flowers

Grotto Pond is Complete

Click on the image below to see the full sized image.

I like the combination of the dark purple of the desert willow blooms with the tangerine color of the crossvine on the trellis adjacent to it (but not visible in this shot).

We have been working on the grotto pond construction project for several weeks now. The picture below shows how we have placed the biofilter that creates the waterfall in the corner, and the skimmer next to the grotto stairs. All of the rocks were harvested from our property, and placed in tiers from the bottom of the pond to the top (approx 3′ deep) without any mortar or adhesive.

There may be a few tweeks needed in the rock arrangement, but I like the way the pool is looking. Once we get some water plants in the pool, and some bog plants around the edges, I think it will look just the way I had pictured it in my mind’s eye. The flat rock opposite the waterfall is for sitting on the edge of the pool and dangling your feet in the water on hot days. The water has a brown color to it at the moment from oak pollen, but it should be crystal clear in a few days once all the pollen is filtered out.

I didn’t want the waterfall to be too loud. I just wanted a gentle murmur, so we kept the elevation of the falls close to the pond, and placed rocks in the flow to break it up.

The scale of the grotto pool feature seems to fit well into the overall grotto area.

This South African pearl daisy reseeded itself and has returned this year. I love the color of it’s blooms.

I don’t know what the name of this day lily is. It was a gift from a customer who moved out of state. It looks nice next to the blackfoot daisy.

The south courtyard bed is filling in nicely. It will be a couple more years before it is fully mature, but there is already lots of interest in this bed. The cats love hiding in the bunny fountain grass.

Speaking of cats, we were adopted by another new cat last fall. Ron christened him Bolt. He has completely changed the dynamic between the cats and the dogs here at Rivendell. He has never run from the dogs, but rather calmly stands his ground. The dogs have now learned not to chase the cats – most of the time – and coexistence is starting to occur.

The picture below is of Bolt playing next to the large terra cotta pot in which I planted lavender and bay tree. According to P. Allen Smith, lavender grows well in large containers with a mix of 1/3 sand, 1/3 soil, and 1/3 compost, so that is the mix that I used. We’ll see what kind of results that I get. The only type of lavender that I have had any sort of luck with is Spanish lavender, but I really wanted to grow some French and English lavenders as well, so I planted some of each variety in large pots to see if I might have better luck with these varieties in pots rather than in beds.

Ciao for now.

© 2009 Lost Valley Gardens.