LL's Gardening Diary

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lancashire lass
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Snow! 1st March 2018

Post by lancashire lass »

Back in January:

lancashire lass wrote:January 2018 seems to have been wetter and more dull than usual, with temperatures oscillating between freezing and extraordinary mildness followed by strong gale force winds. The early hours of Thursday 18th January were particularly bad - I woke up to the wind slamming into the house at about 3.30 am .... Then I heard something moving and then an almighty clatter very close by. I could see a ridge tile on the drive and ... a scratch down the door of the drivers side.


Well, the planned day to take my car for repair was ... today. I had booked the day off from work as I didn't fancy trying to drive an unfamiliar (courtesy) car to work in peak traffic, and the weather forecast wasn't that great. Just as well because this is what met me first thing this morning:

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The snow kept falling and by the time I set off there was about 5 inches of snow on top. By the time I'd cleared it off to defrost the windows, the car was covered again. And everyone seemed to have heeded the "don't drive unless necessary" so the roads were not well cleared at all. I drove at 30 mph down the A52 where normally people race past you at 80 mph ... it was very strange to see so few cars on the roads. The courtesy car is a Ford Fiesta - and as expected, found the journey home very stressful.

Last night I had the foresight to bring the chicken drinkers indoors - and both were solid ice cubes despite putting fresh water in the morning. Scary the blue came bolting out of her coop and seemed disappointed when I ushered her back into the coop. I haven't been closing the coop doors for several months now but it was so Baltic yesterday that I decided that it was more a necessity - I had a quick peek through the side door and she was just standing there looking forlornly at her closed coop door {rofwl} It seemed so funny.

And this is what met me at the back (another photo for the Pond Project journal - I think we've just about covered all weathers now, all in exactly 6 months of finishing it in time for the August bank holiday weekend)

Image

I peeked under the netting by the biofilter and could see the water in the pond was not frozen and the pump is still working fine. Putting the PVC sheet over the pond was a great idea )t'
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lancashire lass
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Sunday 11th March 2018 (Mothering Sunday)

Post by lancashire lass »

Quite a contrast from last weekend's weather - it was mild but foggy at first which then cleared for a rather pleasant sunny morning before the clouds rolled in and it rained. After a week of rain, sometimes very heavy especially overnight, the garden is once again very wet. The other day I had some water left over in the watering can after topping up the chicken drinkers but felt loathe to add more water to an already soggy garden, I decided to put it in the pond. As I peeked under the PVC cover to check on the pond, I had the shock of my life ... the water level was about an inch from overflowing over the top. Whoa yike*

So task for this weekend was a rescue! While it was mild, I lifted up the PVC sheets up to get a good look at the pond and set up a syphon hose from the pond to the drain at the side of the house. I wasn't worried so much about the water spilling over the top of the pond (though I wouldn't have been happy), it was the additional water putting more pressure to the walls of the pond. The water level was about a good 6-8 inches above the level I was happy with ... if my calculations are correct given the surface area and depth of the extra water, it worked out at another 750 kg + to the pond )run(

While the water slowly syphoned out (I was SOOOO tempted to hook the hose to the pump), I got on with some maintenance work. There seemed to be a bit of scum and a little bit of blanketweed (tangled up in the elodea and duckweed) but generally the water looked clean and didn't smell. Yet there were ... 3 more dead goldfish {cry} I can't decide whether it is something wrong with the pond or as a result of the cold weather. Maybe I left it too late when I set up the pond and the fish were not big enough to withstand such a bitter cold winter? Those in the pond circle indicate something wrong with the water chemistry and yet, all the tests indicate everything is okay except the pH is a little low (but not crashing) As the only thing that seems wrong (even if only slight) is the pH, so I dissolved some sodium bicarbonate and added it to the pond water. I'll give it a few more days and do it again while still keep doing the tests.

Meanwhile, it makes sense to set up the fish tank in the house and try to move the remaining goldfish to it when it is settled. Maybe the fish are sick and need treatment. Then have another look at the pond and find out what the problem is. Maybe something has leached into the water though I can't think what - everything is either natural (gravel), plastic or the recommended pond equipment or substitute such as the liner or filter materials. When I was cleaning the ledge round the pond (brand new clean sponge, with no added detergent/antibacterial), it was filthy black such as from deposits of coal/smog ... maybe an air pollutant? So I think I'm looking at draining the whole pond in early spring, cleaning it as best I can before filling up and starting over again.

