New bonsai garden, including koi pond!

[Adair M]

As promised, I thought I’d share a bit about my new bonsai garden.

I have a full sun space, absolutely no overhead trees. Which is great for my pines!

As a temporary measure, I put up these shelves:





But, I need a patio, more work space, and I have the room to make a nice display garden a la @MACH5, but I have no clue how to go about it!

So, I searched the Internet for garden ideas, patio ideas, bonsai garden ideas... I’ve had the opportunity to visit a couple friends with incredible gardens.

So, I found a pond contractor, and a landscape architect, met with them, and came up with a “Master Plan”.

It looks like this:



The pond will have a “wetland filter”, which should aid in cooling and water clarity, even though I have full sun. The concept is water from the pond is pumped uphill into a “pond” of gravel. The water enters into the bottom of this “pond”, which has large gravel rocks at the bottom (softball sized), then a layer of baseball sized rocks, then finally a layer of 50 cent piece sized gravel. Aquatic plants are then planted in the top layer of gravel. So the pond ware is pushed up thru this “bog” where bacteria and plants break down the fish waste, turn it into nutrients for the plants. This body of water is underground, and gets geo-cooled. Once on the surface, it tumbled down a waterfall into the main pond. The waterfall aerates the water bringing oxygen in for the fish.

That’s the theory, anyway!

The Master plan also shows a stream up above the pond. That is a “Phase 2” that may, or may not happen.

Around the bottom of the pond, I’ll have a patio, and around the patio, I’m planning on having the display benches on gravel. That way, I can minimize weeds. And put in hard edging to separate the lawn from the bonsai area. That way the guys mowing won’t have to work around the trees.

Construction is going to start Friday. It will be a moon-scape around here for a couple days!

 

[Dav4]

That's going to be a stunner, Adair!

...maybe having a couple of locations within the koi pond/stream/water feature to display trees would be nice if and when your project heads that way...

 

[markyscott]

Looks great Adair!

 

[Wilson]

Sounds like an exciting project! Your bonsai enjoyment at home will go up exponentially.

 

[Michael P]

From a fellow professional, please tell your landscape architect that his/her plan looks great.

 

[Hartinez]

Very cool. You did the right thing by contacting a landscape architect. In this era of DIY, people often overlook the need of having a professional, who often went to school to do what they do, take care of the problem for them. This is going to be stunning and the plan is very well thought out.

 

[MrWunderful]

Im so jealous. I would love a garden like that, too bad space in the bay area is so limited!

 

[Deleted member 21616]

love this lay out!, and the Bonsai Growing Garden is smart!

and the pond system sounds great! a bit like a natural pool.

exciting!!!

killer writting too - looks like a computer font! I usually can't read my writing!

 

[Hartinez]

love this lay out!, and the Bonsai Growing Garden is smart!

and the pond system sounds great! a bit like a natural pool.

exciting!!!

killer writting too - looks like a computer font! I usually can't read my writing!

It’s possible it’s just a font, but most architecture students and landscape architecture students learn standard lettering for drawings and blue prints. At least I did in the early 2000s, but that was right around the massive transition to computer only drawing and rendering sets. At the very least, it’s quite possible the colors are all hand done. Then again, I could be wrong about that also.
Regardless, we’ll done plans wether gardens or buildings are so dam attractive.

 

[Adair M]

Very cool. You did the right thing by contacting a landscape architect. In this era of DIY, people often overlook the need of having a professional, who often went to school to do what they do, take care of the problem for them. This is going to be stunning and the plan is very well thought out.

We went thru several iterations, then came up with this.

We let the pond guy determine the pond layout first. Actually, during that meeting, we were all here together, and the pond guy could figure out how to best use the slope and lay of the land. Once that was done, the landscape architect could do his thing.

 

[Adair M]

That's going to be a stunner, Adair!

...maybe having a couple of locations within the koi pond/stream/water feature to display trees would be nice if and when your project heads that way...

Yeah... several of the iterations the architect drew up had the trees spread out all over. I pulled back on that thinking it will be easier to water them if they are mainly concentrated in one or two places.

I have the large area off the patio, then I have some on the other side of the pond, close to the house. They would be right outside my breakfast room table. Good place for the Shohin. And that area gets shaded in the late afternoon, so that’s good for the Shohin, too.

 

[Adair M]

One idea I came up with after, is to capture rainwater from the gutter downspout that’s right at the corner nearest the house. I’ll have to talk to the pond guy about that...

 

[yenling83]

Can't wait to see some more pics! That sketch is super pro status, great work!

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Amazing- I love it. I love goldfish and it will be a vey peaceful location to hang out.
If I had a garden like that I would never want to leave it.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

The pond will have a “wetland filter”, which should aid in cooling and water clarity, even though I have full sun. The concept is water from the pond is pumped uphill into a “pond” of gravel. The water enters into the bottom of this “pond”, which has large gravel rocks at the bottom (softball sized), then a layer of baseball sized rocks, then finally a layer of 50 cent piece sized gravel. Aquatic plants are then planted in the top layer of gravel. So the pond ware is pushed up thru this “bog” where bacteria and plants break down the fish waste, turn it into nutrients for the plants. This body of water is underground, and gets geo-cooled. Once on the surface, it tumbled down a waterfall into the main pond. The waterfall aerates the water bringing oxygen in for the fish.

