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Up Coming Events
The
Yard, Garden and
Patio Show
February 12 - 14, 2010
Friday & Saturday 10am-7:30pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm
The Yard, Garden, and Patio show announces the start of the 2010 garden season for Hughes! It has been an annual event for us since the early 1990s. The show is held at the Oregon Convention Center and we will be at booth #1166.
Stop by - we will have money saving coupons available for the nursery - good through May 02, 2010
Look out for our own
Eamonn Hughes and Anne Beadle speaking at the show.
Print a coupon for entry to the show at the link below For More on The Yard, Garden and Patio Show click here
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Gardenpalooza
April 3, 2010
At Fir Point Farm in Aurora, Oregon.
Located 20 miles South of Portland at 14601 Arndt Road in Aurora, Oregon 97002
It is Hughes Water Gardens' fourth year of participating in this enjoyable event and we hope to see you there
For more information on Gardenpalooza click here.
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Tinkerbelle's
Pond Tips
 Tinkerbelle Hughes
Winter Care of Outdoor
Waterbowls
In our mild Willamette
Valley climate, waterbowls are often left outdoors year
around. Evergreen water plants can be
used to provide winter interest or
without plants your bowl can act as a "rain catcher".
If you have fish & snails in your waterbowl they should be over-wintered
indoors or placed in an outdoor pond.
Tropical plants must come indoors or to a
heated greenhouse for the winter. 
With
the exception of the evergreen varieties, hardy plants require the "downtime"
of dormancy to produce healthy growth the following spring. After they die back to a dormant state in
fall, lightly trim dead foliage, then either place them below the ice level in
an outdoor pond or store them in a garage or other space which is cool but not
freezing. Semi-tropical plants can also
be allowed to go dormant and stored with the hardy plants. Unless they are in standing water, check the
plants periodically to be sure they stay moist.
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Look for our class schedule in February issue -
Classes start back up March 06, 2010
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Our Mailing Address
25289 SW Stafford Rd, Tualatin, OR 97062
Winter Hours
Monday - Friday
9 to 6
Saturday
10 to 3
Sunday
Closes
Our Telephone
503-638-1709
Copyright (C) 2008 Hughes Water Gardens. All rights reserved
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Building My Pondless Urn Feature.
Customer Denise Carder talks about her experience building her pondless bubbling urn feature.
What is the style of the water feature?
It is a pondless bubbling urn feature. I used two medium sized urns and a water bowl. All three are spilling water into a underground reservoir.
I chose a pondless feature because of safety. This feature is in my front yard and my neighborhood has a lot of children. I felt a hidden reservior was more appropriate than a open body of water that could be an tempting playground.
A pondless feature is also easier to keep clean than a open body of water. Which was a really attractive feature to me.
Did you do lots of research before?
I went to the class on Pondless Urns at Hughes Water Gardens where I received some great advice and handouts. Hughes was great about taking the time to walk me through all the steps.
I found that for the reservoir I had my choice between using a rubber liner or a preformed reservoir. The liner was cheaper but it required more work. The preformed reservoir was substantially more expensive but probably a little easier to install. I choose the liner and it worked great for me.
At Hughes I also found a great selection of urns to choose from. I wanted something unusual but that would also blend with the rest of the garden. I am very happy with my choice.
What was the main purpose of your feature?
I love the sound of water. I think it adds a great deal to a garden. I also thought my garden was getting a little busy and it really needed a focal point to ground it.
What size of pump did you use?
The staff at Hughes were very helpful when choosing the pump. They showed me several samples of different sizes of pumps in use. I ended up using a pump that has a flow of 1900 gallons per hour. It worked out great and I am very happy with the flow.
Did you do a filter? UV light? Skimmer?
Because the main body of water is underground I did not need any additional filtration.
What was the most enjoyable part of the building process?
Turning it on, it was really cool when everything worked. The project was also fast! I had it done in a weekend.
What was the most difficult part of the building process?
Digging. I built my feature in the middle of summer and the ground was very hard. Because of that my reservoir is a little too small for the feature.
