Thanks Bob. I was also thinking of using the PVC piping and doing some cross tees in the center as you mentioned for support. I was going to fill the PVC with the expanding foam prior to putting it together but I like your idea of drilling the holes after its together.
I was going to use some fiber mesh screening as the bottom to allow the roots out but keep the peat in, however I am interested to find out more about the shade cloth. Does that breakdown over time? I was trying to figure out what to use for the top cloth. It has to be sturdy enough to keep the plants supported but open enough to allow the plants to start growing.
I had not thought about sewing it together with the fishing line but that would make sense for a fish pond
I was going to secure it to the PVC with wire ties.
One of my concerns was to figure out how large of PVC and foam to keep it floating but not so much that nothing can either crawl up on the island and or have it look too fake. I was going to go with about 2 - 3 inch thin wall PVC and have the cross "+" braces not filled to provide some of the weight as to not have this blow away totally and also give it a good center of gravity. I was also thinking of cutting a small chunk out of one of the side braces to put a wood or some sort of ramp for any turtles or frogs to find their way up on it, but would not need it if it were more neutrally buoyant.
Well that�s my ides so far. Just thinking about it makes me believe that it may be a bit of work and who knows maybe paying the floating Island place to build and seed it would be worth it.
lol They did send an awesome packet to look over and what I saw sounded right but I am still debating about the cost of that when I know I could make something like that for less. Ahhh well maybe I will make a prototype here and see if it looks good and if not then buy one of theirs. Stay tuned and if anyone has other ideas I would love to hear them!!!