It will give me opportunity to rethink the biofilter - the cold snaps certainly made me think that perhaps I could have partially buried the water butt when I was levelling off the paving / digging and building the pond (it would have helped to partially insulate the water butt from the worst of the cold) and have the top level with the planter. Then I can finish off boxing in the biofilter which not only make it look neater but help insulate against extreme cold and heat. And at the same time, give more though about the filter box I'd got and set it up properly. Also, I'd like to build a gazebo over the pond so that it keeps rain water from entering the pond as well as leaves, seeds and bird poo (not that I've had any that I know of) Of course, I'll have to consider how it might look and make it look like a feature rather than just a cover over the pond ... so a lot of things to think about this spring. And Easter is only 3 weeks away so time to book some leave I think, and start planning the new project.
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by Cheshire Chick »

Sorry to hear that you have lost some of your goldfish LL. It does seem a complicated business this pond keeping lark. We have never seen our pond as frozen as it was a week or so ago with all the snow and freezing temperatures. There was just a trickle of water coming from the pump. Luckily all fish seem to have coped well. My husband is always "doing the pond" i.e. cleaning it out, topping up with water, or taking excess water out. You do have to keep on top of them I think. Sounds like you have got a project lined up for the Easter Break. I think a pergola would look lovely over your pond. Good luck with the plans and keep us updated (with photos .. please).
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lancashire lass
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Sunday 25th March 2018

Post by lancashire lass »

On Thursday I received the raspberry canes and strawberry plants through the post so time to start thinking about the garden plans for Easter. Yesterday I bought 3 bags of compost so I can start sowing some seeds and potting up some plants ... I just haven't got any idea of where to put them yet LOL

Meanwhile today the sun was shining and it was mild outside - definitely feels like spring to me. Shame there "might" be snow later this week but I'm confident the Easter weekend and the few days I've booked off will be lovely. There was snow last weekend so I didn't get a chance to check on the pond so that was today's task. After lifting up the PVC sheets, I had a look for the goldfish and all seemed well and they were a little more active but still shy underneath the floating elodea and duckweed. Thankfully no more casualties.

After skimming off any scum and blanket weed from the water, I got on with cleaning the filters in the water butt. They were dirty so needed a good rinsing out before putting back. I also cleaned the pump grille which improved the water flow. The water in the pond has a slight green tint though still clear to see the pebbles and other debris at the bottom of the pond. I tested the water and everything looked almost okay - the chlorides looked a bit low, but the pH had nudged up to 7.0 so I'm wondering if there had been a pH crash and the sodium bicarbonate treatment had worked. I decided to add some more sodium bicarbonate today and a pinch of salt (sodium chloride - I have read about using salt with goldfish) I don't think the amount I had added would make any difference in the total volume of water but I'm not really sure how much to add so something to look up.

And as blanket weed and algae are starting to grow, I decided to start the blanket weed treatment (it's a powder in a dissolvable packet that you drop in the water - if I recall it contains minerals and bacteria which compete for the ammonia and nitrates in the water) I think the bacteria is limited by the temperature of the water but it definitely felt a lot warmer in the pond than it did out of the mains water tap. Even the plants in the planter looked like they were starting to grow ... have to admit you had to look very closely and convince yourself. I was a little worried that the Red Stemmed Parrots Feather in one of the crates had been killed off by the extremely cold snap we'd had but the remaining stems looked red so maybe there's still life there. The variegated Sweet Flag and the Yellow Flag Iris had new shoots. The Japanese Dwarf Bulrush and the Corkscrew Rush don't look any different but not totally dead so there's hope yet. I am a little worried by the Fibre Optic plant .... maybe it needs a hair cut? I must read up about care of the bog plants.

Talking of plants, if and when I erect the gazebo, one of my plans is to create some floating islands for some plants - at the moment I'm limited by the depth of the water (and I don't want to reduce space for the fish and clutter the bottom up with big pots) and the net directly over the top. On the pond forum I registered with, most have done away with nets once they build a gazebo so I think I'm going in the right direction. I'm feeling a lot more confident of the pond than I did about a fortnight ago.

Meanwhile, the garden is looking very messy. I tried walking down the length but the soil is so wet and boggy .... I think I've got a lot of work to do rescuing the garden and fruit trees this year! And once again, the cover on one of the polytunnels has slipped off ....

