This idea didn't work last year, but I reconstructed this year and it's turned out better. Last year I tried the whole deer chaser / bamboo filler / rocker / dumper thingy. Drove my husband and I crazy trying to get it tuned just right. Water would run down the rocker and drip on the deck. Plus I filled it with sand without drain holes and the sand started seeping out the sides and staining the deck. We were going for the zen garden thing. That's when I made the Bonsai to go with this.
So this year, discarded the rocker / filler / dumper thingy and just used the spout and filled the barrel with plants. My husband said nothing seems to go together, but somehow it does. He loves it too because I use to sit outside by myself and read on my deck, but now he will sit outside with me all evening if it's nice, which it has been.
Another pic.
It sits with between my sliders with my new containers. Yes Holly, my house needs stained too :)
Another, if you're not too bored by now.
The container on the left. Thanks Jill for the Millet (the grassy thingy) and the trailing coleus (waiting for it to spill, it will spill right?).
The container on the right (or should I say rightie?) And also thanks Jill for the other trailing coleus (which seems to be spilling already) and the Torenia.
nice job.!
sorry the rocker/ filler/dumper/thingy didn't work out. Love your name for it tho!
Very pretty. I am going to work on a water feature later this year, after I get rocks laid around the lotus pond I built last week... and finish getting everything mulched... and pull the weeds in the shade garden...and when I'm done with that I am sure I can find something to do with my spare time.
And the rest of my deck container garden. Mostly herbs.
With my ficus in the corner. (I'm shopping for a better camera, any suggestions?)
Thanks Sally and Dylan. I thought it would have been a shame to dump the whole idea.
And lastly, (I swear) here's the whole space. What does P Allen Smith call it, Garden Rooms. We call the space closest to the steps into the yard our living room, we can even watch the TV through the slider. I think that's also why my husband will sit outside with me now. The remote won't work though, he's tried! Then the middle space is my kitchen, yes I do the grilling, girls can grill! And the space at the opposite end of the steps is my dining area when I set a table up. And yes Wrightie, my deck needs stained too! You could do it in your sleep now couldn't you. How much ya want to do it for me?
Okay, since you asked. I'm sure I heard someone ask because I wouldn't break my word after I swore I wouldn't post another pic. Here's the opposite end of the deck (the dining area) .
I really like your deck!
ditto- I would be 'living' on it too.
A girl's gotta grill what a girl's gotta grill. I'm starting to try it.
my deck needs serious rehab too.
I'm using a Canon 7 megapixel, Powershot A710 IS ( with mag wheels) LOL) DH got a package deal by internet shopping it, included better memory card, software and rechargeable battery system( I'm pretty sure) for around 300 bucks.
Before this has a 4 mp canon to learn on, liked the system and didn't want to have to learn a new one.
Wonderful!!!
You should see the view from her deck, also... it's like living in a tree house! They don't have to drive up into the mountains to have that "resort in the woods" feeling, they just have to drive up to their house (which is a real trick, by the way... it's not easy to turn around at the bottom, so Bobbie told me to back down their really, really steep street!).
I'm sure I could grill... but then I'd be doing most of the outside cooking as well as inside... so the grill is Jim's domain. :-) Actually, he just got a new one (bigger! hotter! shinier!), so if anyone wants a gently used, 2 burner Coleman gas grill, just let me know when you want to pick it up....
We're grilling chicken breasts tonight, marinated in Italian dressing (easy)... he'll grill, and I'll make pasta with "roastie sauce" and nuke some veggies, and we'll eat well without either of us thinking we worked hard on dinner.
Bobbie, yes, that other trailing coleus should start "spilling" soon also... I overwintered some in a hanging basket, and it trailed halfway to the floor!
Thanks Happy, it's a great space and looks down over my shade garden, and I mean really down.
Sally, looked your camera up and CNET liked it. Right now I'm waffling between a Canon and a Panasonic. I keep getting swayed by the pretty slim blue ones though.
Jill, glad to hear your husband got his new and improved grill. I'll pass on your offer for the old grill though. I'm a charcoal grill girl. Have you decided where your new wall fountain will go yet? Waiting for pics.
This message was edited Jul 3, 2007 8:39 PM
The old grill has a new home! Happy wants it as a backup grill (they do charcoal too).
Thanks for the reminder, I need to get some photos downloaded & edited... :-)
Your deck is so pretty, Bobby. Looks so cool and shady - great place to relax.
