Pictures of a naturalized pond (Picture heavy!)

duchess15

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Well, following my thread of what I found in my pond yesterday, I had many requests to post pictures of my pond. I had to scan a few pictures since I hadn't saved them to the computer. Good thing my scanner still works!
I have some before and after pictures and I'm still amazed at how far I've come. It was a lot of work, but I think it was well worth the effort.
If you can imagine, when we first had the house built there was nothing out there! I have slowly transformed it over the last 4 years and am still doing so now. I need to go out and take updated pictures.

This is how it looked when I first built it..I had bought a preformed liner...




Here it is a little more developed...



It didn't always have its pretty days...I had problems with the mulch always getting into the water and I thought my liner had a leak. I really made it too small and wanted a much bigger one to attract more wildlife such as hummers, butterflies, frogs, toads, lizards (I'm still hoping for one of those), etc.

Here are a few from the backyard and we have one of those huge ugly satellite dishes, so instead of yanking it out, I put plants all around it and am having coral honeysuckle grow all over it so I can attract more hummers and it will be great for nesting birds.



Once I got the plants in the ground



One of a general view of the backyard



One of the side of the house when I first started



One of what it looks like now...although I even need to update this one, I have put weed fabric down and a border so all that grass is now covered with mulch



This is our front yard



This is in the middle of the process....



And lastly....the finished product...it took me many months! I just took the old liner out and dug the hole about 5 times the size and put in underlayer and then a liner that was not preformed that way I could shape it the way I wanted and I needed a shallow area to put rocks in so the birds could get to the water. I also have a little waterfall, but I don't think you can tell in this picture. It is run on solar energy.

One view...



And this is my favorite view...




There are so many benefits of having a pond and other plants in your yard. I am in the process of making a little side patio to be able to sit out there. I have even grown my own plants and put them in the ground. It's just such an experience to grow your own and see them do so well.
I hope you enjoy the pictures!
 

MoochNNoodles

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Oh thats so pretty! My boss has 3 ponds in her front yard. They keep fish in them. One day she came home to find a pelican standing in the middle of one of the ponds!!!
 

dragoriana

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Wow the larger style pond looks great! What are those red flowered plants under your window?? it looks exactly like one we have here, it has very strong smelling flowers and leaves.
 

strange_wings

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How many feet across and deep is that final pond?! I hope you had help digging that
I can't imagine doing that all on my own, digging kills my hips!
I'm glad that you have a shallow area, not only birds need it. Toads and box turtles can't swim very well and can easily drowned if they fall into deep water they can't get out of.

Is allege a problem? Any fish to combat mosquitoes? Moving water, such as a fountain to break up the skin on the surface of the water can help discourage them, as they can't land to lay eggs.


Most of my landscaping is done in the turtle pens, where I have several different plants growing.
 
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duchess15

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

How many feet across and deep is that final pond?! I hope you had help digging that
I can't imagine doing that all on my own, digging kills my hips!
I'm glad that you have a shallow area, not only birds need it. Toads and box turtles can't swim very well and can easily drowned if they fall into deep water they can't get out of.

Is allege a problem? Any fish to combat mosquitoes? Moving water, such as a fountain to break up the skin on the surface of the water can help discourage them, as they can't land to lay eggs.


Most of my landscaping is done in the turtle pens, where I have several different plants growing.
I think it ended up being 3 ft deep and probably about 6 to 7 ft across, maybe a bit more. I can't remember.
I used the original hole that the preformed liner was in and just expanded on that. Yes, I did do the digging by myself! A friend was suppose to help me, but I got tired of waiting on him so I started without him!

I have comet goldfish and mosquito fish in there to help with algae control and mosquitoes from laying eggs. I have a solar pump that runs when the sun is out and the hose runs into those stacked rocks you see on the front view. It keeps the water running at a light trickle. I put that in for the birds.
It took me a long time to do it because each time I wanted to put the liner in, it would POUR and fill it up! I went out there a couple of times and bailed the water out to try to get it to dry faster and my back killed me each time I was done!
The biggest reason I built it raise up was to keep the mulch out and the shallow area to keep my toad from dying! In the old one the water would evaporate so fast and they couldn't get out! They are not like frogs who are in the water for extended periods of time. I do have tadpoles in there from toads.

Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

Oh thats so pretty! My boss has 3 ponds in her front yard. They keep fish in them. One day she came home to find a pelican standing in the middle of one of the ponds!!!
Oh God...that is TOO funny!!


Originally Posted by Dragoriana

Wow the larger style pond looks great! What are those red flowered plants under your window?? it looks exactly like one we have here, it has very strong smelling flowers and leaves.
Those are Salvia Greggii. They come in a variety of colors and that strong smell comes from the plant itself. It is in the mint family so that's why it has that odor. My mom always thinks it smells like garlic! BTW, hummingbirds lover those flowers!
 

dragoriana

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Cool. I just wanted to know as we are on opposite sides of the world
i dont think they smell like garlic lol, i love to put cuttings in my room.
 
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duchess15

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Originally Posted by Dragoriana

Cool. I just wanted to know as we are on opposite sides of the world
i dont think they smell like garlic lol, i love to put cuttings in my room.
I know they don't! That's just what my mom thinks!
 

bonnie1965

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This is a beautiful pond you've created! Please do post updated pics when you can. I have to live vicariously through other people's ponds/homes
 
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duchess15

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Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

This is a beautiful pond you've created! Please do post updated pics when you can. I have to live vicariously through other people's ponds/homes
K, will do!
I've got to charge my battery first....hehe It died on me!
 

carolpetunia

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What a lovely environment you've created there! Thank you so much for letting us see your beautiful work!
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Duchess15

I do have tadpoles in there from toads.
Well they'll certainly take care of any mosquito larvae too! Toad tadpoles eat a lot and grow fast.

Originally Posted by Duchess15

Those are Salvia Greggii. They come in a variety of colors and that strong smell comes from the plant itself. It is in the mint family so that's why it has that odor.
I thought those were a type of Salvia
I have a huge purple S.pratensis in the large turtle pen thats a few years old now. If anyone is looking for a very hardy and beautiful perennial that does not get devoured by insects, Salvias are a good choice. As you can see in those pictures though, it gets bushy.
I always thought it smelled a bit like cat pee.
I do believe common sage is in the same genus, which is a better description of how pungent of a plants it are.
 
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duchess15

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Well they'll certainly take care of any mosquito larvae too! Toad tadpoles eat a lot and grow fast.



I thought those were a type of Salvia
I have a huge purple S.pratensis in the large turtle pen thats a few years old now. If anyone is looking for a very hardy and beautiful perennial that does not get devoured by insects, Salvias are a good choice. As you can see in those pictures though, it gets bushy.
I always thought it smelled a bit like cat pee.
I do believe common sage is in the same genus, which is a better description of how pungent of a plants it are.
Those salvias do get very big! However, there are so many types of salvia that do not even get that bushy. Some are very small, some are straight, skinny and tall. There is salvia coccinea, salvina romariana, mountain sage, canyon sage...etc. All of them are hardy and perennials!
 

calico2222

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Over the river and through the woods...
That is absolutely gorgeous! I am so impressed you did that all yourself. There isn't any way I could hire you, is there?
We're about ready to start landscaping and I have NO idea what to do. I mentioned to my husband that a pond would look nice...and if looks could kill!
 

adymarie

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That is absolutely lovely. You obviously have a green thumb - your plants and your pond are great!
 
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duchess15

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Originally Posted by calico2222

That is absolutely gorgeous! I am so impressed you did that all yourself. There isn't any way I could hire you, is there?
We're about ready to start landscaping and I have NO idea what to do. I mentioned to my husband that a pond would look nice...and if looks could kill!
You could show him mine for reference!
I did 95% by myself. I had some help with elevation and planning. But I did most of the work myself. Especially the digging. Talk about my hips hurting. I already had to be careful because I have hip problems.
I decided it was big enough when I didn't want to dig anymore.

Originally Posted by adymarie

That is absolutely lovely. You obviously have a green thumb - your plants and your pond are great!
I used to have a black thumb! I even killed catcus! Not intentionally. Then I had to take botany in college and part of our grade was growing bell peppers and I completely turned around. I wanted hummers so that's what got me started on the yard.
 
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