Garden Miscellany

Looking through some of the garden photos we've taken recently, there are those odd photos that roused our interest but not so much to dedicate an entire post about them.

So it's best to combine then in one post instead. A few of our garden miscellany...

Not many gardeners nowadays would recommend or deliberately plant running bamboos near fences or in such a tight space (gardening shows here in the early noughties seemed to have the penchant for doing just that).

Well we have several of such and as part of our maintenance of these plants is to leave surrounding paving stones loose so they can be lifted every so often, to check on rhizomes bidding to escape. Any rhizomes that do just gets cut off then the stone put back into place, easy peasy!

As well as growing plants we also like growing koi from small fish and these lot were maturing inside our growing on pond all of last year right up until a few weeks ago when most were already big enough to be moved to the big pond. And with space created in the growing on pond....

We just had to buy new ones to grow on. Eat up and get big boys and girls!

The Schefflera rhododendrifolia we have on the first raised bed near the koi pond always does this every spring. Not all of the buds survive though but it's a fascinating phenomenon and keep the plant looking 'lush' rather than umbrella like.

And to finish this miscellany...

The first time flowering of this Yucca recurvifolia, fantastic isn't it?

Mark :-)

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My Favourite Shed

Not that we have many, we only have two. Okay only one proper shed, you know the sort that is a wooden structure that is utilitarian and where you keep your garden tools and other odds and ends. The other shed, my favourite one has the growing on pond in it. And lots of plants too!

The plastic box is not normally there but I was using it to keep the hosepipe in place as I do a partial water change.

As regular readers will know this project took a while to come to completion, with the project delayed by the garden fire in 2013. However things were back on track last summer and we built this shed late last year. Following on from that we have been enjoying spending time in it since it was finished in early January. Whilst doing a partial water change this afternoon I took some photos and thought of giving a quick update on how this new shed of ours is doing.

Some fresh water for the fish

We have tweaked the setup recently. The main filter is now an Evolution Aqua Eazypod, and this filtration has been enhanced by an Oasis Clear Pond filter that has a UV clarifier that clumps algae, prevents green water, and greatly helps with the water clarity. Plus it provides extra biological filtration too. In theory the Eazypod could more than handle the volume of water in this pond, but as you can never really over-filter a pond any filtration added can only benefit the pond and its residents.

Setting up the filtration has been very simple. The system is pump fed to a splitter where 75% of the water passes to the EazyPod and 25% to the Oasis filter with the UVC.

The Eazypod therefore does the bulk of the filtration - both biological and also mechanical. The inside of the Eazypod is filled with static K1 which has a huge surface area to encourage the bacteria that break down the fish waste. This also allows solids to settle which are flushed to waste (more on that in a moment).

The water from this filter is then returned by 3" pipe to the pond.

The second filter takes a smaller volume of water, this contains sponge filters and flocor, again providing mechanical and biological plus the UVC to reduce algae in the water. I think we will probably remove the flocor and add kaldnes K3 instead as this has a higher surface area, and thus can be home to more of the good bacteria needed in the system.

Another thing is that as the filtration is now maturing nicely improving fish healtj and water clarity, not only removing solid wastes but neutralising the toxic byproducts produced by the fish. I have to say I'm especially most impressed with the main filter of the pond which is an Eazypod. It filters very efficiently and is very, very easy to clean and maintain. You only need a few minutes to clean the filter and no need to be touching fish poo. Highly recommended if you're thinking of a filter for a pond!

The waste from the pond is fed to a large clump of bamboo just behind the filter house, I'm sure the bamboo wont object to regular watering with concentrated fish waste.

The other inhabitants along with the fish are a number of plants, enjoying the warmth and shelter the shed provides.

As for the plants, all are doing well and have noticeably grown since we placed them there in January. None have migrated out as of yet but it won't be long now when most of them will, now that the growing season is well and truly here.

Mark :-)

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Hop and Skip to a Pond Makeover

Saturday morning is usually a recovery period from the working week that's just gone past, a period when it's not always easy to make a decision on anything definite to do in the garden. Or even whether to go somewhere else instead or not unless there was something arranged beforehand.

Sometimes the best antidote to a cloudy head is an aimless walk in the garden first thing in the morning. And last Saturday I found myself wandering down towards the pond on the bottom patio.

Hmmmm....that Gunnera tinctoria is waking up nicely and looking good....

Which made me then think that it's been quite awhile since I last walked on the edge of this pond. And there are views of the garden whilst stood on it that are a treat by virtue of how infrequent I stand on it.

