I hate water features.

 

Oh. gee.... O.K. :shrug:

I love ours. Got a little waterfall and three goldfish, two of which we've had for many years. Most folks really enjoy it but each to their own.

 

project a couple years ago

 

Rocks are awesome, the dog only has to walk into it a couple times to learn!

 

And I live in the hot spot of Blue Flagstone with a man with a skidsteer! I'll post a picture later of all the stone he pulled out of the barn foundation. Really nice stone in there. Unfortunately, Harvey (Grandad's friend) was a master at mixing really wet cement and pouring it into foundations to strengthen them. Scott was not a happy camper.

 

Anubis - you could tier that to take the slope out. Lots of work but can be done. Then lay sod, mulch, stone, plants. I'm all about low maintenance!

 

She's on a $500 budget.

 

I have to buy my rocks and have them delivered. Nothing but sand.

Yeah cement. Remember when my wall fell over? All summer to clean this up and the only good that came of it is all the women on the block are scared of me because they watched me swing a sledgehammer for months busting it up.

Atleast I had nice tulips that year to look at (long live the Queen, I used to tie her out front to scare away all the freaky contractors who'd pull up to ask me if I wanted to pay their gypsy cousin to rebuild it)

 

The one good thing about the slope is that it'll help with the water runoff. That's so important when you've got clay soil.

 

That's pretty much all we got here, red/orange clay! So true that run off is important.

Far cry from when I lived in Florida, you could practically hear the water siphon off down through the sandy soil.

 

Yes. I got that. Again, thank you. She's also not hiring a landscaper. I'm sure if people give ideas she can be creative and figure it out. My large area costs me less than $300 and I did that with a shovel and a broken leg.

btw...OP...I do not recommend you dig holes with a newly plated leg. The Ortho gets REALLY mad.

 

OP - if you mulch, I like to use a heavier mulch from a sawmill whenever possible. The first year, we used finer bagged mulch and it wasn't down for an hour before a torrential rain hit. My pretty red mulch was at the bottom of the hill, 100 ft from the bed.

 

Yup, that's why I suggested earlier try to buy in bulk. Saves money and generally speaking better quality materials.

 

Looking at my yard.... Straw has been a saving grace. It withstood all the snow too .

 

I would have to get a permit for anything with stone

 

I did use rubber mulch for one area.

 

Otto used to eat mulch. As a puppy we'd go walking and he would OCD try and pull me into someone's yard trying to eat their mulch. LOL no matter how many times I told him that's going to be hard on the pooper.

 

I'm a landscape designer and horticulturist by trade. I like the picture you first posted, OP. Look into wooly thyme. I had a patio of flagstone with that surrounding it and in between the stones, and it stood up perfectly to 2 85lb Labradors plus my three young children and all the neighborhood kids running back and forth over it all.day.long.

Bluestone will probably be harder to find for you-- it's all over the east coast but not as prevalent here. There are very very nice manmade stones that are made to work together in a natural-looking pattern. I very much disagree about not underlaying with sand. If you want a base that won't upheave in the winter weather, you absolutely MUST compact a 5/8 minus layer of crushed rock first, about 2", then put down coarse sand (1 1/2") then lay your stones, then fill with regular old jointing sand. That stuff is all cheap, plus it will give your thyme something to grow in. (Remember, wooly is the toughest and flattest).

I have done several myself, here is the one I did in one day (although I had the circle dug out the night before). It's 8 feet in diameter-- perfectly level (I used a level with the stones) and in 5 very hard winters, has never moved. Mine is Montana flagstone (it also doesn't have wooly thyme but that's because mine is for a different application than yours):

I don't like water features myself. I have a natural pond I dug out to catch drainage, it fills up every year and I have to fight to keep the dog out of it. I even get moose that think it's big enough for them (it's not) and they're worse! :crazy:

 

Yeah....I wouldn't suggest a water feature for Anubis-Star right now either, low on the priority list.

Having said that, in general, a well designed planned water feature isn't *that* high maintenance. I've kept aquariums on and off for 40 years now and my outdoor pond is less maintenance then most of my aquariums have been.

There's some tricks and tips to keeping them low maintenance that experienced installers will help out with during design and planning and of course the size and complexity can vary greatly.

Some people have very elaborate set ups, well planted, with a large amount of Koi or you can just have a small fountain. Water is a very soothing element in landscapes.

We have a small 50 gallon preformed plastic basin, a bio filter with a small pump and small water fall pump since it's only lifting the water about 2 1/2 feet up the water fall. Three Sarasa Comets that I feed every other day during the summer, two of which we've had for at least 4 years now. The bio filter needs to be cleaned every couple of months during the summer. It's one of those things that if you plan it wisely, based on location, amount of sun and size it's a lot less work then keeping up with a GSD!

Our neighbors love ours so much several of them installed similar set ups.

The biggest mistake people make with water features stocked with fish is either too many fish or it's the wrong size for conditions, too much sun and gets algea and/or too hot for the fish/not enough oxygen. They don't do enough research.