Image

Roll on Easter!
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lancashire lass
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Easter Sunday 1st April 2018

Post by lancashire lass »

Unbelievably, the rain started at 5.30 pm on Thursday when I finished work for my Easter break .... and only stopped on Sunday. Forecast for the rest of the week does not sound promising either except for much milder temperatures - if nothing else, I would like to get the seeds sown to take advantage of the warmer trend, and start planting the potatoes in the polytunnel. But first, time to plant the raspberries!

I had already potted up the strawberries soon after they had arrived into pots after soaking the roots. Within 24 hours the leaves were already opening and after just a few days all 10 plants (5 each of Mara des Bois and Gariguette) were looking well despite the cool temperatures outside. I was still deciding what to do with the raspberries so had left them somewhere cool while I made up my mind. While the soil in the garden is still so wet, I thought about planting in big pots until the weather improved but I have decided to use the big pots for growing the potatoes ... my plans to create beds in the polytunnels have hit a snag - after an expensive month with car repairs and other essentials, I'm a bit short on funds to buy in wood and materials. I had bought loads of big pots for the expanded chilli project in 2015 and the set up was more or less unchanged, so it made sense to use what I had. Unfortunately I had used some of the plastic racking for my pond but I'm sure I can put something together with what I've got.

I had planters on the patio from when I used to grow rhubarb until I had moved the plants to the allotment so they looked ideal. I put the 3 lots of raspberry canes into buckets of water while I got on moving the planters to the fence behind the pond and filled them up with a mix of soil, compost and some vermicullite. After a couple of hours of soaking, I teased the roots out of each bundle - there were 6 Polka, 3 All Gold and 3 Glen Ample - and seeded each with some mycorrhizal fungi before planting them. The soaking was like magic - the bare rooted canes looked very dead yet after a couple of hours in the water, the roots were brought to life. There were 4 planters so one each for the Glen Ample and All Gold, and 2 planters for the Polka.

After adding more compost, I put a layer of vermicullite on top - it should help to reduce surface water loss in sunny weather. Then I looked at the fence and remembered that it was a favourite spot for cats to jump over and the filled planters did look like potential poo places so I used canes to make it more difficult, and tied them up into wigwam shapes which I could use to support the raspberry canes when they grew. Roll on summer!
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KarenE
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by KarenE »

Roll on summer indeed LL! It's done nowt but rain )every weekend!) since autumn... At least you've been good and got your strawberries and raspberries out )t'
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lancashire lass
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Testing the Water again

Post by lancashire lass »

KarenE wrote:It's done nowt but rain (every weekend!) since autumn...


which is why my garden is saturated - worse, a near permanent 2" puddle has appeared at the bottom of the steps into the garden where the entrance to the chicken runs are sited )gr: I really need some wellies just to go and feed and check on the chickens as I've discovered the old trainers are not waterproof.

Today was dry for a while but I was house bound waiting for the postman - for a much awaited water test kit for the pond! The pond forum I joined dismissed the dipstick method as totally unreliable especially once the pack was opened and exposed to air, and many preferred the tests done in little tubes with solutions. As I lost a number of fish in the pond over winter, I owed it to them to see if the pond water chemistry was safe. The only problem is that these test kits cost about £24.

Well, I had a bit of inspiration - my Nectar card had built up to over £18 so I decided to convert £17.50p into ebay vouchers as one seller had the kit I was looking at for £20.65p ... so with the vouchers only cost me £3.15p! So my task today was to test the water.

First, the TAP WATER results:

Dipstick method (pack I've been using)

Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
pH - 7.6
KH - 6 dH
GH - 8 dH
Chlorine - 0.8

NT Pondlab 200 solution

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
pH - 7
KH - 7 dH
GH - 11 dH

A big difference in the GH reading but as both the KH and GH readings are above 4 which is too low for fish health, this is supposed to be okay. Even the pH of 7 is in the okay bracket. So I tested the pond water - for a start, it did not look as crystal clear as the tap water ... with a greenish tinge, I'd say algae.

