tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-326730492024-02-06T19:21:59.550-08:00Misadventures in GardeningI'm not much of a gardener, but I inherited a backyard garden that offers some stunners despite by blunders.Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-52323125281558103522008-04-05T16:46:00.000-07:002008-04-05T18:24:05.694-07:00Ponds spring to lifeSpring sprang while I wasn't paying attention. While the tiny red tips of my peony shoots fought their way through the fall leaves I hadn't yet removed, I realized it was time to fix the pond pumps I broke last fall when I tried to hoist them out of the ponds without getting my knees dirty. There's no way to properly care for a pond without getting dirty. I snapped the rod that's attached to the pump's impeller when I tried to lift the heavy bucket holding the filters by yanking on the pump. Then I broke the pump in my second pump when I tried to carry it to storage without taking it apart. The plastic tubing leading into the filter case cracked off in the cold. I was sure it was going to cost me a fortune to fix everything. But I went to <a href="http://www.webbsonline.com/">Webb's Water Gardens</a> in Fallston and was surprised to learn that I could simply replace the impeller on my one pump. My other pump could be fixed by buying a new filter unit. Today, I got everything back together and into the ponds. When the water finally started burbling forth again, it was particularly satisfying. Check out the video below to share in my zen moment.<br /><br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_wbLZ0LgG_o"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_wbLZ0LgG_o" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-18503542939515468902007-05-27T18:39:00.001-07:002007-05-27T19:26:20.737-07:00Taking the water garden a little less seriously<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-T7MxCQHUlgw1iQANKdlzf8eebA72zie39sw7cX-z6eKogYrdQT4sDdRQbMwIKbXZcjkA6wxNbNvvZtYbHpjZBt2z-qahvYj1v4TaOGL9WDV3sc1XBOZzX9WRbG9G03KSt25ug/s1600-h/IMG_0249-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-T7MxCQHUlgw1iQANKdlzf8eebA72zie39sw7cX-z6eKogYrdQT4sDdRQbMwIKbXZcjkA6wxNbNvvZtYbHpjZBt2z-qahvYj1v4TaOGL9WDV3sc1XBOZzX9WRbG9G03KSt25ug/s200/IMG_0249-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5069432228329845218" border="0"></a><br />Don't believe anyone who tells you a backyard pond or water garden is maintenance-free. I once wrote a magazine story about high-end water features and heard many landscape architects tell me that once their ponds and waterfalls were installed, they would take very little maintenance. As the "maintainer" of two backyard water features I inherited from my home's former owner, I challenged each of them. In the five years I've had these ponds, I've learned the hard way that ponds take a lot of work, but they are also amazingly resilient. Now I let nature to the mothering and expect the survival of the fittest. Here are a few things I learned from my misadventures in water gardening:<br /><br />1.) Don't feed the fish.<br />I used to feed the goldfish in my two little ponds. It took me a while to realize that was the reason they were reproducing so fast that my filters couldn't handle their waste and I was forced to rinse out the gunky pads weekly. I stopped the feeding, added a water plant and made sure not to clean the ponds so that there are always plenty of microorganisms to sustain them.<br /><br />2.) Just use a plain old hose to clean out the filters.<br />My ponds' former owner was diligent about maintaining a healthy environment for her goldfish. She told me to be sure rinse the filters in water taken from the pond so that I wouldn't upset the pH balance and disturb the fish. This made filter-cleaning messier and more cumbersome than it needed to be. I can't seem to kill my fish even if I try. They've survived winter freeze-overs, food withholding and a great blue heron with the patience of Job. Now I just haul out the filters, flop them on my deck and spray them with a hose until I don't see any more black water pouring out. I put them back in the fountains, turn them on and the water flows freely.<br /><br />3.) If it's more convenient, just turn off the fountains.