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CoachB #229125 07/31/10 09:21 PM
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Brian the garland is holding up well, I even had some of the garland in my mini pond and RAS over the winter, no real sign of deterioration other than slight color fading.



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I have a question. I looked over these posts and followed instructions pretty closely. Built my island and it floats fine - but the plants seem to be in standing water inside the island - that is, the water is wicking up thru the pete moss and such - and there is quite a bit in there.

I was expecting the soil to be damp - but it is just flat wet - with standing water clear to the eye.

Do the plants like having their feet so wet?

Am I doing it ok? Anything else I should be aware of?

jlodestro #230291 08/09/10 04:41 PM
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Originally Posted By: jlodestro
I have a question. I looked over these posts and followed instructions pretty closely. Built my island and it floats fine - but the plants seem to be in standing water inside the island - that is, the water is wicking up thru the pete moss and such - and there is quite a bit in there.

I was expecting the soil to be damp - but it is just flat wet - with standing water clear to the eye.

Do the plants like having their feet so wet?

Am I doing it ok? Anything else I should be aware of?


It depends on what plants you used. There are some that'll handle being in water over a foot deep. What plants did you put on the island?


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esshup #230304 08/09/10 06:24 PM
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My island also has mostly standing water on it, it's a balance of enough flotation vs how much dirt you put on it.
As long as you put water loving plants on it no problem, of the different water plants I put on it last year the hardy water Canna, and the Iris survived the winter. I also have what I call Swamp grass on it but it's just stuff I found growing in wet areas of the property.
Another good plant that should make it thru the winter is pickerel weed, I have those on the natural islands.

How about some pics?

Last edited by adirondack pond; 08/09/10 06:25 PM.


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This may be a route I need to go as well, would love to see some pictures.

MRHELLO #230920 08/14/10 08:10 AM
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MRHELLO, If you go back to the beginning of this topic I explaine how I made the island, It's not the best way to make an island but I used materials I already had.
If I were to build another one I would use 4" corrugated plastic pipe, then bend it to the shape you want and add pvc crossmembers to hold the shape, then fill the 4" pipe with expanding foam, after that put your screening on with zip ties.
The 4" pipe will give you more flotation without the degradation of exposed foam. Good Luck



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The Island is filling in pretty good and there's even some cattails growing on it now.





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It's time to plan for a muskrat fur coat, I haven't seen them but they enjoyed the Iris on the small Island and have been munching on some Cattails on the larger islands, not that cattails are endangered.





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Now is the time of the year that they start to get active, enlarging their dens and putting on the feed bag in preperation for winter.


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esshup #238408 10/18/10 07:14 PM
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The Rats have cleaned out the Iris & Catails on the little island, but the water Canna and swamp grass are hanging on despite the hard frosts.




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There's about a month or so to go yet before the 'rats are fully prime, then go get 'em! Depending on size and demand (of course) they're supposed to bring $6-$8 this season.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
esshup #238430 10/18/10 09:39 PM
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Muskrat season opens up next week and otter season the week after so I have a friend who will be trapping at the pond and stream, last year he got rats and some mink, but no sign of otter, the electric fence is doing it's job.



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Made it thru another winter. crazy




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Man, I can't believe winter is still holding on up there. The morels are starting to pop here, and youth turkey season just started today. The fruit trees are starting to show 3/4" long buds.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
esshup #256982 04/30/11 08:32 PM
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The Island looks pretty ratty but it grew back in last year so I'm not gonna put anything on it this year and see what grows.




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The suspense is killing me -- did the plants grow back again?


No pond yet, not even land. But working on it.

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dlyle #262753 06/23/11 11:36 AM
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Yeah the Island is filling back in, naturally the swamp grass grew fast, but the cattail is growing and the hardy water Canna is starting to grow. Even though the muskrats chewed up the Iris last fall you can see it is starting to grow back on the far left side.
Of the 5 different plants I bought to put on the Island 2 years ago only the water Canna and Iris continue to survive our nasty winters, I got the swamp grass from wet areas on my property and the Cattails planted themselves.
Some of the swamp grass is pushed down so I think some of the ducks have been sitting on it.