What mistakes did you make and what would you do over?
Because my reservoir is too small I needed to put backflows on my urns (A pipe inside the urn or a check valve on the hose) this would prevent the water draining out of the urns and overflowing the reservoir when the feature was turned off and therefore running my pump dry when I turn it back on. I have changed that and now the three urns have backflows. It was very easy to do.
What has the feature added to your yard?
Besides a wonderful focal point to my yard, it attracts wildlife. I often see hummingbirds and chickadees playing in the water.
Also the sound of water is wonderful. One of my neighbors came over shortly after I completed it to thank me for the wonderful water sounds they could hear at their house.
What came out better than expected?
The rock I used around the urns and over the reservoir. To save on money I used left over rock from building a rock wall. It was bigger than I wanted. However when completed it looked great!
Any other comments?
I really do love it!
Would you do it again?
Yes, I would do it again. It has added so much to my yard.
Thanks, Denise
For more of how to build a water feature click here.
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Ice on the pond
Pond water receives its oxygen from the air. During periods of prolonged ice cover on the water, harmful gases released by decaying organic debris on the pond bottom can accumulate beneath the ice and prevent oxygen getting into the water. You need to keep a hole open so that these harmful gases can escape or it could kill your fish. We are lucky in the Pacific Northwest in that we rarely get complete ice cover for more than a few days. If the ice remains for more than a week, you should take measures to increase the gas exchange. Do not use a hammer to break up the ice. The shock waves can harm your fish. Once every few days you can pour some boiling water in a couple of spots and melt holes in the ice. If you want to take care of it automatically, purchase a pond de-icer unit which will keep an open hole in the ice. For more information on winterizing  your pond click here The Koi in Hughes Water Gardens large pond under a 2" sheet of ice during the December freeze of 2009. |
Pond De-Icers/Birdbath
Pond
de-icers keep an area of pond surface open for vital gas exchange. This
TetraPond model also serves as a birdbath making water available
year-round for birds!
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Cut Flower s from your Pond
When you think of cut flower gardens you usually think of a English perennial garden. However you can have a nice cut garden using the Water plants you already have in your pond. Check out the list below and begin planning for your own cut flowers this summer.
Water Plants for cut gardens
Asclepias incarnata - Butterfly Plant - Dusty pink flower.
Baumea rubiginosa 'variegata' - Golden Sword - grass with yellow and green stripped foliage.
Canna sp. - Canna - Yellow, orange, red, white, pink flowers.
Cyperus alternifolius - Umbrella Palm - Unusual umbrella like foliage.
Cyperus papyrus - Egyptian Papyrus - Large/dramatic umbrella like foliage.
Dichromena colorata - Star Grass - Unuasal white star flower.
Equisteum hymale - Horsetail - Very distintive reed like jointed stems.
Hibiscus sp - Hibiscus - Pink, white, red large flowers.
Houttuynia cordata variegata - Chameleon Plant - Heart shape leaf that has red green and creamy white with a white flower.
Hedychium coronarium - Hardy White Ginger - White flower
Iris sp. - Iris - Yellow, white, blue, purple, pinks flowers.
Lobelia cardinalis - Cardinal Flower - Red flowers.
Lysimachia punctata 'Alexander' -Alexander Circle Flower -
Yellow foliage with variaged foliage.
Ranunculus lingua 'Grandiflorus' - Giant Spearwort - Yellow Flower.
Zantedeschia aethiopica - Calla Lily - White Flower.
Nymphaea sp.- Hardy Water Lily - White, yellow, pink, reddish
nice foliage.
Nymphaea sp. - Tropical Water Lily - White, Blue, Purple, red, pink
nice foliage.
Nelumbo sp. - Lotus - Pink, White, yellow.
Typha sp. - Catails - Chocolate brown cattails
  
Canna Equisteum hymale Dichromena collrata
  
Cattail Hibiscus sp. Tropical Water Lily
For more pictures of water plants click here.
For more on water plant available at Hughes Water Garden click here.
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