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Horchata and Tapioca Pearls

Mmmmmm....tapioca pearls....

in cold horchata and what you have is my favourite exotic summer drink! I love the chewy texture of the former mixed with the light milky and ground almond flavour of the latter. It may come across as a strange combination, sort of a Spanish/Latin/Asian fusion drink. The resulting mix however is not that dissimilar to the flavour of bubble tea drink that is popular in Asia which some of you may be aware of already.

Sweet daydreams of summer after making a brief cold journey from the house to the koi shed to feed the fish and seeing those 'pearls' above that look so much like tapioca pearls.

Alas, those 'pearls' are not edible and are actually beneficial bacteria laden balls and you certainly wouldn't want to put them anywhere near your mouth despite its innocent and chewy appearance. We add them to the pond filter every so often to help with the biological filtration as the filter is new and yet to mature. Basically they help keep the pond healthy until the filter can sufficiently do what it's supposed to do on its own.

Bacteria balls in the filter, it was time to inspect the other residents in the shed which are the succulents. Last weekend I was able to move in the remainder of what's supposed to go there after a quick trip to Ikea to buy more of those colourful bowls.

I'm loving the bright colours, makes the shed a more cheerful place to spend time in. 

Lined like that on the steel shelving they look like laboratory specimens too. Quite apt as I guess a lot of those succulents are products of tissue culture.

Now let's have a closer look at some of them...

Aloe 'Sparkling Burgundy' but not looking so burgundy at the moment

Aloe brevifolia to the left and a couple of Aloe suprafoliata in the middle

A trio of hybrid Aloes at the front

A couple of white variegated Aloe brevifolia at the back amongst hybrid aloes and some agaves

Other residents not on the those shelves are doing fine...

One of the Tillandsias on the left vase did perish so is now gone. The Aloe ferox on the right was given by the kind folks at Jersey Plants Direct

Sat on the chair, a quick look back up to the succulents before I head back to the house...

Come to think of, why wait till summer to have some horchata?? I'll make myself some over the weekend, ice cold enjoyed in a warm house! Even better that I have uncooked tapioca pearls in the larder.

Dreaming of summer? And what's your favourite summer drink?

Mark :-)

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Building Ponds - Again

It seems like we always have a construction project on the go in the garden. The current one is the "shed of fun" we have blogged about recently. To add to our large koi pond, the shed of fun will house a growing on pond.

The initial idea behind this is to create a place that new fish can be kept before moving into the main pond. A sort of quarantine so we can check for parasites or disease and treat as appropriate before the fish enters the main pond. Treatment is much easier (and costs less too) in a smaller pond.  

As well as a quarantine pond we will also use this to grow fish on. We tend not to buy large fish, and often buy very small ones, to be able to appreciate the smaller ones in a large pond is difficult as they can get lost. 

The new pond will be about 2,500 litres (550 imperial gallons), and filtered by a Nexus Eazy Pod - an eBay purchase we will be collecting next weekend. We had considered a number of different filter options. Wanting to combine a number of factors such as ease of use, the space available, filtering qualities, initial costs and running cost.

Our first plan had been to use black box filters, and we actually bought one for this purpose, but having spent some time considering the set up we decided this was not for the best and went with an Eazy Pod. Fortunately a second hand one was for sale close to us, so that will hopefully work well (on both the pond and our wallet).

We were so busy working inside we didn't take any photos of the koi house. The door is has been made, and hung, along with a sturdy lock to keep unwanted visitors out!

Inside has been where most of our time has gone this weekend, with the front of the pond finished off and clad in uPVC tongue and groove cladding. We are quite fortunate to have a fantastic family owned builders merchant close by who have helped us through out our projects, either in suggesting products to use or just talking the time to chat us through some of the techniques to complete whatever project we were on at the time.

With the clear plastic sides this building will also be useful for over wintering some of our tender plants, and to that end we will add a shelving unit along one side to house them.

The pond liner will go in next weekend, and with any luck we will have the wooden surround finished around the top of the pond as well. The filtration will take a little longer to set up, we will need to pick up a number of additional items, pipes, connectors etc. However i'm sure this will be a lot easier to connect up than the filtration on the main pond.

Some of the connections on the main pond.

There's still quite a bit to do but we are on the final stages now. Pond liner and filters in next then we can start to play with the space.

The space next to the new pond will house a small table and chairs as well as also provide space for a number of plants to over winter. I can see us spending quite a lot of time in here over the winter months!