Anyway, the POND WATER results:

Dipstick method (pack I've been using)

Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
pH - 6.8
KH - 8 dH
GH - 6 dH
Chlorine - 0

Dipstick method (new pack I had purchased late last year but only just opened)

Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
pH - 7.5
KH - 120 ppm Calcium carbonate (to compare, divide by 17.8 = 6.7 dH)
GH - 150 ppm Calcium carbonate (to compare, divide by 17.8 = 8.4 dH)
Chlorine - 0

NT Pondlab 200 solution

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
pH - 8
KH - 8 dH
GH - 8 dH

Conclusion - none of the tests give comparable expected results (and all are within expiry date) As for what they mean with regards to my pond water, all suggest that there's nothing significantly wrong with the water quality at the moment (especially the ammonia and nitrites which are harmful to fish) The higher pH reading of the pond water (which is in the OK bracket) compared to tap water could be due to the sodium bicarbonate that I had added last month to try and stabilise it but all test results were different so obviously still not as reliable as expected. Touch wood, the remaining fish have been fine since the last treatment - not definitive as it could have been due to the severe cold as I seemed to lose fish after each cold spell of weather and snow.

As for the water clarity .... 2 days in a row the flow rate from the biofilter has slowed down significantly and I've had to clear blanketweed from the pump grille so obviously with slightly milder temperatures and longer daylight hours, it has started to grow again. And the green tinge could be the algae. Another recommendation by several members on the pond forum as well as other online literature to tackle algae, is to fit a UV sterilizer to the filtration system. Again, another expensive toy ... as I had saved considerably with the testing kit, I decided to buy one and get on top of the problem rather than end up with pea soup when the weather warms up. It is a low wattage one (new) which suited my pocket and just within the specification for my pond size though most people recommend a much higher wattage to be on the safe side - there, the prices were well out of my reach.

Of course, I'll then have to start considering the electrics - currently I still have the cables from the pond pumps threaded through the cat flap in the back door {rofwl} but maybe I should seriously think about getting an outdoor multi-switch electrical box but I think I should hold off spending any more money for now. The gazebo plans have had to be put on hold as I have already spent too much this month, but the other reason has been the cold wet weather - I had hoped to have spent my time off work outside getting on top of the gardening jobs.
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lancashire lass
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New Uber UV Sterilizer

Post by lancashire lass »

Well, my new UV sterilizer arrived on Thursday ... and it was not the one I'd ordered. When the courier handed the box to me I was surprised by the size and weight and even commented to him that it was a lot bigger than expected, not realizing it was the wrong one. And the reason? I'd ordered a 5 watt and this was an 18 watt lamp. I checked online and they were 3x the price I paid for the smaller one and well above my budget. However, I had been thinking that the 5 watt one was perhaps too small for my pond and was starting to regret buying it although I convinced myself that the pond was not in full sun so less likely to be swamped with algae ....

I checked the delivery note and everything indicated that it should have been a 5 watt ... I could have just accepted it but I'm too honest for my own good and contacted the seller. What a surprise - he got back to me and said that I could keep it at no extra charge )c( Now all I have to do is plumb it in and plug it in.

Meanwhile, a couple of weeks ago
lancashire lass wrote:And as blanket weed and algae are starting to grow, I decided to start the blanket weed treatment (it's a powder in a dissolvable packet that you drop in the water)


and it did seem to be working as a lot of the blanket weed had yellowed and was breaking apart - unfortunately the bits were getting trapped in the small pump intake grille and not only slowing down the flow rate but even stopping it altogether. I had to rescue it umpteen times and at one point, I thought the pump had died as it didn't work at all after clearing the gunk. I pulled it apart and the blanket weed had wrapped itself round the propeller ... quick fix, got it working again phew!

Thursday morning was beautiful - clear blue skies and sunny, it had an air of spring about it and felt warm. So I decided to give the pond a spring clean using the net to skim out bits of blanket weed and anything sitting on the bottom of the pond. Unfortunately this seemed to lift up more bits of blanket weed but eventually I got as much as I could removed.

Image

The goldfish were hiding in the shadow by the biofilter overflow but they all looked well which I'm glad about. I kept the covers off for the rest of the day to give the whole pond an airing out before replacing them that evening - they are just fastened down with the pond net as the purpose of the green scaffold netting was to keep the leaves from entering the pond over autumn (mind, I might have to replace when the cherry blossom start) While it is still early spring and risk of more rain, I think I should keep the covers on especially at night so that I don't lose much heat from the water.

