponds Maz, they look really neat and professional. did you build them yourself - or have the work done for you?
Sigh! and you thought my pond looked good!! :)
Tricia
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Thanks everyone for your comments. :-*
Firstly , yes I am pleased with my efforts. Its not quite what I would do given the chance to do it again but it pretty darn near.
Secondly tricia close up its not quite as professional as you may think. The stones wobble! ::) will they ever get fixed in? your guess is as good as mine. Plus I only have 1 pump so I move it across from one pond to the other, that's not very professional but its cheap and saves me asking hubby to get involved. ;D Your pond is fabulous! I can see how much work you have put into it and it was well worth the effort.
Thirdly I was despondant about it because I have always wanted a real garden and I hate having just a back yard. I know I have a go and do what I can but believe me its just not the same. I get frustrated at having not much to do out there.
Which brings me to my fourth point........ Dibber. :-* She has kindly sent me some plants because I cannot get to an aquatic plant nursery. You would think there would be somewhere in a large city but believe me without a car its so difficult to get to where they are. ::) I was beginning to neglect the ponds until my parcel of goodies arrived and it spurred me on to get out there and plant them up, straighten the uneven stones and generally start to appreciate what I have. ;D
We have now gone 1 step further. Been to B&Q and ordered 'carpet stones' to really make a difference to the ground out there. Any seen them? Very French courtyard!' ;D
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Maz!!!! I didn't realise you had ponds like that!!!! I thought you just had that little bit of 'courtyard'.
They're gorgeous............I honestly had no idea :(
I must sort out a trip to Liverpool, just so I can come and have a nose ;D
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Bring yer own butties and pay at the door! 8) ;D
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No problem, if I can see ponds and fish and sit by them for a while ;D
It's beautiful, Maz :)
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maz your garden and ponds looks great glad the plants got there in one piece they look good to , nice u apreciate them so much it was my plesure ,
honneybee looks like u have a new friend :)
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p.s All my ,or should I say 'our', own work tricia.
* blows on fingers and rubs them on chest* ;D
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;D You've made a brilliant job of that Maz ;D it looks like a quaint cottage courtyard, well done ;D
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aahh...how nice of dibber! :-*
we've got a car now but i remember the days when we didn't -very difficult...still-sorted now and you've made a lovely job of it too!
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kitty you no it nice to help peeps out with plants specially when they are really gratefull for them like maz ,none of my family has any interest in gardens ponds or plants thats why i love coming on here talking to peeps with the same interest , i wish i lived near peeps i could give plants to i have so much bedding plants i dont no what to do with and 16 cardoons i have given some to neighbours but still have loads,
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;D ;D ;D
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Looks Fantastic Maz,
Those lillies look great, just keep me in mind if you ever come to splitting them - My pond is crying out for some after the ones I bought from B&Q last year just rotted away :)
Is that Parrots Feather as well I can see? I had some last year and the fish just loved chomping on it!
Very innovative idea with the pump, how often do you switch it? Are the fish comets?
Tony
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Well you lot have certainly made me look at my little backyard in quite a different light. :o
I think from now on I'll call it a 'courtyard' Pretentious? moi? ::) ;D
Tony I have 3 lillies in there. A large pink in one pond and an orange and a white in the other. This was it a couple of years ago. Ignore Hannah, she got in the way. ;D
(http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SwCRAokW0VRX1RqyclUmkEtfNMD1C5*DEZ9RXzeifQFYvZoti4gQ4rtrfLHn3C5jH1tFZeDn1ns3M9MvlD1VlcKwRv5iRiL0CqlleLO0O1eioqPn8Mtbog/hannah%201.JPG?dc=4675478071822851368)
The white one flowers but the orange one just produces leaves. It was a real tiddler when it went in and has never earned its keep other than to shade the surface.
I have 1 hoooooge Koi and 1 goldfish. The ones you see there are their offspring. What a xgoldfish/koi called? ??? and don't say Albert! ::) ;D
I switch the pump over every couple of days or so. The flex comes up from behind the two ponds in the gap between them so it takes me a couple of seconds that's all.
I don't want to disturb things at the mo but I will gladly send you a lily when I do split them. Is that done in Autumn? I cant remember. ???
