Official challenge to TerryO

[Stephanie Logan]

OK, I thought I'd just start with a big old impossible premise...

This is how Taco's enclosure looks this summer so far.

I'm thinking of building a spiral ramp up to the birdbath so she would have a water feature like Pio does...what do you think? Am I reaching too far or can I achieve a level that is close to a TerryO?

Here is the view uphill through a couple of her hides:

And uphill from the very bottom:

The other side, which includes the birdbath, her unused eating flagstone and water dish, and her half-crate, filled with hay and complete with sunroof:

And looking across the top of her roof:

I did just trim up the foliage against the short upper wall so she can't use it to boost herself up and out. It's pretty good sized, about 8'x12', but she still tries to escape, or stands there scratching against the side and looking at me reproachfully till I fasten on her belt and turn her loose.

 

[Tom]

Hmm. You're looking to fill some pretty big shoes there.

Nice enclosure though.

 

[terryo]

Your 're joking...right? I've seen pictures of your flower garden, and they're unbelievable. I think you could do a really nice stream in that size enclosure. Right now we're doing a 22' x 7' enclosure for my boxies with a stream and a pond at the end of it. A bigger pond then Pio has and deeper for the boxies. So let's go Stephanie...I'm sure yours will be fabulous and I might get some idea's from you.

 

[ChiKat]

Wow that looks awesome!! I'm so jealous.
Steph you and Terry need to come to Illinois and build my poor little Nelson an outdoor enclosure!!

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Yes! It's a joke.

Terry, there are many of us on this forum who have nice enclosures, indoor and outdoor, with creative and colorful plants and clever, well-designed hides.

Then there is you, in a category by yourself.

I'm just giving you a hard time. I'm perpetually jealous and well aware I can't surpass your talent and vision, but I am pleased with the success of some of the flowers I planted and hides that have developed from the plants and stuff I've installed.

It's been great weather here and I'm just so happy to be outside in the yard.

 

[Kristina]

You have way enough slope there to add a stream, without having to use the bird bath, Stephanie. You only need a 1" slope per ten feet in order to create a running stream.

I just dug out the stream and holes for the deeper areas, leveled them the way I wanted them, lined it with recycled carpet padding off of Freecycle, and cut the pond liner to fit. Then I mixed three different sizes of stones with sand, and let the flowing water sort the sand and stones. It was a lot of labor, but really rather easy.

I think Terry did pond liner with concrete built over it... So that if the concrete fails the pond liner is there as a back up. Either way would work, and probably cost about the same.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Wow, you make it sound so doable.

How much do you think it would cost--just a ballpark? Do you have to have a pump to circulate the water? How hard is it to keep clean? What happens to it over the winter?

 

[Missy]

Hey I live in Illinois too so TerrO and Stephanie you can stop by my place after Katies and give Tanks pen a makeover. LOL.

 

[Kristina]

You could do it for $100-150 with all new materials, less if you are a Freecycle aficionado like me

Yes, I have a pump, a Catalina 800. It was $25 I think on Ebay. It is 390 GPH (gallons per hour.) Cleaning isn't hard, I just pull the return house out of the waterfall and let most of the water run out onto the ground, and then stick my garden house in the waterfall. Clean water goes in one end, out the other. Once it runs clear, remove the garden house and put the return hose back in the waterfall. Done My water is slightly tea stained, because of the driftwood leaching tannins, but then so are rivers in the Amazon It is called "blackwater." I have had blackwater aquariums set up with tons of driftwood and leaf litter before, and it gives the water a gorgeous amber tint and lowers the pH significantly. But I digress.

During the winter I will just drain most of the water and let the snow fall on it. It should be fine.

 

[terryo]

That about sums it up Stephanie......Tomorrow is day 2 working on the boxie garden. What a mess and my back is killing me. I measured it today. It's 4' x 29 '. So it's long, but not too wide. It was a planter first and then a koi pond and now a boxie garden. I'm going to soak in the tub now. I hope I can get back out.
Your's is a much better shape Stephanie, but I don't have a lot of space and just have to make do with what I have. But...it's so much fun working with plants and dirt....I know you love it as much as I do.