Yesterday the pump, not surprisingly, was blocked again but when I lifted it up the hose came off and floated away to the middle of the pond well out of reach }hairout{ What a palaver trying to retrieve it - I think I might try tying a piece of nylon string to it next time and tether it to the side should it happen again. Fed up with keep trying to clean the pump grille, it seemed like a good idea to take the bigger pump and filter box out of winter storage and set it up .... I'd shut it down because I felt the biofilter would have been adequate over the winter months. And it did the trick - water looks so much clearer and more importantly, the smaller pump is now running fine.

When I was putting the filter box on top of the biofilter and trying to move the hoses into place at the back of the planter, it was an opportunity to have a good look at the plants ... all of them were definitely sending up new growth, even the Red Stemmed Parrot Feather had distinctive green growth amongst the mass of what looks like dead stalks. I decided to give the Fibre Optic plant a serious trim as all the leaves were brown except for the middle (I had checked first to make sure this was alright and it's a bit like grass - mow it down and it encourages new growth)

So overall, I'm very pleased with the pond at the moment. Meanwhile, piccies of my new strawberries and raspberry canes:

Image

Image

It never ceases to amaze me how dried bits of bare rooted plants recover so quickly. I've located the 2 hanging baskets I'll be using for the strawberries but I still have to find somewhere to put the excess plants as I don't want to put them all in the baskets. I do have some spare troughs I could use.

Well, it's back to work on Monday and I've not done any of the gardening jobs I had hoped to make a start on. The weather for the most part has been dreadful - rain, rain and oh yes, more rain. Even when it was dry, the garden has just been too wet to walk on. It has been that bad, the chicken runs have also got wet which is a first since I started keeping them. But this few days, the warmer temperature has definitely prompted new growth - the cherry and pear trees have budded up and will be flowering any time soon ... I just hope it doesn't rain or freeze when they do otherwise I think we might not get many fruit set. This morning I heard the distinctive sound of a bumble bee - the first one this year - flying about in the White House chicken run and inspecting the shed wall .... hope she decides not to make it her home. I know bumble bees are harmless but I don't fancy having to cope with bumble bees flying in and out.
wildlifemad
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by wildlifemad »

Strawberries are looking good LL! Fingers crossed we are over the worst of all this awful weather now. It's such a shame when you book time off & have all your plans worked out & then the weather doesn't play ball.
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lancashire lass
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Warm weather forecast this week!

Post by lancashire lass »

wildlifemad wrote:Strawberries are looking good LL! Fingers crossed we are over the worst of all this awful weather now. It's such a shame when you book time off & have all your plans worked out & then the weather doesn't play ball.



Well, it's definitely a bit warmer with forecast of temperatures up to 24-25oC by Thursday - I'm sure lots of people will be rejoicing but from a personal point of view, I don't do well with such rapid changes in temperature over too short a time but I'm sure it will bring a big change to the garden. Trees are for the most part still bare but have clear signs of buds on branches just ready to burst into leaf or blossom. I would like to have removed the PVC sheets off the pond altogether but the neighbour's ash tree is shedding bits as buds break through. On Friday, I shifted one of the sheets on top of another so there is now a gap so any warm air will have more space to escape but if we are expecting sunshine and high temperatures then I might have to take them off completely and replace with the green scaffold netting (I thought I'd put that away now until next autumn ....)

While still on the theme of the pond, as I walked by to feed the chickens, I noticed the overflow from the biofilter was a little slow so oiked the little pump out to clear the grille of some blanket weed. As I carefully lowered it back into the water, to my amazement the goldfish had ventured out and were inspecting the pump while I was still standing there. I had been giving them a small pinch of food most days now (when I knew day temperatures would be on the mild side but being at work during the day would not see them) so this was a first! And I'm pleased to see one of my favourites - a Sarasa with an orange tail (he seemed unusual as all other Sarasa have white/clear fins and tails) 2 Shubunkins had survived - one I called Bandit because he had an orange band between his eyes, and the big one I got in the second batch. There's at least one all orange (Common goldfish) and the rest are Sarasa Comets. None of the yellow goldfish seem to have survived the winter.