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Thanks Maz,
I was only kidding :) I've been pointed in the direction of some places where I should be able to get hold of "cheaper" lillies on another topic so I'll have a look there first. If I'm still struggling after that, then the offices where I work in Liverpool have a huge pond outside which is full of lillies - I'll perhaps sneak down in the middle of the night with my snorkle and "borrow" a few :)
shhhh! :-X
Tony
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Maz !!!! Absolutely gorgeous !! Well done :D ;D
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Thanks Marianne. :-*
Tony I think I saw them in B&Q. You got a car? The 82c goes that way, and stops right outside. ;D
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Yes thanks,
I've also seen them in B&Q in fact i did buy some last year but unfortunately they just rotted away without so much as a sprouting stem. I may have, for want of a better term "thrown them in at the deep end" My B&Q sell them for approx £5 but they come in the bulb/tubor form (Apologies if terminology is wrong - I'm not particulary green fingered) - I was looking at getting the whole plant, leaves and all!!
Marianne, yes a have a car but never heard of the 82c - Is that a road name?
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Tony I made the comment about the 82c. You said you work in Liverpool and thats the bus that goes past B&Q. Doesnt matter really as you have tried the B&Q lillies before and prolly dont want to try them again.
Aww sorry to have confused you.
You might do better to go snorkelling. ;) ;D
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for which you need a 63a..which goes past the station......
for scuba diving-catch the tram from albert dock and for paddling catch the dirigable now leaving hope street...... ;D
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Kitty, do you live in Liverpool too ? ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D :D
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hahahaha!nah! ;D ;D ;D
but we must be kindred spirits-i was borneded in wallasey.....many many moons ago.....lived in lincs for most of my life now... :)
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Im just a plain old Manc Kitty ;D
Or should i be honest and say Ches-hire ;D
Got a son at Liverpool Uni though so i am doing the tours now and then ;)
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you dont look plain or old honneybee!you look like i imagined-son at uni?
you're wearing well luv!
kitty
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See why i love ya ? ;D ;D ;D
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Oh Maz it looks so different from when l saw it last,it looks gorgeous ;D well done,l can see why you are pleased with it.
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It does look really good Maz, you should be proud of it ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Hiya Maz,
just wandered in to the Ponds and Stuff thread as I've read all the dirty jokes in the Watershed!!! I haven't seen the before pictures, but I just wanted to say that your courtyard garden with the ponds are beautiful. congrats on all the hard work put in with the assistance of Dibber.
I'd love a little pond or something to house some frogs n toads to help in keeping my slug n snail invasion down. My mrs is Japanese and I'd love some koi too. Her da is from the city of Matsumoto which has one of the top 12 castles in Japan. It's surrounded by a moat that is filled with Koi that are ...if you cut a rugby ball in half...that's their circumferance and they are up to maybe four feet long. they are massive.
I was there one day walking around (grandma's house faces onto the castle, she's 90odd) and there was a trail of school children going by, hand in hand, each with a bright red cap on. Well, I don't speak Japanese but I know the word for shark (samei) and can point! That was a fun few minutes. The look of initial panick, then realisation that it's only koi!!!
Ciaran
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Thank you Ciaran. :-*
Dibber is fab :-* sending me the plants because my pond was very empty and boring looking. Im sure the fish enjoy it more now too as the quality of the water must be improved. Ive heard it said that you need to be very particular about the water for Koi, but I just plopped mine in the pond a few years back and hes fine. He eats what the others eat and hes grown enormous.
I have been working on my little patch for a few years now but somehow this year it all seems to have come together. The basic design has been the same for ages but I just tweek it a little each year. Next week we are laying cobbles on the ground. They are all stacked up and just waiting for the time to come to do them. More pics to follow I think! ;D
Aww that story of the children is so sweet I can just imagine them. ;D
Are you English? I have an English neighbour who is married to a Japanese lady. They are fairly new here and I dont know them yet. Is it you? lol ;D
* makes note to self..... go and read rude jokes!*
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Maz, I used to get the 86 to Garston to see my grandparents in the 60/70s, you reminded me of it reading your posting. I haven't been to Liverpool for about 25 years now but will one day as I want to take my children to see where their Grandad came from. I still miss it and get all nostalgic when I see it on TV, especially when they brought the cup home last week - really took me back!
Kitty I lived in Wallasey for 10 years - some of the best years of my life. Will go back one day.
Maz, I love your yard and what you have done in it, the ponds are lovely and make it look so tranquil. Lovely to sit out in. I love your stone frog, he is gorgeous.
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I see we have a few 'Honorary Scousers' in here. ;D
Tulippa I do my supermarket shopping in Garston.
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I used to go to Garston market with my Grandma, I remember it being good for curtain material and my Mum buying loads when we lived in Hampshire when I was very young and taking it home to make curtains. Sometimes when we visited we were allowed pocket money to spend there too.
We always went to see the steam trains at Allerton station and later the car train which came past every night from Fords. And to Speke airport to see 'the jet' - think there was only one a day then!
Happy days! My grandparents have been gone a long time now.