May I suggest Impatients, Petunias, creeping Jenny, Strawberry and Cream Grass, Weeds, Grass, Globe Flower, Snow on the Mountain, Water Iris, Creeping Flox, and Lemon Drops.
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Regards,
Lisa

Thanks isa!!! WOW!!! Those are AWESOME!!! Is there dirt???

No dirt at all. I used 2 connected washable furnace filters and sandwiched some window foam in between. The roots can "hold" on to the filter material. You can sprinke grass seed on top for an authentic Island feel. lol. I sprinked some Allysum and it has sprouted. We will see...

Also the small finches and sparrows hop on the Islands. There was some toad hanky panky reported there- but lets not gossip.

BTW- I love your Island because of the black color.And love that you are so creative. BTW- Do you think you should put some screening on the underside if you have fish that nibble?

Also- Do you like watercress, or water celery? Water Celery comes in a pink and green varigated leaves. I love that look.

Happy creative ponding,

Lisa

Oh the Hurtbagery of it all!!!lol! I am posting a pic of my pond...(it's the big dirt hole!) And a pic of my 4 lilies and floating planter(planted)...I found this preformed pond that I am gonna put hypertufa around as a base for a lily tub...I wanted to see it float!lol!!!...click on pics to enlarge....





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Goodkarma,
I LOVE YOUR ISLAND!...I just spent 30.00 bucks on a floating island....I wish I had checked this site out first!
Even if it's only for the summer (I live in Michigan)...your island is worth it!

Thank you very much greensparty. :)

Calamity j (very cool user name) I just can't wait to see your pond finished. Post pics when it is done please. Your floating planter looks really good planted, and the hypertufa lily tub base sounds like a really creative idea. Would very much like to see that too.

Lisa

Looks great!!!!!!

I have suggestions for you.

Watch the landscape fabric the UV rays from the sun will break it down and it will begin to fall apart. It could clog your filter.

2nd Next time start with the styrofoam and window screen. Then instead of the fabric use some DAP expanding foam to cover the styrofoam. You can get the same stuff in 2 part form and mix a little powdered paint (brown or black) It keep the foam from expanding too much and adds color. Then if you really want to make additions right before it hardens cover with a light coat of potting soil, peat, dry grass. whatever you want to add some texture. Let it dry and brush off the extra.

Taken from my taxidermy background. But it work really really well.

You can use soil. We make islands out of cork bark, looks a lot like floating driftwood with plants. Its pretty cool. If you put a coffee filter in the bottom of the potting area the soil will absorb water and you can use any plant that like moist soil. Some of our favorites are sun coleus and pitcher plant. They are something you usually don't see in a pond and can pull off with an island or cork raft.

Hi
I just use cheap plastic pots 4,5 inch diameter is good .place them on a flat surface stuff some newspaper in the openings and spray some expanding foam to join them together . You can pait the foam with latex paint,carve it to any shape you like. There are 3 different degrees of expansion of the foam. I find the least the strongest. Will last several years. One thing you can't do with the foam is keep it on the bottom it is incredibly bouyant !!lol
I tried making lily planters from the foam and they would float in spite of a rock in the center.lol gary

Thanks for all the helpful tips!!! I am already rethinking this one as it's my prototype!lol!!! I really like the foam idea and making it look more island-ish!!! I was in a pond store and saw how the little fish were eating the roots of the floating lettuce and so wanted a big island of stuff that they could eat from as I only want goldfish and want the pond self sufficient...as in the fih eat from the plants..I don't feed them...I know that I need to feed them at first but next yr they could be on thier own. I am thinking fancy goldfish. Only half a doz. So also have MADE A DECISION!!! This 30ft cement bed will be a 10ft pond, 10ft bog, 10ft veggie garden! It feels good to finally decide!!! Now I can get to work!!! I just want to set it up this year and get it established and next year mosaic it!!!

Dear heaven! She has the bug, bad!! LOL, Calamity. When the search feature is working again I'll see if I can track down some of the mosaic work done by other ponders. By the way, I get Whoops when I try to view your photos.
What most everyone is describing is exactly what I saw at our new Hydroponics store. It took me a while to find it because it is in a house smaller than half of my garage and I kept going past it. Sandy

I am finding Garden web is really slow AND a lot of the pics say oops!!! It's frustrating! I come here every morning and then after work a look to see if anybody has posted any pics of their pond and stuff....I'm ADDICTED!!!lol!

hi watershaper -
who sells cork bark? i've suddenly got the floating island bug too and it sounds like just what i would like to use for an island.

thanks, min

Yesterday, we went to a water gardens nursery and I purchased a floating island comprised of a short length of tree bark with 2 holes that accomodate small plastic pots. It looks terrific floating in the pond, but 20.00 dollars seems like a lot of money for a 12" piece of bark. I wonder if we can just drill holes in cedar planks and use them in the same manner. Will the cedar hurt the fish?
thanks,
Molly

If you look at the post "That Rascal Romeo" you will see a pic of my four year old island. It was made by taking a coir lined basket and tying a pond noodle around the top. The noodle was covered with black fabric. The bottom of the basket was filled with foam (to decrease weight) and the top was filled with dirt. I then covered it with moss and plants. I found that the frogs would dump anything they didn't like so for the most part the islands are now covered with naturally occuring weeds. They are anchored in a particular location to keep a racoon from grabbing it from the pond edge.

I love this idea! But what is window foam?