<br />I used to agonize over the need to keep the fountains running for the health of the fish. When I'd go away, I'd line up neighbors are relatives to pop by and make sure the fountains were still running and I'd give them a number to reach me so that I could tell them what to do if they were not. Now I just turn the things off when I have to be away. I figure it's going to be more trouble to replace a $100 fountain motor that burns out because the filters grew too clogged than it would be to replace a few goldfish. And quite frankly, those fish don't seem too bothered by the occasional shut downs.Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-7652442020550694662007-05-23T09:36:00.000-07:002007-05-23T09:44:12.362-07:00Great tip for keeping outdoor stairwell free of leavesMy neighbor gave me a great tip for keeping my basement stairwell free of leaves. I haven't tried this yet, but I will as soon as we get another heavy rainstorm. Many of us here in the neighborhood have these outdoor stairwells with a tiny drain in the center of the bottom concrete slab, set almost flush with our basement doors. If those drains get clogged with leaves and debris, rainwater backs up and can seep into the house under those doors. I've outfitted my drain with one of those wire caps that look like bakers' hats and are designed to attach to the ends of downspouts. I poked its spokes through a traditional metal hole-filled drain strainer and set it atop my drain. It does a pretty good job of letting the water through but not the leaves. Yet, leaves still collect on that bottom slab. My neighbor suggested placing an old screen door over that bottom slab, but up on a higher step so that it forms a kind of mesh bridge over the drain. I thought it sounded like a great idea. When I get a chance to do it, I'll blog again about how well it worked.Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-77170450324737686982007-05-22T19:22:00.001-07:002007-05-22T19:34:28.959-07:00The peonies have popped<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3xzTTBFs0NXim_Iwzn0eb-G_9sHFnUgLQYVBdfsLwpKa81LfwVo9V-xcdlJAMhn9XjhcgjfD_dvDWlD187e6Zr02-GDOMvnPgBo46biOOF7kTGiCp4daKrVNHWZ7q_2kE-zyAw/s1600-h/IMG_0254.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3xzTTBFs0NXim_Iwzn0eb-G_9sHFnUgLQYVBdfsLwpKa81LfwVo9V-xcdlJAMhn9XjhcgjfD_dvDWlD187e6Zr02-GDOMvnPgBo46biOOF7kTGiCp4daKrVNHWZ7q_2kE-zyAw/s400/IMG_0254.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067578056588423586" border="0"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKH1zeTCNCIrg-Lhrv0fGbTPF6HUj571LDVlbrgZYXGKPD5QXjO_IPkuc73dyOJ1LSNb8hp7p1frJ7NY_TIT7kLUDqV8YSMiAZ3LsXsj-4Jy-9RlS132MaF3W0c8IBpHb88lkKQ/s1600-h/IMG_0256.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKH1zeTCNCIrg-Lhrv0fGbTPF6HUj571LDVlbrgZYXGKPD5QXjO_IPkuc73dyOJ1LSNb8hp7p1frJ7NY_TIT7kLUDqV8YSMiAZ3LsXsj-4Jy-9RlS132MaF3W0c8IBpHb88lkKQ/s400/IMG_0256.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5067577571257119122" border="0"></a>Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-91433625481860093562007-05-20T20:43:00.001-07:002007-05-20T20:47:36.687-07:00More poppy love<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUU4t5quyyrtkawwKxV7kCTVaw0atQvTYN3EdTgdSeSHiNwNDMi0wNQNC9b6IsB7Q9ydyQ6UKdFqQbY6sdMwEV3_JaROfu-EwOKrV-Y99ml03AK_L7SqaDJ8SSgz8KHDasjTcDRQ/s1600-h/IMG_0186.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUU4t5quyyrtkawwKxV7kCTVaw0atQvTYN3EdTgdSeSHiNwNDMi0wNQNC9b6IsB7Q9ydyQ6UKdFqQbY6sdMwEV3_JaROfu-EwOKrV-Y99ml03AK_L7SqaDJ8SSgz8KHDasjTcDRQ/s320/IMG_0186.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5066855531420086562" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaOulvpqnV8kFpRgKugeeI2IpQfbzp0qi1WYBx7UXOdm7MKPv11ncOPqCUWIkgKL8f6ZBXjQQ_p0q8VQzkyLZIfWgqYCuEnglX4lscl21VBr0UMwSCY7RsbxZYetc4QgNvgVqXw/s1600-h/IMG_0187.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaOulvpqnV8kFpRgKugeeI2IpQfbzp0qi1WYBx7UXOdm7MKPv11ncOPqCUWIkgKL8f6ZBXjQQ_p0q8VQzkyLZIfWgqYCuEnglX4lscl21VBr0UMwSCY7RsbxZYetc4QgNvgVqXw/s320/IMG_0187.