Tag Archives: art

How to Decorate With Shade Loving Pond Plants

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If you have a koi pond you know these fish need shade. As in nature, these plants, which can be planted in pots or in the edge of the soil near the bank of the pond thrive in shady areas. Many of these plants seem to give the illusion of growing half in and half out of the water. Planting them is a great way to conceal the plastic edge of your prefabricated pond liner.

Aquatic Mint -This plant grows up to two feet tall and makes an excellent ground coverage. Warning: although it is almost foolproof to grow it spreads like wildfire.

Aquatic Morning Glory -This plant’s flowers appear in summer. It grows to ten feet and is known to creep along a bank or trail in the water.

Arrow Arum -This plant, whose leaves resemble arrowheads grows to a height of two feet

Black Magic Taro -This taro’s foliage is very a very dark green, and almost black. It is often found in classic Japanese gardens. It can grow up to six feet tall so it can be used disguise a large external pond filter at the water’s edge.

Cardinal Flower -This plant’s bright red flowers appear in summer. It does alright in shade and grows to three feet tall.

Corkscrew Rush -This plant has coiled foliage that grows up to two feet tall.

Chameleon Plant -This small plant which boasts multicolored leaves grows to the height of one foot.

Crushed Ice (Crushed Ice) -This plant will grow to 24”, it flowers in spring but has beautiful very light green and dark green foliage. It is hardy in zones 4-11.

Golden Club -This short plant has velvety furry leaves and sports long yellow spikes in the summer.

Imperial Taro -The heart shaped taro leaves are purple and green. It grows four feet.

Lizard’s Tail -This plant grows to 36”. Its white flowers appear in spring & last through summer. It is hardy zones 4-10.

Parrot’s Feather -This soft feather-like plant floats over the water and grows to two or three feet high.

Pickerel Rush -This plant has heart shaped foliage. Spiky blue or white flowers appear in summer.

Sensitive Plant – Children love this one because it’s leaves shrink when it is touched. Small yellow flowers appear in summer. It grows up to six feet tall.

Water Pennywort -This umbrella shaped spreading reaches a height of one foot.

Umbrella Palm -This classic water garden tree grows up to five feet tall. It is a common sight in traditional Japanese water gardens.

Happy planting!

Decorating With Stone Waterfalls

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To build a waterfall that resembles the type of waterfall you would see pouring out of the ancient stone walls of Roman baths, you need to first find or purchase at least twenty or more rounded stone boulders that are slightly flat on top.

Your first step is to build a stone and mortar brick wall by laying these stones on top of each other. This wall does not have to be perfect. It should almost look like a ceremonial stacking of stones. Be sure to stack the stones so that about three quarters of the way up the wall you have left room to insert a one inch copper pipe. This pipe is inserted into the wall along with PVC tubing that can either be attached to an external pump (hidden behind it) or to a submersible pump. The copper pipe, which oxidizes with time, also looks nice if it is sawed of at an angle to look like a spout.

When you turn on the pump, the water should splash out of the side of the wall. If you want to create the look of moss covered ancient walls in a hurry, try smearing yogurt over the new rocks. This will age them and encourage plant growth quite quickly.

Another easy type of fountain o make is the flat ledge fountain. To create this fountain you will have to acquire at least thirty broken pieces of flat stone slate. Make sure that you have one piece of slate that is at least three times as large as the others. The idea is that this piece of slate will extend laterally out into the pond.

Build a support for this slate by stacking cinder blocks at the desired distance out towards the center of the pond. Stack the largest piece of slate so that it is leveled and supported by both the edge of the pond and the cinder blocks.
You can use an external pump for this waterfall and hide it beneath the slate stone staircase or you can thread PVC through the rocks and use a submersible pump.

Build a supporting wall of cinder blocks a foot or two away from the pond. Now stack the flat pieces of slate on top of each other, using the larger pieces on the bottom and the smaller pieces on top to create a variegated staircase effect. The result will be a lovely cascading flow you can enjoy for years