Gaz :)

(hopefully we will have more photos to share in the next update)

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Exotic Plants and Exotic Fish

As most of you know by now our main hobby is exotic gardening with koi keeping secondary to that. Although both coexist in our garden, our external and social endeavours for both rarely mix together, and we pursue both disciplines on separate occasions. We are active members of Kangei Koi Club and we all meet quite regularly and have been visiting each others pond, as well as meeting up once a month.  And being a koi club we talk mainly about, as the name suggests koi and rarely about plants and gardening.

But one of koi club buddies, Paul Randall to our pleasant surprise is actually into exotic gardening as well. And last Sunday he hosted a picnic and pond visit for the koi club. His pond is stunning but as a fellow exotic gardener naturally we paid as much attention to his planting as much as we did to his pond. 

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Product Review: Evolution Aqua Evo 55

Our koi pond has been up and running for just over a year now, and so far things seem to be working as intended. We were recently offered the opportunity to add an Evolution Aqua Evo 55 UVC by Swell UK. Evolution Aqua have been developing a range of good quality pond accessories over recent years with a full range of filters and accessories for koi keeping. A UVC on a pond system helps to reduce algae by killing the algae as the water passes through the UVC, it also helps steralise some of the bacteria in the water.

The Evo 55 is simple to fit, it comes with fittings to connect to flexi-pipe however as we have a rigid pipe based system we needed to use slightly different fittings. Fortunately these are of a standard size so single screw into both ends of the UVC.

All our filter equipment is connected to water proof power supplies, although there shouldn't be any water splashing about in the filter house we wanted to be extra careful, and so far this has worked well. It was a simple job to connect the power to the UVC.

With the filters operating for a the last 15 months, it looks like we had the right approach in over filtering and under stocking. The fish have really benefited being relocated from their old small pond, growing well and also having fewer problems. Cleaning the filters has also worked out as we had hoped, not taking too much time as its such a simple almost automated process. At first I had to follow the instructions each time but now it just is second nature.


We are hoping the water quality and clarity continues to improve as the filters mature and with the addition of this UVC. 

Gaz

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What's In The Box?

Ohh so what's new and in the box?

Before I reveal let me show you first this sprouting Eremurus...

I love the way that to me they look like tentacles or corals rising up from the ground and waving from the surface. Admittedly my attraction towards certain Eremurus started with their foliage and if we get blooms from them later on then that's just a bonus. I've forgotten the name of this particular one but they reward us with spires of orange blooms in the summer. The beauty of the foliage only lasts though until the flower spikes emerge and as that progress the foliage dies down to almost nothing and eventually the blooms take centre stage. Lovely plant, just wish the foliage lasted longer and didn't go scruffy as it bloomed.

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The Koi Pond: Planting Details

The section of our garden that was featured on our Big Koi Pond Reveal post is a newly developed part of our garden which so happens to have a big pond as its main feature. Although the main passion and drive to complete this section was to keep koi, we are plants people after all so the planting around the pond was planned with just as much excitement and consideration.

Aloe polyphylla

So what about the planting scheme of this area? Well here's a bit more about the plants, design, and planting scheme.

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Lighting up The Jungle

Over the coming winter, once the house redecoration is complete, we have set ourselves a couple of tasks in the garden. I'm sure you wouldn't expect us to be doing nothing at this time of the year no would you!!  We have the quarantine pond to finish and also we want to add irrigation. However one task that has been long over due is to make the jungle part of the garden more illuminated.

With the new koi pond we added lighting to the pergola to illuminate the pond and fish, keeping it not too bright so as to not upset the neighbours. We also added lighting to the first and second raised beds, using small spot lights to pick out some of the more specimen plants. Mostly the plants highlighted are yuccas, which I guess was probably right as they are the most architectural in that border.

Lighting up the Koi pond

Yucca linearifolia

Yucca rostrata

I would like to add some light to the third raised bed and also the koi filter house, although now things are completed there I'm not sure I can hide the cables without disturbing the finish, so perhaps not.

With the fire and birth of the new Jungle Hut we changed the style of the lighting, adding a pendant and two wall lights, with which we are really pleased. We would now like to add extra lighting to that bottom part of the garden, partly to illuminate the pathway and also to pick out key plants.

For the pathways, I would quite like to have something like this post light from Zed Lighting, keeping quite a simple look to the lighting so the lights themselves don't steal the show compared to the garden itself. We have started to introduce a few other stainless steel elements into the garden so they would tie in.

