Community Pond

This pond/fountain is a community project that is getting real close to being finished. As you can see the fountain & pond are operational it has some plants in the pond and goldfish. Now it's adding plants around the outside and planting of grass. Last winter it was just a dream but thanks to some local companies, Polar Tank Repair and Two River Enterprises for welding up the 12'x14' stainless tank. Herman Ebnet for providing the machinery and helping move the donated rock from local land developer Tim Berschied. We got it built.

First Pond Cleaning

It's spring time when I have to take the dust filter off the wet & dry shop vac to suck out the rest of the gunk & water. This old shop vac seems to have a lower power rating but much more suction power than my other new one. My wife has the vision that our first patio is a extension of the house. Therefore it is important for it to be cleaned constantly , just like the inside.


The small pond is the first one cleaned this year. Some people have the philosophy of cleaning under the rocks. The preformed pond seen here works well, I have had to apply black silicone twice to cracks the year after installation as the ground settled. I has worked well since.

Cleaning under the waterfall for some people is like cleaning under the rug, where I usually store stuff. As long as she she sees this as her job it's ok with me. The larger ponds are a different matter, I am still working on finishing modifying them, to my satisfaction. Now we need to get about 8-12 dozen feeder gold fish, for my wifes watwr barrels and ponds as they are vicious mosquito larva eaters, they will aquire brilliant colors that they don't get being feed " fish food". The prettier ones we bring in to aquariums in the winter.

Tags: Minnesota Gardens Home Garden ponds rocks
water falls

Shady Vegetables

Having a lot of shade doesn't preclude no vegetable plants in the garden for the rabbits to eat. Here is a list of plants that can deal with shady areas. Remember though they still need a few hours of sunlight. A green rule of thumb is if you are growing a plant for it's leaves,buds, or stems, it can deal with the sun glasses. We have planted different kinds of lettuce in with flowers successfully for interesting effects.
Salad Greens, such as leaf lettuce, arugula, endive, cress, and radicchio
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Peas
Beets
Brussels Sprouts
Radishes
Swiss Chard
Leafy Greens, such as collards, mustard greens, spinach, and kale
Beans
Tags: Minnesota Gardens Home Garden vegetable garden

Spring Thoughts

Oh my goodness spring is finally here in Minnesota and time to clean the yard and think of........ oh wait I'm not young any more so my fancy turns to..... ? Sometimes I forget, ya ponds and things that keep me out of trouble. There are so many pond things to think about fish, what kinds, how many. Filters, bacteria food, fountains. What is leaking , what isn't. It is almost to much to think about. Ah, I'll just wander around the yard, after cutting a bunch of hedges this morning.

Tags: Minnesota Gardens Home Garden ponds

Fountian Pond

Our community garden is going to try something really different. They need to build a pond. It started out as just needing a collector for water that spilled off the fountain onto the ground. We thought about all kinds of solutions rubber ponds, concrete. Then I got the brilliant idea of making one out of stainless steel and covering the outside of the pond with local fieldstone.
It just so happens we have several local companies that work with stainless. Liking the idea when approcached they carried it to the next level suggesting that instead of a round shape it be formed in the shape of a local lake. Here is a rough sketch of what we are thinking about. I will post as to how it goes.
Tags: Minnesota Gardens Fountians & Ponds rocks