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The island filled in ok, a cattail in the middle, the Iris came back on the left but the hardy water Canna didn't make it, and swamp grass all around. If the Muskrats are around they haven't bothered the Iris like they did last year.




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I've pulled this thread up too many times over the years and plan to build one myself this summer. Could we get an update? Especially regarding status of foam noodles and of soil loss through the .5" mesh.


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Originally Posted By: Rangersedge
I've pulled this thread up too many times over the years and plan to build one myself this summer. Could we get an update? Especially regarding status of foam noodles and of soil loss through the .5" mesh.

The small island made it thru it's 3rd winter still intact., even the foam noodles are still there although getting rough.
The only visable soil loss was at one end where the muskrats chewed on the iris, I'll just put some paper over the plastic mesh and add some dirt.
The only plants that made it thru each winter are the iris, cattails, and swamp grass.

If I was going to build another island I would make it out of a 4'x8'x 2" sheet of foam, then carve a rounded shape, paint it with an exterior latex paint to help preserve the foam, drill lots of small holes thru it to allow roots down and water up, then attach a framework of 3/4" PVC to give more strength to the island, next attach some of that vinyl garden edging around the perimeter of the island so you have a 1 or 2 inch lip to help hold the dirt on.
You can attach a cable to the PVC framework and run it down to an anchor.

If I didn't already have 2 large natural islands I would build more, I really believe they are a great asset to the fish and pond health.



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I have some old 4" pvc and a lot of 1.5" pipe. Was thinking about building 10' x 4' frame with 4", using some of the 1.5 pipe (with ends plugged) across bottom to provide flotation / support throughout the middle, then using the .5" plastic netting with burlap / old blanket / towel / curtain or something over it to help retain soil; but not prevent roots from going through, then spagnum moss, potting soil, etc. seeded with grass seed or something. Was going to paint the PVC either brown or green once together and before put dirt on. Considering hanging other pvc pieces off 4" frame to serve as structure for fish about perimeter. What do you think?


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Sounds like a good plan, just for insurance the only thing I would add would be to fill the PVC with great stuff foam big gap filler, you can get it in the 20 oz. cans.
I used paper to hold the soil on the mesh but burlap should work well.

Last edited by adirondack pond; 04/07/12 09:45 PM.


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I have an idea for one and it is to use plastic pallets upside down so that it have walls. I have a couple in my pond being weighted down with stones for FHM. They are 4' square pallets with pre existing holes. They are pretty expensive to buy. so If I had to buy them I wouldnt use them. But being that I already have them and they float very well I will make my attempt with those.


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cardell #287287 04/09/12 06:48 PM
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Originally Posted By: cardell
I have an idea for one and it is to use plastic pallets upside down so that it have walls.


I have some of those plastic pallets too and they are very strong, but if your gonna put dirt and plants on it you'll need more floatation, maybe epoxy some strips of 2" foam on the bottom or foam filled pvc pipeing.



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I just stumbled onto your island making and I gotta have one. A couple of things. Don't use the white beaded foam as it will soak up water and is open celled. Use the blue or pink. They are closed cell and won't soak up water. Just to test the real hardiness of the blue foam,,,, last July I took a square foot of it, heat melted the outside top and sides with a heat gun and that makes a tough outer plastic skin,,, and tossed it into the pond. It is setting in the pond now and is just fine. One other things comes to mind. There is a rope material that draws water up to the plants. I could see punching holes through the plastic and threading the rope through them into the soil and letting just a little bit dangle into the water to keep the plants moist. A good growing medium is a mixture of equal parts of potting soil, perlite and vermiculite. That would keep the growing medium lighter then just soil alone and the perlite keeps the soil airy and the vermiculite keep moisture in the soil. I really like your idea.

When I was boat building I punched clean holes into blue foam by taking copper tubing and twisting it with hand force through the foam.


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