natural spring in my yard - help?
margeinnj
We have a natural spring in our yard - water coming up from the
ground. It remains soggy, even in last years drought. Right now
it is literally a bog with moss and probably mosquitos later.
Any suggestions for keeping down the wetness? It's an area about
10 feet by 15 feet.
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phorbin
In article <MOD$000507...@rec.gardens.ecosystems>,
bepNO...@home.com.invalid says...
Geez, I wish we had your problem... I'd figure a way to turn the spring
into ... a pond ... an irrigation system (We have the equivalent of two
large double lots and the drought in SW Ontario over the past
couple of years (they didn't call it a drought but trees have died
as a result of lack of water and heat) really hurt)
--
phorbin
Power unused is merely potential.
Potential unused often withers.
Polly
In article <MOD$00050...@rec.gardens.ecosystems>, pho...@my-deja.com
(phorbin) wrote:
Hi Marge,
I agree. There was probably a pond there once and it filled in as they are
wont to do. I would look into digging it out and restoring it. There are
marvelous pond and marginal plants that provide food for birds etc. If the
restored pond is deep enough (18") you can have fish in the pond and
overwinter them. I added a small pond to my landscape and it is the most
carefree area in my garden and i porbably get the most enjoyment out of
it, to boot. I needed to use a rubber liner ($$$$$$$) so i could only make
a small pond but you could probably have a nice sized, natural bottom
pond. You have a real asset there.
Good luck and go for it! (PS there is a ng just for ponders <rec.ponds>
and they will more than happily help you with specifics)
Polly M. Law/Thrums End Art Studio
in the beautiful Mid Hudson Valley of NY, USDA zone 5
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Swani
Rather than trying to keep it down, how about using the spring. dig out the
middle and put in a pond, using the soil to raise up the surrounding area.
Otherwise its drainage, and/or raising the area.
margeinnj wrote in message ...
dannyboy
On Mon, 08 May 00 03:27:03, margeinnj
<bepNO...@home.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>We have a natural spring in our yard - water coming up from the
>ground. It remains soggy, even in last years drought. Right now
>it is literally a bog with moss and probably mosquitos later.
>Any suggestions for keeping down the wetness? It's an area about
>10 feet by 15 feet.
>
>* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
>The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
>
>
Dig it into a pond, and make a water garden. Use
lots of stones/rocks. Try some Koi to eat the skeeters.
Get a duck or two, and some toads. Of course if you live in
the wrong neighborhood, you'll probably be cited for some
bizarre infraction of local law.
vr,
rev. dan...
Orangerose
>We have a natural spring in our yard - water coming up from the
>ground. It remains soggy, even in last years drought. Right now
>it is literally a bog with moss and probably mosquitos later.
>Any suggestions for keeping down the wetness? It's an area about
>10 feet by 15 feet.
If you really have a natural spring and not just a wet area over hardpan, you
will be hard-pressed to get rid of it. A spring occurs when water from an
aquifer "leaks" out between layers of rock. It would be quite a job to plug a
geologic feature like that! If you really wanted to get rid of it, you would
most likely have to install underground drainage, including a culvert to drain
the water into the gutter or other local drainage. It would be cheaper to make
a pond. If what you really have is a pool of water resting on hardpan (no
underground source of water) you should be able to get rid of it by digging
through the hardpan and filling the hole with gravel. If you're not sure,
start digging. If the hole keeps filling with more water even when it's not
raining, you can build a pond. If the water drains away, your problem is
solved.
Kelly
Mary
A more ecological solution is turn it into a bog garden and plant pretty wet
loving plants like Queen of the Meadow and Louisiana iris. Willows tend to
suck up ground moisture. I have a similar problem, but in drought years, my
bog springs dry up, so the bog garden doesn't work all that well for me.
Mary
Swani wrote:
> Rather than trying to keep it down, how about using the spring. dig out the
> middle and put in a pond, using the soil to raise up the surrounding area.
> Otherwise its drainage, and/or raising the area.
> margeinnj wrote in message ...
> >
> >We have a natural spring in our yard - water coming up from the
> >ground. It remains soggy, even in last years drought. Right now
> >it is literally a bog with moss and probably mosquitos later.
> >Any suggestions for keeping down the wetness? It's an area about
> >10 feet by 15 feet.
> >
Carol Anne Brown
Wellll!!
What we did, is not a pond because it wasn't really a natural spring. We
just lived too close to the water a few streets over, so the water level
in the ground never really dried up. What I did was dug a hole about
five feet wide and five feet deep, then added broken up concrete, which
was free. We really broke it up to smaller size pieces like baseball
size. Filled the hole about three feet deep with the broken concrete and
then covered it with dirt, no more bog problems at all. Now we are
making a patio garden there tomorrow. So now we can enjoy our little
place in the yard, instead of tracking in mud. When it rained, it really
was a mess and never dried up until the false drain was made. You can
also use rocks, but the concrete was free,so we recycled and it worked
just fine. It has been two years now with no problems at all. I hope
this helps, it's a little labor, but well worth the effort.
Becky
You could make a really fabulous flower garden out of this site with natives
that thrive in moist to wet soil. A lot of the prettiest bloomers like a
boggy spot. I f you get enough plants going there, you won't have a mosquito
problem. If the site's in full sun, you could try swamp milkweed, several
types of sunflowers, Joe Pye weed (will draw masses of butterflies and
bees), lobelia cardinalis, monarda, and the list goes on! Sedges could edge
the plot, they like it wet. if this spot is in the shade, Clethra alnifolia
would be happy and send up intensely scented flowers in summer, making your
nose and all your bees happy. Lobelia, obedient plant, and others will also
take some shade. I always try to find natives that are suited to my
"problem" spots, and they don't fail me! Just search on "native
plants"--tons of websites! good luck, becky