The garlic in the seed tray have really taken off now and looking very good in the space of a couple of days. I should have planted them out this weekend but I had picked up a cold after going back to work and not feeling up to any gardening. But I will definitely be taking advantage of the warm spell this week to sow some summer crop seeds like sweetcorn and winter squash which I thought I might be try and squeeze somewhere in the garden ...
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lancashire lass
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Quick Update

Post by lancashire lass »

I can't believe I've not kept the diary up to date - there have been so many changes in the garden since my last post. For a start, all the trees are now in full leaf, the fruit trees have flowered (only the later apple trees might still be in blossom) I still marvel how everything has transformed in such a short period of time - from almost no growth to almost "summer" green. Only this week I commented to a friend as we were driving home from work of how much has changed, with rowan and hawthorn and the cow parsley on the verge in flower. It's as though nature has tried to catch up quickly after such a long cold winter. In some ways this is how spring used to be - we have had so many early warm spring weather in the past which has allowed some of the earlier plants and trees to flower earlier than usual, followed by a cold or wet snap that slowed things down in May.

Unfortunately, I don't handle such big changes in temperature so well - when one week I'm wearing my winter coat and scarf and gloves, to wearing a t-shirt the week after and melting in the heat. Both "mini" heatwave temperatures (into the mid-high 20s) have occurred over weekends when I'd have liked to have got into the garden to do some work but instead had to spend most of the time indoors trying to keep cool. Mind, better than rain I suppose. Of course, the pond has taken up most of my time ....

For a start, I had decided to fit my new UV lamp inline. I finally called in at The Japanese Water Gardens on the Saturday of the May day bank holiday weekend and bought some fittings I needed to secure it. It was an opportunity to have a look at their new koi stock - what wonderful looking fish, I can understand why so many become koi enthusiasts. They had loads of lovely looking smaller ones that I could have afforded @ £8 each (most others cost £100s if not £1000s) which I was tempted but my priority was to get the pond into shape. On the Sunday I looked at the pond and pondered how and where to fit the UV lamp - the ideal spot would be to the side of the planter where hose from the pond could be fitted and then the hose to the filter box could be mounted along the length of the planter to the filter box which is on top of the biofilter. But then I was going to make changes to the biofilter - so it made sense to do that first.

If you recall, I whittled about the biofilter when we really cold snaps in winter. One idea was to partially bury it and then box it in so that (i) it looked finished off and (ii) I could better insulate it. I was aware that the "warmer" water from the bottom of the pond was lifted up and was filtered outside where it was likely to get chilled before flowing back on to the top of the pond. Probably not a dramatic change in temperature but I was not happy with the set up. So I decided to make a start on that first before putting the UV lamp online. First, I moved the filter box on top of the planter (the crate with the Red Stemmed Parrot Feather wasn't showing much growth at all - I wasn't sure if it had survived winter or not), then emptied the biofilter. All the potted plants got a good watering, and some more. As I got to the bottom of the water butt, there was a lot of muck that had accumulated - so my filter was working as it should, and better still, it was perfect liquid manure so all the potted plants got another soaking!

I shifted the water butt out the way so that I could lift up the paving - annoyingly, it meant 4 paving stones had to be shifted - and proceeded to dig a hole for the base of the water butt. I didn't have to dig too far (about a foot below the paving) so that the top of the water butt was level with the top of the planter. But there was a problem - the existing holes where the overflow were sited were now below the pond water line. I had got some rubber bungs to plug them but they were a shade too big ... I could try to widen the holes to fit but risked leaks. It was easier to swap that water butt for the blue barrel I had rescued from the allotment instead. The blue barrel is made of a denser plastic so more difficult to drill, worse the drill bit size I needed was not in the drill bit box }hairout{ and for the life of me, I didn't know where to start looking for it as it was nowhere to be found in the usual likely places I might have left it after the pond build last year. So I used the smaller size and tried to enlarge it by filing it wider. That meant it didn't end up as a perfect circle and inevitably when the pipes were fitted, they started to leak water. Aaarrrgh!

So I ordered some silicone (for aquariums) online but it took a week to arrive. So I've been using the bigger pump and filter box to filter the water while the biofilter was out of commission. I kept the smaller pump running and just hooked the outflowing pipe so that water landed back on to the pond surface. In just a few days, the water clarity deteriorated - clearly the algae in the warmer weather and strong sunshine was taking off exponentially as the neighbour's ash tree was still bursting into leaf and the patio was in full sun. Even the blanket weed was spreading very quickly. I seem to be spend more time oiking it out than getting on with the jobs in hand.

