No more leaks

     Finally, after 15 years, the leaks in my corner waterfalls are over--after 40+ hours of work.  As I mentioned in the last post, only the concrete base of the old falls was left intact.  The planks in the second photo were treated to resist rotting.  Thus, they should last until I am 120 years old or so.  The large rubber liner now underlies the entire system.  I did not do that with the first falls, a serious mistake--costing me all this work.

     I changed the design, so now instead of two tanks of water there is one.  And I raised the falls by a foot, so it now sounds a bit louder.  Finally, the falls is sloping somewhat instead of the vertical drop of the earlier system.

     When building the new falls, I left several ledges and outcroppings for plant containers.  Trailing plants "soften" the rock hardscape, also making it appear more natural.  The overhanging branches of the sugar maple and cotoneaster have the same effect.  Of course, the system is still not completely natural looking.  But I think it is just as good as something Mother Nature would have done--if she would have thought of it.  Rationalization can be a good thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enough with the leaks!

     No, WikiLeaks is not embarrassing me by dragging up any skeletons of mine.  It's my waterfall (actually, one of three in my water garden) that leaked over two gallons of water a minute since I built it in 2001.  After spending a lot of time looking for leaks, I tore apart the beginning of the system and rebuilt it--but in a new, simpler design.  This post is the first of two showing the work involved, this part having to do with its removal.  The second post will show the rebuilding.
     The waterfall drops its water into a small pool, which then splits into two streams.  After about 20 feet the water drops into two small pools.  Then it drains another 20 feet into the main pond in the water garden.  The first photo shows the start of the system, the part that was removed.  The second photo shows the left secondary pool and the right secondary pool (on the far right of the photo).  The only part of the waterfall I left intact was the concrete structure that held the top water tank.  After taking it apart, it was clear how lots of water could have leaked.  The new system leaks none.

A moving spectacle

     I started gardening with mosses in 2006.  There was very little, if any, Hygroamblystegium varium growing then--but I certainly have lots of it now.  "Hygro" refers to water, and this moss loves growing near any water source.  As I have many places with water, ponds, streams, and containers, this moss, which produces prodigious amounts of beautiful sporophytes in spring, it soon established itself as a dominant moss in my gardens.  The setae (the upright stalks that hold up the spore capsules) are a beautiful red, which makes for great photos when backlighted.  The small pool in my Japanese-style garden had one stone with this moss about five years ago.  Now nearly 20 stones there are covered with it.