water lillies l- ong
ok I have lurked on this and the previous group for 3 years and
finally have a question I haven't seen answered. First here are the basics 8200US gal / 31200 L - Dug with EPGM Liner - Laguna 5000 Filter Falls (1320 US gph/5000L) powered by Laguna PowerJet 7000 (2142US gph/ 8100lph) - Fountain powered by Laguna PowerJet 2000 (977 US gph/3700 lph) with Laguna 2 stage filter - Frog Spitter powered by Laguna PowerJet 2000 (977 US gph/3700 lph) with Laguna 2 stage filter - OASE Biotec 4UV Filter Powered by unknown pump - ZONE 3 -Waterlilys, Iris, Hornwort, Arrowhead, & Water Hyacinth - Snails, 2 Suckers & lots of Goldfish - 2-6" in size, only seen 1 frog so far this year but usually 12 or more I plead guilty to being a "lazy" gardener, if it takes too much fuss I don't want it. That said I LOVE water lillies and have put several into the pond and while they have always grown and flowered I have never been happy with the amount of growth and now find that it is due mainly to my ignorance of planting depth. Apparently I somehow managed to miss the part about them being 12-18" below the water and just "assumed' that since water lillies in the lake are at least 4' below the water mine could be too...OOPPPSS. Now I need a way to "suspend" my lilly pots so that they are no longer "drowning' in the middle of the pond at 3.5'. I was thinking that since I plant them in the perforated plastic baskets I could somehow "hang" them with rope or ties from the rocks around the edge of the pond so that they were 18" down the pond wall but still accessible without climbing into the pond. I do not want to have blocks in the pond proper as it is a pain to access anything there and there are already a few set up for the Iris so space is limited. Any other options you guys can come up with? I am sorry that this is so long but I didn't want to miss some necessary peice of information. Elaine |
water lillies l- ong
Elaine wrote I plead guilty to being a "lazy" gardener
I, too, am a lazy gardener. :-)) I think mine are about 2.5 - 3 feet down. We have to drain the pond a bit, have DH put on waders to get them out to fertilize them, or traumatize into dividing. I think my lilies would prefer I left them alone. They get attention once a year, poor dears. I think your solution sounds good. I tried baskets hung over the edge of a stock tank filter and filled them with watercress. Worked well until the something decided to eat all the watercress that was so continently placed there for them. Not much help, I just wanted to bond with a sister lazy gardener... k :-) |
water lillies l- ong
On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:35:20 CST, earhtmother
wrote: I plead guilty to being a "lazy" gardener, if it takes too much fuss I don't want it. That said I LOVE water lillies and have put several into the pond and while they have always grown and flowered I have never been happy with the amount of growth and now find that it is due mainly to my ignorance of planting depth. Apparently I somehow managed to miss the part about them being 12-18" below the water and just "assumed' that since water lillies in the lake are at least 4' below the water mine could be too...OOPPPSS. Now I need a way to "suspend" my lilly pots so that they are no longer "drowning' in the middle of the pond at 3.5'. Elaine You might want to get a hold of some of those lake lilies. ;-) I know Derek has some down that deep, perhaps he remembers the varieties that grow best deep? Or there are these: http://www.pondbiz.com/home/pb1/page...nderwater.html Or you can make similar with pvc spray painted black? Or you can buy black plastic work shop shelving using a bottom and top piece: http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-72-.../dp/B0006GNA1E The above is really good for ponds that are straight sided, no built in shelves, and fish can hide underneath. For easier maintenance on deep lilies, put a heavy duty wire on them so you can hook and pull up to feed, clip pads and dead head old lilies (so DH doesn't have to go diving). ;-) ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us |
water lillies l- ong
get the 3 point hangers. paint galvanized pipe and set it across an open
area, or even suspend it under the water a bit. hang the lilies. you can also pot them up in solid waterlily pots so you can shove fert spikes in there to kick em up into growth and bloom. you should also consider plastic over the pond in winter to keep the water open and the lilies growing a bit so there isnt such a long start up time for them in spring. zone 3 is tough on lilies. and they really need full sun all day if possible. Ingrid "earhtmother" wrote in message oups.com... ZONE 3 - I LOVE water lillies and have put several into the pond and while they have always grown and flowered I have never been happy with the amount of growth and now find that it is due mainly to my ignorance of planting depth. Apparently I somehow managed to miss the part about them being 12-18" below the water and just "assumed' that since water lillies in the lake are at least 4' below the water mine could be too...OOPPPSS. Now I need a way to "suspend" my lilly pots so that they are no longer "drowning' in the middle of the pond at 3.5'. I was thinking that since I plant them in the perforated plastic baskets I could somehow "hang" them with rope or ties from the rocks around the edge of the pond so that they were 18" down the pond wall but still accessible without climbing into the pond |
water lillies l- ong
On Apr 20, 4:04 am, "drsolo" wrote:
you should also consider plastic over the pond in winter to keep the water open and they really need full sun all day if possible. Plastic is a no go as there is no way to anchor it all the way around, we do try tp keep a small peice of water open for the fish but even that can be tricky with our our winter temps and weather (lows this year-30 for many days and 4' of snow all at once in Jan) Full sun is not a problem as that is pretty much what it gets all day. Elaine |
water lillies l- ong
On Apr 20, 12:24 am, ~ jan wrote:
Or there are these:http://www.pondbiz.com/home/pb1/page...nderwater.html Or you can make similar with pvc spray painted black? The above is really good for ponds that are straight sided, Unfortunately sides slope so there is little bottom floor not already filled with pumps, filters , iris blocks or plants (so DH doesn't have to go diving). Won't be Dh will be me so am already figuring out a "withdrwal" system for next time |
water lillies l- ong
~ jan wrote:
You might want to get a hold of some of those lake lilies. ;-) I know Derek has some down that deep, perhaps he remembers the varieties that grow best deep? Any of the odorata varieties should be able to handle it. I think the lake lilies you mention may be "Cow lilies" (spatterdock?). However, apparently odorata are now an invasive species in your neck of the woods (they belong on the East side of the Rockies). -- derek - Unless otherwise noted, I speak for myself, not rec.ponds.moderated moderators. |
water lillies l- ong
I would be inclined to go for the 3 legged stool approach. That way you
don't have anything visible to spoil the view. Minimum bottom area required. Just make sure the bottoms of the legs are large and soft enough not to damage the liner. Cheers Gordon (UK based long time lurker) "earhtmother" wrote in message oups.com... On Apr 20, 12:24 am, ~ jan wrote: Or there are these:http://www.pondbiz.com/home/pb1/page...nderwater.html Or you can make similar with pvc spray painted black? The above is really good for ponds that are straight sided, Unfortunately sides slope so there is little bottom floor not already filled with pumps, filters , iris blocks or plants (so DH doesn't have to go diving). Won't be Dh will be me so am already figuring out a "withdrwal" system for next time |
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