The surviving goldfish on the other hand were much more active - only 7 had survived the winter {cry} but I'm pleased to see that Bandit the Shubunkin, the red tailed Sarasa and the long tailed Sarasa had survived, one all orange/red common, a white lipped common, the big Shubunkin and one other Sarasa were looking well. I will restock later when I am happy with the pond. I started to feed the fish but I think they are either shy being in smaller numbers or just forgotten where the feeding place is. However, I noticed that they were feeding off the gravel and showing "normal" goldfish behaviour so are not starving.

The silicone arrived and on Saturday I started to use it - the holes for the 2 overflows (the second in case the first can't cope for whatever reason) and I had drilled a hole for the incoming hose) were sealed with the silicone rubber. The instructions said to leave it 48 hours to cure but they were ready after 24 hours. What a eureka moment when the pump was fitted and no leaks )c( I moved the filter box on top of the biofilter so for the moment all is looking well. Better still, perhaps being shaded by the filter box, the Red Stemmed Parrot Feather had burst into fresh growth so I was feeling a lot happier.

Meanwhile, I also ordered a solar powered air pump online. It only arrived on Monday but as I leave for work before the sun hits the patio and arrive home when the sun has passed, I haven't seen it in action though on Tuesday morning I held the solar panel high up to catch the early morning sunlight to see if it worked. I'm happy to say it worked very well - the pump is a little noisy (I'd imagine even more by midday!) but I can box it in when I get the UV lamp set up (it needs to be under cover from the weather)

I spent Sunday clearing the patio (some serious decluttering) and tidying up. It's almost ready to be able to sit outside again. The new strawberries are in full flower but still need to be planted out, and the new raspberries are all doing well (except one variety - only one of 3 canes seems to be growing) I must take photos .....
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lancashire lass
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Pond improvements - 20th May 2018

Post by lancashire lass »

On Saturday morning, I got to see how my new solar air pump worked when the sun was up - for the most part, very good but, the pump itself is noisy. Sounds like a transformer as it buzzes though it is only the diaphragm inside the pump vibrating and nothing to do with electrics. I tried to muffle the sound by wrapping wadding round and putting it into a cardboard box, I even put it inside the planter on the lower shelf but I could still hear it! I might try a small polystyrene box next (I can get hold of one from work) The other little problem is that any shade even a single leaf casting a shadow on the panel, and the pump rapidly slows down. I had temporarily sited the solar panel in the planter (it has a convenient stake) but that part of the patio soon becomes shaded from the cherry tree and the neighbour's ash tree, so I decided to mount the solar panel on the fence using a piece of rubber mat and stapling it on the fence (I can easily lift it up so is not a permanent fixture) Of course, the sun isn't stationary in the sky so I've turned the panel so that it gets full midday sun when the pump will be working at maximum capacity. For now I've just got the air lines running from the pump underneath the planter straight into pond but I will try to tidy it up later - the plan this weekend was just to get the systems working and then refine it later.

This weekend has also been spent getting the new UV lamp fitted to the pond. It didn't take that long actually - once I worked out where to site the lamp and how to fasten it to the side of the planter, I just followed the lamp instructions of smearing some lubricant on the o rings that seal the screw caps (the pond shop suggested vegetable oil rather than petroleum jelly), put the UV lamp in its holder and then made sure all the caps were screwed tightly. Then screwed in the 2 strap clasps onto the piece of wood before mounting it on the side of the planter.

The other task was to fasten down the hose from the filter box to the lamp before cutting the hose to fit the "in" and "out" nozzles. I even remembered to put the Jubilee clips on first, then used the last of the silicone rubber to seal any potential leaks. I waited for a few hours to be sure the rubber was cured, then it was testing time .... first, I switched the pump on and so far so good. Then the lamp - I couldn't see if it was working until the sun had set and it was starting to get dark, and then I could see a purple glow through the clear plastic nozzles.

However, not all plain sailing - despite the silicone rubber that I had used inside the filter box and on the overflow fittings, there was still a serious leak at the joint }hairout{ For now I managed to patch it with using some rubber matting I had, and binding it tight with string. A temporary fix but it seems to have worked. So here's the solar panel and UV lamp in place:

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Obviously I'll have to look at ways of disguising all the hoses but at the moment it is functional rather than aesthetic .... I'm still working on it ....