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5066855535715053874" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR0SxXxVvDVwkFt9wmLOtlcE5XtAOLMHxhrEcA9eJWIcJoGDaGyhShzJhHKInxHEmLIjTgc9uhhx16GQXe_Mu57AbilD0uzX-k5CDKCOA2ZQIQDzzN15Wrq8dSZKxTObIrHvnPDA/s1600-h/IMG_0187.JPG"></a>Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-35555186710793298002007-05-18T15:22:00.000-07:002007-05-18T15:24:35.920-07:00Fields of poppies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSFIf017YF5OOsT_lkOqOC6YP_lkj4W9BuKgrJfx8FTxpLXOzXuAVOOBjzenrMnHhudCfbTQE_Asw27knrfOnRP_RPsdE5YOyQ6bca5zVceLkZ8Tqn4C2DF41GV-Sfe9nKGeg5w/s1600-h/IMG_0112.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSFIf017YF5OOsT_lkOqOC6YP_lkj4W9BuKgrJfx8FTxpLXOzXuAVOOBjzenrMnHhudCfbTQE_Asw27knrfOnRP_RPsdE5YOyQ6bca5zVceLkZ8Tqn4C2DF41GV-Sfe9nKGeg5w/s320/IMG_0112.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5066030128900108530" border="0" /></a>Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-61005363281639703052007-05-16T05:37:00.000-07:002007-05-16T05:38:17.550-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-PMVdZwvzBCLtdhgzsqidrWYYWm9EuLiO3ZgITmY7Dc9ymk2I2DIks0dQ8bh9PU1of6YoF5s9WLrvKBNr42dHjhQdpH6aBW4GHfrJ_DRdeuuATjGZeTRGzmo6AgfRaMULDb61g/s1600-h/Gardening+header.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-PMVdZwvzBCLtdhgzsqidrWYYWm9EuLiO3ZgITmY7Dc9ymk2I2DIks0dQ8bh9PU1of6YoF5s9WLrvKBNr42dHjhQdpH6aBW4GHfrJ_DRdeuuATjGZeTRGzmo6AgfRaMULDb61g/s400/Gardening+header.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5065136926026395810" border="0" /></a>Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-87618361782496838412007-05-13T11:35:00.000-07:002007-05-20T20:52:05.158-07:00The irises are coming<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWj_aKK5unmY-ZLG1d4iQcJpXn6tuBlK7ETIANVr1WtlatlRObNNujoUD_5HLRWsqbItvuE_nkt_uhSiaWdxpsrVUUKmoGYHezNdvJ5cngJ2i32eGOViaeLnrZJW8c8ho23_FAXA/s1600-h/IMG_0044.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWj_aKK5unmY-ZLG1d4iQcJpXn6tuBlK7ETIANVr1WtlatlRObNNujoUD_5HLRWsqbItvuE_nkt_uhSiaWdxpsrVUUKmoGYHezNdvJ5cngJ2i32eGOViaeLnrZJW8c8ho23_FAXA/s320/IMG_0044.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5066856583687074114" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdAhgYY3HxaF1e6sNoF-hRuf_2kl-XdtMthvkopPGr8lZlYBmeeabvOdZl9XEWu7eOuLEGE8bP3gaYfUsHkkJ9uMGgc-7Lwdarf37mLiO0or7Ank1rxkiDpzvzcMaVlF2VaFNtQ/s1600-h/IMG_0043.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdAhgYY3HxaF1e6sNoF-hRuf_2kl-XdtMthvkopPGr8lZlYBmeeabvOdZl9XEWu7eOuLEGE8bP3gaYfUsHkkJ9uMGgc-7Lwdarf37mLiO0or7Ank1rxkiDpzvzcMaVlF2VaFNtQ/s320/IMG_0043.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5064116065521007682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Isn't she pretty?Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-9955890306081655822007-05-12T13:37:00.000-07:002007-05-12T13:39:15.415-07:00First poppy of the season<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczJOlBY8i0Zx0JUuZw3uIGk-G2prieObn3SQbzhEStDrzYmfnfkItl4MSY_M9g6pFXdEre2dnjr6nlWXrSLnB7_McjOCA_6EQ_4UEq9hlEwDiwoxK2FCONNbgKJ1Z5E9Nspy-8Q/s1600-h/102_4791.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczJOlBY8i0Zx0JUuZw3uIGk-G2prieObn3SQbzhEStDrzYmfnfkItl4MSY_M9g6pFXdEre2dnjr6nlWXrSLnB7_McjOCA_6EQ_4UEq9hlEwDiwoxK2FCONNbgKJ1Z5E9Nspy-8Q/s320/102_4791.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5063776501111618578" border="0" /></a>Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-1156193789689864792006-08-21T13:48:00.000-07:002006-11-03T18:56:52.035-08:00Pond filters gross -- hostas good<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/1600/100_2980.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/200/100_2980.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />My new pond fountain attachment and filters ran well for a week. I was hoping for longer, but oh, well. Live and learn. I hosed them off on the concrete block at the top of my basement stairwell. I thought that was so clever. I used to rinse them in a huge garbage can full of pond water so as not to disturb the water's pH level when I reinstalled the cleaned filters. I don't care about the pH anymore. Goldfish are hardy. And I'm running a Darwinian garden. Survival of the fittest is the name of the game. If you can't take the pH, evolve. Well anyway, the rinsing at the top of the stairwell thing isn't so clever. All that pond water gunk runs off down the stairs and clogs the <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/1600/100_2982.3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/320/100_2982.