That’s the theory, anyway!

To prevent fish deaths due to predation, you should have a minimum depth of 36" with vertical walls. In my pond, I went down 60". If you have a 5' deep concrete pond, you will minimize problems with water heat.

The gravel filter at the top is a great biological filter feature, but make sure you allow for solid waste removal both at the bottom and the surface of your main pond. The pond bottom should be graded toward your filter drains and there should be no flat or dead spaces. Make sure you have at least one (if not more) skimmers on the outer rim of the pond to catch leaves and other floating debris.

The single most important feature that will allow you to enjoy your pond is having the proper design and filtration so that maintenance is minimized You don't want to be spending all of your time by your pond vacuuming the bottom, or cleaning filters!

 

[River's Edge]

As promised, I thought I’d share a bit about my new bonsai garden.

I have a full sun space, absolutely no overhead trees. Which is great for my pines!

As a temporary measure, I put up these shelves:

View attachment 254050

View attachment 254049

But, I need a patio, more work space, and I have the room to make a nice display garden a la @MACH5, but I have no clue how to go about it!

So, I searched the Internet for garden ideas, patio ideas, bonsai garden ideas... I’ve had the opportunity to visit a couple friends with incredible gardens.

So, I found a pond contractor, and a landscape architect, met with them, and came up with a “Master Plan”.

It looks like this:

View attachment 254054

The pond will have a “wetland filter”, which should aid in cooling and water clarity, even though I have full sun. The concept is water from the pond is pumped uphill into a “pond” of gravel. The water enters into the bottom of this “pond”, which has large gravel rocks at the bottom (softball sized), then a layer of baseball sized rocks, then finally a layer of 50 cent piece sized gravel. Aquatic plants are then planted in the top layer of gravel. So the pond ware is pushed up thru this “bog” where bacteria and plants break down the fish waste, turn it into nutrients for the plants. This body of water is underground, and gets geo-cooled. Once on the surface, it tumbled down a waterfall into the main pond. The waterfall aerates the water bringing oxygen in for the fish.

That’s the theory, anyway!

The Master plan also shows a stream up above the pond. That is a “Phase 2” that may, or may not happen.

Around the bottom of the pond, I’ll have a patio, and around the patio, I’m planning on having the display benches on gravel. That way, I can minimize weeds. And put in hard edging to separate the lawn from the bonsai area. That way the guys mowing won’t have to work around the trees.

Construction is going to start Friday. It will be a moon-scape around here for a couple days!

Great Plan, Bog filters are the way to go, combined mechanical and natural filtration with little maintenance. Workshop?

 

[Mayank]

The plan looks awesome! I am working on a backyard bonsai garden and koi pond myself. Will post when complete.

 

[Adair M]

To prevent fish deaths due to predation, you should have a minimum depth of 36" with vertical walls. In my pond, I went down 60". If you have a 5' deep concrete pond, you will minimize problems with water heat.

The gravel filter at the top is a great biological filter feature, but make sure you allow for solid waste removal both at the bottom and the surface of your main pond. The pond bottom should be graded toward your filter drains and there should be no flat or dead spaces. Make sure you have at least one (if not more) skimmers on the outer rim of the pond to catch leaves and other floating debris.

The single most important feature that will allow you to enjoy your pond is having the proper design and filtration so that maintenance is minimized You don't want to be spending all of your time by your pond vacuuming the bottom, or cleaning filters!

No bottom drain. No concrete. It will be a rubber liner, covered with rocks and gravel. There will be a surface skimmer, and a couple of jets to make sure water doesn’t stagnate.

About predation... of course I’d like to prevent that. I’ve heard the advice you shared as one way to do it. I really don’t know how deep the pond guy is planning to make it. He is an Aquascape Certified pond designer/installer. Not his first install.

Of course herons are a threat. The Soque River is nearby. And I’m sure herons patrol it. Although I hardly ever see one. If they become a problem, I’ve heard the best deterrent is a swan decoy. Herons won’t cone around if they think a swan is present.

The main thing I’m worried about is algae. It will take a while for the bog to create sufficient biomass to be effective. So, the UV sterilization will probably be necessary.

I’m not planning on buying super expensive fish. I’ve tried to learn a bit about koi, and I’m sure I’ll learn more, but for now, I’ll just be happy with “pretty” ones, and keeping the water clear. Which means understocking the pond for a while.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

What a great looking plan! The wife and I have been slowly trying to work out backyard into a garden ourselves, but it looks like hiring a professional would be worth every penny.

 

[Adair M]

Great Plan, Bog filters are the way to go, combined mechanical and natural filtration with little maintenance. Workshop?

I don’t need a workshop. I might put in a pergola or something. I will continue to actually work on my trees on my back porch. But I’ll move the patio furniture to the patio.