Half-Barrel Water Garden + Rain

Generally speaking, most ponds require the addition of water from the hose.
Evaporation exceeds rainfall. If any of the water from the pot goes out
into the yard, it won't hurt anything. If runoff from the yard goes into
the pond it can be quite polluting.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Daniel Phillips" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

Being new to this, I'm beginning a half whiskey barrel water garden.
While I figure out where to put it, I'm hoping that you all can
address my concern about rain flooding the barrel.

To what extent can this affect my yard? I also have some mature trees
and planted shrubs that I don't want to kill due to problems that
might result from too much water, if in fact this could happen.

But all indications from my local water garden store workers seem to
indicate that this wouldn't be a problem. And I couldn't find
anything through online searches indicating there would be a problem.
What would you say? How many feet should I place this barrel pond from
other plants, and what can I do to prevent flooding without installing
underground drains?

I was thinking of just playing it safe and placing it on the covered
porch (less sunlight, though, and I would like blooms), or filling the
bottom with rocks high enough to hold a pole w/ cement as base where I
can put an umbrella up to shield the pond from rain. What do you all
recommend if I even need to have concern?

Thanks,

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
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On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 20:28:06 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote:

Generally speaking, most ponds require the addition of water from the hose.
Evaporation exceeds rainfall. If any of the water from the pot goes out
into the yard, it won't hurt anything. If runoff from the yard goes into
the pond it can be quite polluting.
Ok.

Will fish definitely need drainage holes in the top for rain or if I
have to flood the barrel for any reason? Can they get by on their own?
Would adding features to the barrel for them to hide under and get
leverage be the answer?

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 20:28:06 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote:

Generally speaking, most ponds require the addition of water from the hose.
Evaporation exceeds rainfall. If any of the water from the pot goes out
into the yard, it won't hurt anything. If runoff from the yard goes into
the pond it can be quite polluting.
Ok.

Will fish definitely need drainage holes in the top for rain or if I
have to flood the barrel for any reason? Can they get by on their own?
Would adding features to the barrel for them to hide under and get
leverage be the answer?

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

"Daniel Phillips" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 20:28:06 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote:

Generally speaking, most ponds require the addition of water from the
hose.
Evaporation exceeds rainfall. If any of the water from the pot goes out
into the yard, it won't hurt anything. If runoff from the yard goes into
the pond it can be quite polluting.
Ok.

Will fish definitely need drainage holes in the top for rain or if I
have to flood the barrel for any reason? Can they get by on their own?
Would adding features to the barrel for them to hide under and get
leverage be the answer?


I can't see how you filling up the barrel to the point of overflowing it
would happen, unless you decided to top off the barrel at 4am in the dark.
Unless you get monsoon kind of downpours a rain induced overflow isn't going
to be like a river that will flush all the fish and plants out of the
barrel.

You're worrying over what is really nothing significant. A half oak barrel
is about 20 gallons. Even if you dumped straight out onto the lawn, it's not
going to amount to much more then a patch of wet lawn. In a day or two it
will dry out.

Try it as an experiment. Fill up the barrel with water, then tip the barrel
over, and wait 10 minutes, then see how all the water has been soaked up by
the ground and everything is okay. The ground can soak up a lot of water, so
the worst case of the barrel cracking or tipping over and draining water all
the yard is really a minor concern.

Sameer

"Daniel Phillips" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 20:28:06 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote:

Generally speaking, most ponds require the addition of water from the
hose.
Evaporation exceeds rainfall. If any of the water from the pot goes out
into the yard, it won't hurt anything. If runoff from the yard goes into
the pond it can be quite polluting.
Ok.

Will fish definitely need drainage holes in the top for rain or if I
have to flood the barrel for any reason? Can they get by on their own?
Would adding features to the barrel for them to hide under and get
leverage be the answer?


I can't see how you filling up the barrel to the point of overflowing it
would happen, unless you decided to top off the barrel at 4am in the dark.
Unless you get monsoon kind of downpours a rain induced overflow isn't going
to be like a river that will flush all the fish and plants out of the
barrel.

You're worrying over what is really nothing significant. A half oak barrel
is about 20 gallons. Even if you dumped straight out onto the lawn, it's not
going to amount to much more then a patch of wet lawn. In a day or two it
will dry out.