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>too-narrow-for-my-liking drain down there. The water eventually went down the drain. But now the bottom of the stairwell is covered with slippery pond gunk. I really should scoop that out. Maybe I'll let it dry and then try and shovel it out. Maybe I'll just leave it there and see what happens. I'll spend my time watching the restored burbling of the fountains. And the hostas are in bloom. At least they look nice.Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-1155696629103257322006-08-15T19:41:00.000-07:002006-11-03T18:56:51.980-08:00Crapemyrtles in bloom<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/1600/100_2984.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/320/100_2984.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />My garden's creator liked to plant (<span style="font-style: italic;">a lot</span>). She did a great job making sure to plant so that something was blooming in every season. Spring was for dogwoods and weeping cherry trees. Summer was for poppies and tiger lillies. Late summer brings forth black-eyed Susans and <a href="http://www.clemson.edu/crepemyrtle/">Crapemyrtle</a> blossoms. Right now it's the Crapemyrtles that are the most stunning, like hot pink and purple fireworks going off in the limbs of my four Crapemyrtle trees.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/1600/100_2945.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/320/100_2945.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-1155575637847152012006-08-14T09:59:00.000-07:002006-11-03T18:56:51.923-08:00Winging it in the water garden<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/1600/100_2965.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/320/100_2965.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My two backyard ponds were my most daunting challenge when I moved into this house four years ago. The former owners, avid gardeners who sold us the house themselves, kept pointing out its interior foibles, like a smudge on the family room vertical blinds. I kept thinking to myself, "Forget the blinds. I'm taking them down as soon as I move in. What do I do with those ponds?" They were rather vague with their pond maintenance tips. "Oh, we let it run all winter," they said of the pumps that power its fountains. "We've had such mild winters." My first winter here it snowed like Antarctica. I was pouring warm water on the top of the waterfall hose to keep it from freezing solid and causing the pump motor to burn out. (This past winter I turned the things off and used those floating rings to keep the water from freezing over) I fed the goldfish so regularly they mulitplied like mosquitoes and dirtied the water and filter so much I kept spending money on products meant to clarify the water and new filter pads. Eventually, I learned to let nature take its course. The goldfish are remarkably<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/1600/100_2964.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/320/100_2964.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> hardy. I haven't fed them in two years. I also have never scrubbed down the sides of my pond liner. I'm guessing that its providing them with enough microorganisms to keep them fed. And, each winter I lose a few to the cold. I figure it's survival of the fittest. I have about five or six fish in there now and they seem pretty happy. The water is plenty clear. Today, because the weather is finally pleasant again, I ventured out to <a href="http://www.webbsonline.com/catalog/index.html">Webb's Water Gardens</a> in Fallston and purchased a water plant for my hot tub-sized pond. It's the larger of the two and while I understand water plants help to keep the water clear, I had never got around to putting one in there. The kids and I chose a Blue Pickerel Rush. I liked it because it took up a lot of space, flowers continuously and was only about $10. (I'm supposed to fertilize it every two weeks.) I also got a new adjustable bell fountain kit to attach to the pump filter in my smaller pond. I had noticed the "bell" of water coming out of the old one didn't hold its shape very well for very long. Since it was over five years old, I thought to try replacing just his part. It cost just under $20 and so far (I've had it running for about an hour) it looks much better. I think the pump itself (which runs about $100) should hopefully get me through another couple of seasons at least.Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32673049.post-1155500117808281882006-08-13T13:14:00.000-07:002006-11-03T18:56:51.863-08:00Welcome to my Misadventures in Gardening<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/1600/100_2717.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/320/100_2717.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>I fell in love with my house when I first saw the little bridge that arches over its backyard fish ponds. When we bought it, I didn’t expect that I was headed for misadventures in gardening. But the fact that I had to hand my newborn over to the master gardener homeowner in order to tour her outdoor wonderland should have been a serious clue. My husband was in a hurry to get to the next property, hopeful he’d find a nice small yard that would be easy to mow. But I was enamored of this house’s tiered garden wall holding lush English ivy, poppies in the springtime, Black Eyed Susans in the late summer and elegant lillies. After we moved in, I still considered the garden to belong to Ginger, who planted and nurtured it. I kept inviting my new neighbors to come see “Ginger’s garden.” I’d take my baby on nature walks around it each day, pointing out new blooms, taking pictures of her next to the tulips. It looked fabulous that first spring with its five dogwood trees in bloom and its w<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/1600/100_2720.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/320/100_2720.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>eeping cherry gone all pink like a prom dress. Ginger told me — as if to quiet my fears of yard work — that most of the flowers were simply “volunteers.” Being a novice whose former residence was a townhouse built on treeless field, I was unaware of the amount of weeding and watering that even perennials require. I came to discover that Ginger had planted a dozen flower beds back there, a good-sized vegetable garden and flowers and shrubs that wrapped around the house. The magnolia tree that dominated the front yard dropped leaves that required raking almost year-round. And the pumps that kept water circulating in the fish ponds needed to be cleaned almost weekly to keep the f<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/1600/100_2719.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5949/2748/320/100_2719.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>ilters from clogging — a task I found similar to wringing out a dirty diaper (which I was doing a lot of inside the house.) Since I had two little kids to care for, I let nature take its course outside. Spring was lovely. But by mid-summer the garden had grown scary. I’d head outside dressed for the task, wearing garden clogs and wielding a trowel. Moments later, the weeds that towered over my head chased me back indoors, screaming. I started stalking Harford County’s Master Gardeners when they’d host a booth at the area’s summer events. I was hoping to convince one of these avid gardeners to visit my yard and tell me what to do with it. No one seemed interested. I’m sure a landscaper would have been happy to help, but I was still convinced that all I needed was a little free advice to set me in the right direction. Eventually, I began decoding my garden’s secrets. I drove the kids back and forth to the Harford County Cooperative Extension office bearing pictures of different weeds looking for a diagnosis of poison ivy. In time, I became a bit of an ivy-spotter, doing it for fun in my neighbor’s yards, whether they wanted me to or not. I’m still in the decoding process, but then what gardener isn’t? I thought I’d use this blog to share my misadventures in gardening. Hopefully, readers with greener thumbs than mine will weigh in to guide me. Please read. Thanks.</p> <p>– Stacey A </p>Stacey Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10321985701111612992noreply@blogger.com0