Miska Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 Please let me know if I should move this to off topic, because it is going to contain a *lot* of plants and garden pictures, and pond pictures will be mini ponds. And MAYBE one large pond for now that my husband does not think we could put fish in (I want to put fish in). Disclaimer: These posts are going to be long and you may want TL:DR, which I will try to include. It is mostly for my own documentation and edification. Especially as I further my education. I went to college for Poli-Sci and History (Africana Studies, Women's Studies, International Relations, etc) but my passion for conservation, ecology, environmentalism, etc never really died away. It seems that Fish Tanks have really reignited it, and I fully believe that folks in their mid-30s should be allowed to follow those passions, and be encouraged to do so. So this is my place for that. Background/History/Reasoning My family (we are a pod that formed during covid) have a small .5 acre home in Maryland (which is a lot of land for this state in most cases). We want ponds, and water retention, and slow drainage. One of my biggest passions is restoring native plants, fish, and feeding opportunities to the bay. The Chesapeake Bay is the Environmental Love of my life aside from The Great Lakes (I am originally from the Erie, PA area). Wetlands, specifically have been my passion since I was 12 years old and went to the Erie National (Wetland) Reserve-Refuge in Guys Mills PA on a field trip (There is a native seed place there that I still want to order from but they sell for commercial, agribusiness, etc). I want to transform my yard into something that will make my neighbors love and hate us (The yard has been unkempt as we purchased it from a woman who was in her late 80's and had not touched it since her husband died a decade prior). Be filled with beautiful plants, mini ponds, and a couple of rain gardens, a dry bed, and water retention areas. One of the greatest threats to the Bay is runoff water. With the rapid construction in the area, the massive widening of congested roads, and the farms in PA, the Bay has been devastated. I cannot fix that. But I can create a home ecosystem that helps wildlife flourish and keeps our neighborhoods run off (a lot of which ends up in my yard because one house over is the apex of a "Mountain" that drains into the Chesapeake Bay). I have been dreaming on a wild garden home for a decade now, and everything I use here will be brought over to the second home I own (a rental property currently) in another city near the bay. And will spread to Elodie's home even closer to the harbor. She will also be putting ponds in her scape. And we will be utilizing as many native aquatic plants as possible in our rain gardens, etc. This concludes the Reasoning Portion of my project. It is a multi year project, and it looks as though I will be undergoing minor back and neck procedures, to help restore function to my body, so expect it to be a long time, and that I will have health related challenges. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJs Aquatics Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 I love this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miska Posted March 26, 2023 Author Share Posted March 26, 2023 Thank you @CJs Aquatics!! Okay Photo Time: We are going to start with the front yard. I am laying out the photos as they are and then eventually I will make some kind of mockup of what I want and where. These are the first three areas I want to start with: The first is going to be a rain garden and a dry bed with a swale to feed some Marginal and Berm Aquatic Plants- I want Natives, so I have to pick them out first. And I need to find the best place to purchase them (that is so hard, it turns out!) We have a good bit of water erosion that has happened over the last 60 years (home was built in 1960) So I am thinking dry bed/swale down the middle then build up elevated ground with mulch and soil- and put in plants like: Cattail Swamp Milkweed Swamp Rose And more! Next is one of the front gardens. I want a mini pond in the space with long fin mountain minnows or rice fish? And then finally is this horrible swampy back patch. It's always flooded. My husband wants to turn it into a pond but he doesn't think we can get fish into it. I think with an overflow that has pond filter in it, etc, we can. I want small fish there, rice fish, shiners, Mountain Minnows or the like. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elodie Rose Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 I love reading about your plans and seeing these beginnings. You’re creating beautiful things, very thoughtfully. 💜 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 On 3/26/2023 at 2:56 PM, Miska said: And then finally is this horrible swampy back patch. It's always flooded. My husband wants to turn it into a pond but he doesn't think we can get fish into it. I think with an overflow that has pond filter in it, etc, we can. I want small fish there, rice fish, shiners, Mountain Minnows or the like. For this, do you mean dig a hole and let the water fill it? I would think you'd have to fix the drainage stuff to be able to put something in, but I could just be confused about it or what is the best setup for your plans. The dampness on the soil could just be the groundwater level? I don't know... On 3/26/2023 at 2:56 PM, Miska said: I really love the trees in this photo. Really beautiful. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi_Aquatics Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 Super excited to see how this goes!! I am also from Maryland (deep creek lake area-western) but it is great to see that you are taking steps to protect the bay!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeGryphon Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 This sounds amazing, literally my dream if I'm ever able to own a home! Can't wait to see what you're able to do in the future! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miska Posted March 28, 2023 Author Share Posted March 28, 2023 On 3/27/2023 at 9:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said: For this, do you mean dig a hole and let the water fill it? I would think you'd have to fix the drainage stuff to be able to put something in, but I could just be confused about it or what is the best setup for your plans. The dampness on the soil could just be the groundwater level? I don't know... I really love the trees in this photo. Really beautiful. 🙂 I am not sure yet! I think we might consult a professional because it is so close to the house. Likely we will create a gravel/dry bed and then build up a pond on top. But I am still not sure. We are going to make a dry creek/swale that goes to the other gardens to help water them. That is a great question. Thank you! On 3/28/2023 at 5:52 PM, BeeGryphon said: This sounds amazing, literally my dream if I'm ever able to own a home! Can't wait to see what you're able to do in the future! Thank you!!! It means a lot. ❤️ We actually bought this home with our roomie, who is really great and we could not afford the size here in MD or the land without him. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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