Try it as an experiment. Fill up the barrel with water, then tip the barrel
over, and wait 10 minutes, then see how all the water has been soaked up by
the ground and everything is okay. The ground can soak up a lot of water, so
the worst case of the barrel cracking or tipping over and draining water all
the yard is really a minor concern.

Sameer

I can't see how you filling up the barrel to the point of overflowing it
would happen, unless you decided to top off the barrel at 4am in the dark.
Unless you get monsoon kind of downpours a rain induced overflow isn't going
to be like a river that will flush all the fish and plants out of the
barrel.

You're worrying over what is really nothing significant. A half oak barrel
is about 20 gallons. Even if you dumped straight out onto the lawn, it's not
going to amount to much more then a patch of wet lawn. In a day or two it
will dry out.

Try it as an experiment. Fill up the barrel with water, then tip the barrel
over, and wait 10 minutes, then see how all the water has been soaked up by
the ground and everything is okay. The ground can soak up a lot of water, so
the worst case of the barrel cracking or tipping over and draining water all
the yard is really a minor concern.

Sameer

Erk, serves me right for not marking my threads some how, as I asked
this question again in another thread that I found while searching
through Google groups. Thanks a bunch for inserting your logic and
experience into my question. It's much appreciated for a newb like
me.

Although, I will say that I have had a successful time with planting
stuff in the soil. I have two rosemaries (one which has gotten really
large the past four years since planting and is finally blooming), and
a rose that blooms a lot (even after it had previously looked very
dead last year). I was surprised at how much easier it was to work
with aquatic plants, since both the water lily and Obedient Plant seem
to be alive and well!

Now I'll just have to watch the fish, and see what tonight's rains
bring for tommorrow. I suspect they might be ok, too, just lowering
metabolism for possibly cold water. They haven't keeled over
yet...and I'll soon know why if they do and learn from it (ammonia,
temperature, stress, etc....seem more picky than plants). I'm pretty
positive about the whole deal, though. Gave some few scraps of gold
fish food for whenever they find it and am searching for information
about gold fish from the web and the aquaria goldfish newgroup
wherever I can find it.

I'll avoid tapping at the sides of the container to see if they're ok
in the meantime. They are moving around and I also saw fin movements
of the dark one (mistake!) after about three or four hours. They seem
to be hiding by the Ludwigia on the ground (those plants also seem to
be doing well).

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.

I can't see how you filling up the barrel to the point of overflowing it
would happen, unless you decided to top off the barrel at 4am in the dark.
Unless you get monsoon kind of downpours a rain induced overflow isn't going
to be like a river that will flush all the fish and plants out of the
barrel.

You're worrying over what is really nothing significant. A half oak barrel
is about 20 gallons. Even if you dumped straight out onto the lawn, it's not
going to amount to much more then a patch of wet lawn. In a day or two it
will dry out.

Try it as an experiment. Fill up the barrel with water, then tip the barrel
over, and wait 10 minutes, then see how all the water has been soaked up by
the ground and everything is okay. The ground can soak up a lot of water, so
the worst case of the barrel cracking or tipping over and draining water all
the yard is really a minor concern.

Sameer

Erk, serves me right for not marking my threads some how, as I asked
this question again in another thread that I found while searching
through Google groups. Thanks a bunch for inserting your logic and
experience into my question. It's much appreciated for a newb like
me.

Although, I will say that I have had a successful time with planting
stuff in the soil. I have two rosemaries (one which has gotten really
large the past four years since planting and is finally blooming), and
a rose that blooms a lot (even after it had previously looked very
dead last year). I was surprised at how much easier it was to work
with aquatic plants, since both the water lily and Obedient Plant seem
to be alive and well!

Now I'll just have to watch the fish, and see what tonight's rains
bring for tommorrow. I suspect they might be ok, too, just lowering
metabolism for possibly cold water. They haven't keeled over
yet...and I'll soon know why if they do and learn from it (ammonia,
temperature, stress, etc....seem more picky than plants). I'm pretty
positive about the whole deal, though. Gave some few scraps of gold
fish food for whenever they find it and am searching for information
about gold fish from the web and the aquaria goldfish newgroup
wherever I can find it.

I'll avoid tapping at the sides of the container to see if they're ok
in the meantime. They are moving around and I also saw fin movements
of the dark one (mistake!) after about three or four hours. They seem
to be hiding by the Ludwigia on the ground (those plants also seem to
be doing well).

Daniel Phillips

[+]bandito[-]spam = [-]toppler.[+]zworg.com
Be warned, may mistakingly bounce back as spam.