Where we want to pick out particular plants we will use a similar low voltage solution to that we used in the raised beds by the pond. These were easy to install and being low voltage reduces the risks in the garden. 

I have seen a few gardens where they make a feature of the lighting using coloured lights to illuminate trees or other features at night, whist these can be quite impressive, I'm not sure that would work with the enclosed nature of our garden.

Having just walked down the garden with a torch to take photos of the Jungle hut it makes me realise just how important new lighting along the path in that direction will be, so when the jobs in the house are all finished I'm looking forward to new projects!

Gaz

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Never the Idle Dreamers

A summary and a monthly timeline of our Koi Pond project from start till finish...

May 2010 - Clearing the area

June 2010 - Construction of first raised bed and pathway begins

July 2010 - the Big Dig has begun

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From Lawn to Jungle

We call the area at the bottom of our garden "The Jungle", the planting in this area is a little more untamed, plants jostle for position and people have to push past overhanging plants.

The area itself is not huge, but it does feel bigger than it is as you cant see it all and have to explore. It hasn't always been like that of course. When we first moved into the property this area was mostly a lawn, dominated by a huge old sycamore with a few shrubs round the edges, a pig sty on one side, and the remains of a World War II bomb shelter in the far corner. 

View towards what became the Jungle

Same View today after the shed was extended - (see here for the extension blog)

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The Ghost of a Koi Pond

The ghost of an old koi pond came back to haunt us again last year. It was finally dealt with and exorcised away last weekend.

Yes, there was a large koi pond already in the garden even before we moved in, albeit decommissioned. Photo taken in February 2005 as 
we were viewing the property and garden for the first time.

It was this large hole that we had to fill up when we first moved in to the house (and garden) and it turned out to be of great use as we cleared out the garden and saved on needing to avail of a skip hire. Gradually it was filled up with hardcore, organic matter, and other debris from previous projects.

The hole was gradually filled up with soil, organic material, and rubble. Photo taken in 2006

The fences in this area were old and falling apart and had to be replaced too.

If there was soil then we might as well grow something on it, although I don't think we actually harvested anything by the end of the season. 
Photo taken in 2006

We started to plant out ornamentals on the designated border by 2007, and demarcated where a seating area should be. I've forgotten 
how many tender plants we bedded out that time. Unfortunately Schefflera macrophylla turned out to be tender too!

Then when it was full it was compacted, filled with some sand and a temporary patio was built over it so we can use it as a seating area. And this patio lasted for awhile. 

The original patio as layed in 2008, using a mixture of materials available on hand then

We always knew there will be subsidence at some stage, it was just a matter of time and when. Organic matter rots, pockets of spaces that were inevitably not filled then would eventually get filled in, and the area will subside eventually. And that became evident last year. But we were far too busy then so it had to wait for awhile to be sorted.

The weather last weekend was wonderful, and perfect too for bigger spring jobs, like sorting out the patio

The patio residents had to move elsewhere whilst work was in progress. As for the chairs...

They had three coats of stain a few weeks ago. I took this photo so I can actually see myself the difference between a stained and unstained 
one. The colour of the stain I used turned out to be so close to the original that I wasn't sure at first if it made any difference at all. At least the 
colour is richer now and I know it's more protected against the elements.

The larger stones were kept and reused, whilst most of the smaller pieces were replaced with new and larger sandstone.

The leftover clay from the pond build came in very handy for this job!

And that time finally came, old flagstones were lifted up and more hardcore, rubble, and clay came in to level the area again. After they were compacted most of the old and weathered sandstone flags were relayed. Some of the smaller pieces of stone and paving that were used before had to go as this time we decided to mix in new but bigger sandstone flags with the old ones. These new ones should weather and blend in nicely with the rest of the old ones, gradually through the course of time.

Someone is curious...

Here it is now after two days of work (albeit leisurely and plenty of gardening in between), stones relayed and the area level once again. Hopefully this will last and stay like this for quite some time. The stones were laid on a sand base without mortar joints so that they are very stable but also easy to remove for adjustments if and when subsidence happens again. 

Patio now relayed but work in the garden continues....

Eventually subsidence will stop as we gradually add more rubble and inorganic material, and from there we can do something more permanent for this spot. But for now we'll just have to keep exorcising the ghost of an old koi pond whenever it makes an apparition. Mind you exorcising isn't so bad especially when it is done on fine days with fab weather like it was last weekend!

Mark :-)

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