Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- waterfall progress 161Apr 22, 2015 3:06 pm The waterfall is nearing completion. The rocks have been cemented in place. The rest of the granite rocks will be placed on it strategically (not cemented in) for a more natural effect and so we can change the water flow if required to a more pleasing effect. We have yet to test it out. But the next step will be to seal the concrete base of the natural filter pond, which was finished yesterday. http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/Waterfall%20in%20progress_zpsw4qi2bqb.jpg Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- nearly done 162Apr 27, 2015 2:30 pm The ponds are filled, water lily tubs are in. It took over 9 thousand litres to fill! The top pond is the plant filter, we have to get a few more plants to put in it first . We will be testing waterfall flow next and will adjust where the flow goes as needed. http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/POnd%20filled2%202_zpsqnumzqb8.jpg http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/POnd%20filled2%201_zpsw2faidvt.jpg The trout fingerlings aren't available til September so the microhabitat will be well established by then. Meantime we are hoping we don't have any wild ducks decide to fly in ! We've planted some tree ferns at the side of the pond and will add more understory plants as they grow, possibly wood violets and small ferns. We will also put in some screening plants at the back of the waterfall. So we're nearly done. (Ps the logs on the left have just been moved out of the garden, we needed to clear a little path for servicing the pump if needed...) The final hard landscape step will be making the hopefully "kiddie proof" fence. We have some lovely old lichen-covered fence posts to use, (dug 'em up for free from a local farmer) and we've been keeping an eye out in scrap yards or junk shops for a small iron bedhead or rustic gate we can utilise to get into the pump area. Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- nearly done 163Apr 28, 2015 12:41 am I am utterly amazed and impressed! So, so good Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- nearly done 164Apr 28, 2015 4:57 am 9000 litres goodness gracious! It looks lovely though I can just imagine what it'll look like with the water lilies and tree ferns - both huge favourites of mine. Can't wait to see it all done and the plants mature Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- nearly done 165Apr 28, 2015 10:51 am Thanks Trixee and Malsannie! I can't yet visualise the fencing bit, cos DH won't want to screen the pond off from view, so not sure how he will address the aesthetic- but more importantly the safety side of it- for the young'uns. Will be interesting. He will remove the little temporary fibreglass pond and turn that area into a "frog bog" with suitable plants now that we've seen the rain runoff working so well down the riverbed. We have a little native frog here that spawns in water but doesn't live in it, it's a tiny cute one with white belly. It will enjoy the damp frog bog habitat. ( Must look up what it's called.) I wish "banjo" frogs were native down here, love their calls. . ."plink plonk plink " Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 166Apr 30, 2015 2:55 pm This is how cheeky "our" blue wrens have become....! the male is slowly getting his breeding colours. http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/Birdy%20knee_zpsc9krsrap.jpg This is the male in full breeding plumage. http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/o3-wa-south-west-1061_zpscois5tos.jpg This is the male redwinged fairy wren, also gorgeous! http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/redwinged%20wren_zpsi4oclvtp.jpg Wishing we could attract these to our garden as well but they seem to be less bold than the blues. We've adjusted the rocks and got the waterfall flowing where we want it, but need to buy a bigger pipe, the one we are using is not big enough for the volume we want. The pump can definitely handle much more volume. Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 167Apr 30, 2015 5:54 pm Looks so good. Are you planning to use the pond for aquaponics or anything else? And how cute are your wrens! Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 168Apr 30, 2015 11:25 pm Yes Yvonneh, DH is currently looking into brown trout and silver perch. So far the silver perch seem the best bet, fingerlings of the trouts are available in September but they are less tolerant water temperature wise than the silver perch, also silver perch thrive in even high levels of alkalinity and they don't eat the fingerlings or fry....So maybe we will get a few trout but mostly silver perch. Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 169May 01, 2015 5:43 am I love (eating) silver perch if that helps at all What plant matter are you supporting with it or is it just the filter pond? Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 170May 01, 2015 6:10 am I've always wondered what they were called! I took some pictures wayyy back when we were visiting Perth (will have to dig them out to confirm) of similar little blue birds. They are so cute! Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 171May 01, 2015 9:05 am Here are the pics the rest were even more blurred: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Is this a bottlebrush? I love it - one of my favourite photos of that day: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 172May 01, 2015 12:09 pm yvonneh I love (eating) silver perch if that helps at all What plant matter are you supporting with it or is it just the filter pond? No they won't be in the filter pond, the roots filter out the garbage from the water before it goes through the waterfall and down to the main pond. We'll get advice from Fisheries or nurseries on suitable water plants, but they are ominivorous and readily eat pellets, either sinking or floating. We have water lillies in the pond and a couple of water plants so far. Silver perch have small mouths not like carp, they munch through everything and make a mess of the water!! So silver perch will eat the mosquito larvae and whatever beetles etc fall into the pond as well. I will be happy with silver perch and chips or oven cooked with cheese baked veggies, fresh picked beans and tarragon potatoes on the side...yummy. Lovely pics Mal! They are gorgeous birdys. That's a pink honey myrtle (melaleuca). Very pretty. Bottlebrush are callistemons and tend to have a longer, more formed "brush." Honey myrtles can have more open, less formed flowers. Bottlebrush also have quite different bark and leaves to a melaleuca. Beautiful Bottlebrush: http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/Perth%20pink_zpscl9ngggf.jpg This is the thyme honey myrtle flower. Gorgeous isn't it!http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/_35_zpszppsbctm.jpg Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 173May 01, 2015 4:36 pm They are beautiful - thanks for the info Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 174May 01, 2015 7:47 pm http://anpsa.org.au/mel-cal.html this link explains the differences. To make it even more difficult, Kunzeas have a similar flower....they are related to callistemons. Here's two Kunzea flower pics: http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/Kunzea1_zpsprnb1exc.jpg http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b609/WestAussieforeva/Kunzea2_zpssm532g0a.jpg Confused?? I am!!! Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 175May 02, 2015 8:45 am Love the pond, the plants and the wildlife. Your biggest challenge for the survival of the fish to an adult size is probably keeping the Kookaburras and Kingfishers at bay. Those guys can decimate a pond pretty quick. Stewie Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 176May 02, 2015 12:17 pm Agreed! We have some resident kookaburras less than 400 metres from us where there is a natural watercourse. Sources say to feed the fish early evening rather than morning as they all come to the surface and are too easily spotted by birds...but this is when the kookaburras all come home to roost! we will try it just before dusk. We once had shubunkens, mollys, rosie barbs and gilgies (little native marron) in a pond and one morning, noticed a grey (blue) heron fly in from the kitchen window. By the time we'd admired the bird (it was beautiful) and then ran outside to scare it off, it had eaten the entire population of fish except for the barbs & gilgies- all in under two minutes!!! Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 177May 02, 2015 4:12 pm I was going to mention herons. Cormorants too are pretty voracious birds. In the saltwater pool at the end of our local beach my daughter and I dived down and watched a cormorant clean up about 10 fish, 100 -125mm long in no time. It was wary of us and kept its distance but hunted down all those fish to within about 3m away. It was a very capable swimmer and a small pool like yours would pose no problem. We ended up laying chicken wire over our small pond but still lost all our goldfish to a Kookaburra. Stewie Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 178May 02, 2015 4:49 pm Goldfish are quite slow swimmers by comparison to the barbs, who could get under cover faster. It was crafty though, stood where it was not casting a shadow over the pond. The scorecard: 2 minutes or less: Heron = 1 40 Shubunkins and about 10 mollys = 0 Oh forgot we still had our 3 koi, maybe too much of a mouthful for the heron?! We haven't seen cormorants overhead, but darters could be a problem. They tend to stick to the watercourses but you never know... Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 179May 02, 2015 11:09 pm I'm always confused anyway, Trees Kookaburras are so pretty! The Aussie plants and animals have amazing names Re: Landscaping our half acre heaven- the blues 180May 03, 2015 8:48 pm Problem with cormorants is that they'll eat until they are full, vomit it up and start eating something new. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Hmmm, I have checked your past posts and it seems that you are in NSW, not WA as I had thought. It pays to show your State in your avatar. Retaining wall regulations… 5 7879 Hi, you've probably already resolved this, however, Commbank will probably pay the funds to you after you send evidence the work is done regardless the change in the quotes. 1 35361 Ideally you would engage a landscaper to give you some insight what they may need in the space to make your vision come to life… 1 13673 |