PS You can see the raspberries behind the planter are growing well. Doesn't everything look so green now - doesn't seem that long ago when the trees were still bare. I noticed the dwarf Japanese bulrushes in the planter are sending up wee little bulrush flower heads )t'
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sandy
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by sandy »

As aways amazing descriptions and lovely photos )like(
I decided to grow sweetcorn again this year but no plants are to be seen in any garden centres from bristol to Gloucester }hairout{ have had to buy seeds but not hopeful .
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

Sunny Clucker was ere July 12-21 2012
Sunny Clucker was ere July 6 2016 to Sept 9th 2017
Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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lancashire lass
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Sunday 27th May 2018

Post by lancashire lass »

sandy wrote:As aways amazing descriptions and lovely photos )like(
I decided to grow sweetcorn again this year but no plants are to be seen in any garden centres from bristol to Gloucester }hairout{ have had to buy seeds but not hopeful .


thanks Sandy )t' Sweetcorn - it is getting a little late for sowing seeds but I remember growing some really extra early sweet variety and luck would have it being a long warm summer that year and got a good crop, so it is possible to still grow it.

For the past 2 weeks it has been uber busy at work and basically back breaking - the lab I work in had to be completely emptied and decontaminated for essential repairs and total refurbishment. Suffice to say I've come home from work exhausted (I'm no spring chicken and packing/moving heavy loads on a deadline made me grumpy, especially as I foresaw it being a lot bigger job than those organizing the move {mr.angry} ) But now all done and time to enjoy the extra long bank holiday weekend (universities traditionally get an extra day tagged on to one of the weekends) so I don't have to go back in until Wednesday.

Saturday was the usual but this time a much needed rest day and then yesterday was garden time, or rather, pond time. I'd fitted the UV lamp last week but the filter box started to overfill and water started to spill over. The capacity for the box is 6000 L per hour and the pump is only 4000 L per hour, so there must have been a blockage presumably in the filter. Time to give it a check over ... yes, some muck in the bottom after I'd drained it but hardly enough to impede the flow. I gave the filters a good clean and refitted them .... and the box still overfilled. I tried levelling the box as best I could with pieces of wood underneath but it was clear the incoming water exceeded the overflow – it had never done that before and fitting the UV lamp in the intake line couldn’t have anything to do with the problem so I’m no wiser. Meanwhile, I really wanted to get the whole thing up and running so came up with a solution of containing the water spilling out by sitting the filter box inside an old potting tray and allowed water to spill over back into the pond. I had been toying with the idea of installing a waterfall and this looked like a potential DIY project in the making. Boxed in, it should look okay ....

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Last week was payday so I did a little bit of shopping online for the pond – no new toys, just some stuff to deal with the blanket weed even though it was almost eradicated from the last treatment. I was very pleased with the product I had got from the supplier last year but it would have cost half as much again in postage (I think I’d spent enough last time on other items so was free) so I looked at ebay and got a different but reputable brand. It arrived on Thursday and when I opened the packet, it contained a sachet of pink crystals … on the pond forum they recommended a brand that is often described as “pink crystals” so I checked it out and it indeed looks identical. The treatment is 3 doses every 10 days followed by a dose once a month – I could perhaps skip a dose or 2 as the blanket weed is in decline already and just want to make sure it doesn’t come back! The other product I wanted dealt with is the water clarity – as the weather has warmed, the water has once turned river brown in colour much like it did last year and I was wowed by the effect of the stuff I’d got then (a brand similar to “Sludge Buster”) It was on special offer from Amazon but I’m still waiting for delivery.

Sunday morning is also pond skim day – I’m so annoyed with the neighbour’s tree as it is always shedding something and despite the netting, a lot of what look like little leaves have landed in the pond. I managed to do a really thorough clean and quite pleased. With all the maintenance jobs out of the way, I left the pond with both filters running, the UV lamp working and in full sun, the solar powered air pump was fizzling away. So time to get the camera out – I fitted the macro lens to the DSLR body and managed to get some photos of the goldfish while I tempted them out from under the duckweed and elodea with some food.

The aerator working really well:

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I've decided to call the biggest goldfish (the Shubunkin) Bertha:

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and the other Shubunkin is Bandit (with the red mark between his eyes):

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The all orange Common goldfish (there is another with white lips but he wasn't for posing for the camera):

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The Fibre Optic recovering from its severe trim:

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Red Stemmed Parrots Feather:

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Little bulrushes on the Japanese Dwarf bulrush developing:

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Cheshire Chick
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by Cheshire Chick »

Great post and beautiful photo's LL. )like(
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