It Is Planted

If we are lucky this will be the last you see of the Almighty Falls until next May or June when the new plantings have woken up and grown a bit. It is going to take that long. I don't expect any growth of substance above ground from what was planted for the rest of the season.

I expect them to settle in and put out some roots.

Despite being planted in a layer of spring fed mud on top of a solid slab of rock, a nice rain would be helpful. We seem to have entered a dry spell. I had to bucket water things this morning.

New additions to the planting today were a creeping groundcover veronica and a variegated sedge.

My best horticultural thinking went in to choosing plants that I thought had the best chance of not only success, but liking the conditions of a thin layer of spring fed mud on top of a solid slab of rock.

Time will tell. There is one possible other planting location. This one is a layer of bone dry dust on top of a solid slab of rock. The other option is to sweep the rock clean. That is a very good option. It is that bare spot on the left across from the island at the base of the old stone wall.

From start to a planting finish it took two months. Two fake rocks for covering the skimmer and filter falls are said to be arriving tomorrow for the final touch.

The Almighty Falls now joins my regular schedule of pond scum. I have been particularly pleased that from the time it began running full time, it has been operating at constant overflow level. The spring is mightier than the splash.

Not only will I not have to worry about keeping it filled, the constant flow helps keep the water clean and at a more even temperature less likely to freeze over solid in the winter.

The sack of bait fish I planted on Monday are alive and well, swimming in a nice showy school of tiny gold fishes. These I expect will grow, potentially doubling in size before the cold sets in. If all is well at the end of Friday, some koi will be planted on Monday.

I got lucky with the Japanese Maple. The place I wanted to plant it had near eight inches of spring fed mud before I hit the solid slab of rock. It also came with the free big rock, a high point of the solid slab that I just scraped clean.

It is what it is. The Lady of the House is satisfied. That is all that matters.

Time will have its way with the rocks.

Moss and ferns and who knows what else will begin to grow on them soon enough. I'll keep what I like and edit out the rest.

Next up, planting this entire slope between the Almighty Falls and the sweep of rhododendron in the middle of this view. That will have to wait for cooler weather and the rains to return.