Here's the new fountain in place! I really love the sound of it... and with our bedroom right above the deck, we can hear it at night if the window is open. The steps between the main deck and the landing are one of my favorite places to perch, so I'm enjoying having the fountain right there. It also helps hide (or at least break up) the back view of some old steps I use as a plant stand. I've got a potted passionflower and a larger potted jasmine vine on the steps under the fountain, and I'm liking the look, although it could use some color (so this morning I floated a hot pink zinnia bloom in the fountain). The jasmine is a treat when it blooms!
$20,000? That's how much I disliked doing it. Seriously, Miata, I would recommend paying someone else to do it... We still are not finished with ours completely and a professional would have done a better job!
I love your handiwork, btw. I want to put together a 'water feature' as well, but it would first involve running electricity to the spot for the pump and there are too many other jobs which are higher on the To Do List.
Love the fountain Jill. And how neat to be able to hear it from your bedrooom! Ya know, looks like you could mould that and make more to put around your house with that hypertufa stuff. But I'll bet that's already crossed that creative mind of yours.
Wrightie, last time we had the deck stained we did have someone do it for us. I did it once and that was enough. You know, if you did want a fountain somewhere you don't have electric, you could do solar. OK, everybody together "Let the sun shiiiiiiine! Let the sun shine in, the suuuuuun shine in!". Come on ya'll, lighters in the air!!!!
waving my cell phone over my head ...
... whoops, the light just went out.
Let the sun shine in! Face it with a grin! Smilers never lose, and frowners never win.... So open up your hearts and let the suuun shiiiiine in!
I've seen some fountains made to look like rock waterfalls, with rough basins pouring water from one level to the next... but we haven't found one we both like... so that's the more ambitious hypertufa project I have in mind! Hypertufa is somewhat porous however, so I think I need to either incorporate a good sealer or -- a thought I had the other day -- mold it around some different size plastic containers to use as basins, with a layer over the top to hide the plastic... easiest way there would be to find a waterfall liner form that we like and use that for a base...
As long as we're talking about these "features" I figured I'd take a moment to point out a book by Charlie Dimmock of Ground Force Fame. I ~heart~ her and her waterworks of art: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ground-Force-Water-Garden-Workbook/dp/0563551135
I'm also interested in flowforms. Somewhere around DG, I started a thread on them - probably in the water gardening forum last year ...
Flowforms... is that the name for the rigid liner thingies for waterfall features?
Pretty please bring that book up with you next week so we can browse through it... I don't think we'll get that ambitious with hypertufa though, at least not on that day... :-)
Here's a post from a really nice thread Noreaster started in the Shady Garden Forum of her garden. She's made a really nice millstone fountain from hypertufa. http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=3665310
Yikes, I haven't bought that book yet, but it is on my To Do list.
ROFL... the way you were promoting it, I was sure it was already on your shelf! I bought a book with a lot of great photos at Borders entitled "Practical Water Gardens" (DH said that was a contradiction in terms), but I'll have to check... that one might be on "long term loan" to a friend...
That millstone fountain is cool! The water basin for it isn't made from hypertufa, so no worries about the 'tufa being watertight...
Heh heh -- I was promoting it because I've watched most, if not all, of the Ground Force episodes and am very familiar with her work. She's got some really groovy water feature ideas. I'm definitely ordering the book! lol
I'll have to be on the lookout for that show, now! Do you know what channel (if any) currently has it in their lineup?
Well, we do not have cable or satellite, but it used to be on BBC America. I believe that they still show re-runs, but I am not certain. Look for the episodes where Alan Titchmarsh was still the host - it was much better with him.
Okay, Okay, I just ordered it off of Amazon and since it is shipping from MD, there's a good chance that I'll have it in hand next weekend. Also, if you remind me, I have a 'best of' DVD of Ground Force episodes along with a book (DH got them for me for Christmas one year). I can bring those with me.
:-)
Maybe we should jettison the hypertufa after all and just have a "jam session" on garden design! Although I'm getting pretty keen on the idea of doing some little toad houses as a "small" project... Doesn't every garden need a toad house? I'll look around at the dollar store and see what I've got in our "to the beach" pile, because I think sand toys would work well as molds... little pails, or even castle shapes... ha, I just looked out in the garage, and I do have a couple of castle shapes that would work!
What a great idea for making toad houses, Critter! Little toad castles. I'll have to make some for my toads.
No, I need a hypertufa or cement 101 class!
OK, hypertufa it is, then!
Gonna need a list of supplies. Also, I'm upset because I've been wanting to make a bird bath using a BIG Elephant Ear leaf as a mold, but none of my plants are very big yet. I might have to poach one from somewhere ...