We really enjoy our water feature and it will be a nice selling point when we are ready to sell the house. It's not for everyone but many people, especially those who enjoy keeping Koi really, really get into the ponds and water features.

Oh and we don't have moose in GA, just the neighbor's lab used to jump in, now with the backyard fenced the only wild critter invading is the occasional frog or raccoon!

I trained our dogs to stay out of it and they do, plus they get their own little kiddie pool on hot summer days.

 

Hey everyone I have not read all the responses yet but just to answer some questions. It's a fairly moderate slope. I would so the end portion by the fence is about 5 feet lower than the top of the yard, perhaps closer to 6 feet.

It's colorado so fairly dry. We get some rain in the sprint and some sleet in the fall.

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Here's a very simple water feature, remember they don't have to be 1,000 gallon koi ponds with built in reverse osmosis! LOL!

Also they do attract nice little critters like birds, butterflies, frogs. In a suburban environment they really can make a back yard feel more like an oasis.

IMO the key is to not have them in direct sun all day.

Here's a blog about low cost environmentally friendly features.

Low Cost, Beautiful Water Features

 

I wanted a water source in my yard, because I love attracting the wildlife. We used a jacuzzi tub someone had left at the curb, lol. We used a pool liner inside it, so it doesn't leak. A small waterfall, nothing fancy. I add floating hyacinth every spring, that's it. I get so many frogs, birds, and cool bugs like dragonflies - they help me with my mosquito population

If you're thinking about mulch, be careful what you choose. I wouldn't use rubber myself, even though it lasts longer. And stay away from cocoa too.

It's red. It's rubber. Is it safe for your garden? - Fine Gardening

Is Cocoa Mulch Really a Dog Poison?

 

I had a water feature in a big container, it was cute but I had to shut it off because the dogs were playing with it. Then it got mosquitos. I hate mosquito larva so nasty!

Rocket, what's that little purple creeping plant? Does it like shade? I have a problem area that gets only very early morning sun. The only thing I've been able to get established in there is wild strawberry.

 

I don't mean to take this off topic. *sorry Anubis*...but if the water is circulating you don't get mosquitos. I have to watch my bird bath for that because the water is still.

So yes if you don't have a pump and fountain creating *enough* movement in the water mosquitos can be a problem. My Comets love mosquito larva, it's fish food, they don't last long!

In my three teir water fountain never had a single one because the water is always agitating.

I had a water feature in a big container, it was cute but I had to shut it off because the dogs were playing with it. Then it got mosquitos. I hate mosquito larva so nasty!

Rocket, what's that little purple creeping plant? Does it like shade? I have a problem area that gets only very early morning sun. The only thing I've been able to get established in there is wild strawberry.

 

I would have the same issue at my house, Jenn. And I have no desire to run electricity across my yard to run a recirc pump.

 

Anubis. I would choose gravel over mulch if you plan on staying in house long term. The pea gravel migrates but you may be able to level the yard somewhat with some cheap crusher run BEFORE you lay down the pea gravel. It will also help keep the pea gravel from sinking into the clay. If your yard has a natural terrace, as it appears, you may want to run some landscape timber to hold the gravel on the top section to keep it from going down lower.

The mulch absorbs urine and can stink to high heaven. The plus of mulch is it will improve your soil while the gravel is a headache to get rid of. You can always deal with the mulch. It is easier to pick poo off of mulch than gravel though unless your dogs poop little rocks. Also with the low rain, mulch will last a lot longer for you than for me. I really would look at playground chips if you can do some terracing. It lasts very well and does not absorb liquids nearly as bad as the other mulches. You do have to keep it raked as the dogs running around will send the chips flying and they will pile up against the fence. But it is also attractive compared to gravel.

 

Good point.....

Anubis. I would choose gravel over mulch if you plan on staying in house long term. The pea gravel migrates but you may be able to level the yard somewhat with some cheap crusher run BEFORE you lay down the pea gravel. It will also help keep the pea gravel from sinking into the clay. If your yard has a natural terrace, as it appears, you may want to run some landscape timber to hold the gravel on the top section to keep it from going down lower.

The mulch absorbs urine and can stink to high heaven. The plus of mulch is it will improve your soil while the gravel is a headache to get rid of. You can always deal with the mulch. It is easier to pick poo off of mulch than gravel though unless your dogs poop little rocks. Also with the low rain, mulch will last a lot longer for you than for me. I really would look at playground chips if you can do some terracing. It lasts very well and does not absorb liquids nearly as bad as the other mulches. You do have to keep it raked as the dogs running around will send the chips flying and they will pile up against the fence. But it is also attractive compared to gravel.

 

Not much larvae in mine either, not with all the frogs

 

I can't remember but I think it's just Golden thyme. Might be Doone Valley or just coccineus major.

 

We did a thyme experiment last year at the garden club's playground project. I may check it to see how that worked out under traffic. I have so much traffic in my yard!