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Cloudy sky

Hi Andrew, as you know I'm not an aquascaper so take what you want from my comments.

First I'd decide if this was loosely based on nature or trying to replicate it closer. By that I mean, I'd expect the wall to be bigger if it was natural, simply going by the size of the tree.

I've also spend a lot of time in the lake district and although agree with you that wall are different throughout the country, they don't tend to be as uniform as yours, at least in my head. What you have is a very skillfully built wall but natural walls are built with whatever rocks are around, therefore not as uniform.

The last point is where the coping stones have been dislodged by the tree limb, I think there should be more damage that's less uniform. I'd try a larger bite out of the main wall with angled damage a bit like you could imagine where sheep jump from field to field.
Hey Mort,
Nature or natural things as I understand are non man made so any kind of attempt at a dry stone wall will never be a natural thing, on account of this alone it will never be trying to replicate nature.
I'm well aware the wall looks very uniform but realistically I don't have the skillset or time to make anything much more realistic looking so using roughly uniform shapes as a basis I think are the best way forward for me.
A lot of the wall will also be lost with planting so by the time I have added the remaining coping stones, caused the damage from the fallen tree and also around the tree trunk I think it could look ok.

I've said this before a long time ago but I think what EdVet is saying is similar to what I have said. Amano made natural scapes that let you decide what they were. Vague if you like. They suggest something. The Diorama which tend to dominate the competitions now try to replicate. They remove the ambiguity and thus what you see is what it is.

With that in mind your direction will take the scape in one direction or another. Yes there is no getting away from "that is a wall" but a wall doing what? A wall where? What is behind, to the left. You can have things like your wall that cannot be anything but a wall but that doesn't mean that you then have to continue this (direct instruction) across the scape.

I argued this before in terms of "art or craft" where I argued that if you remove the element of interpretation then you move too close to instructing the viewer that "this is X, no argument. In my opinion."

The counter to my argument was/is photography is art, lifelike sculpture is art.

For me personally I like to be able to use my own imagination rather than what is put in front of me saying "you are viewing X. It is X. There is no argument other than this is X."
I think the main thing about this wall is it's not a natural thing.
Maybe you could explain to me a bit more in a laymen's term what you mean - I'm maybe not understanding what you mean e.g. (direct instruction) or you are viewing X etc
I am interested to hear what you have to say.
Andrew

Hi Andrew,
Have you any photos of updates , I think it’s productive to as much as possible try out as much ideas.One thought though always best to make as natural as possible/ blend into nature. My daughter try to persuade me to add a sponge bob square pants into my current nature style aqua 600 scape - its not going to be happening ;)
I've not really done much else, just having a toy around with a few bits and other ideas I've got. The wall has never been anything I've decided will stay but I do like the idea of it and as I've said before I think when the plants are grown in and those few details added the uniformity will not be so noticeable. Maybe I could be completely wrong about this?!

I do think that there could be an aquarium that looked tactful with such details and does not 100% resemble nature.
Something not normally done but it's still a planted aquarium and that's what this forum is all about isn't it?
 
Hey Mort,
Nature or natural things as I understand are non man made so any kind of attempt at a dry stone wall will never be a natural thing, on account of this alone it will never be trying to replicate nature.
I'm well aware the wall looks very uniform but realistically I don't have the skillset or time to make anything much more realistic looking so using roughly uniform shapes as a basis I think are the best way forward for me.
A lot of the wall will also be lost with planting so by the time I have added the remaining coping stones, caused the damage from the fallen tree and also around the tree trunk I think it could look ok.

Fair enough Andrew, think my opinion is skewed by having a classic Cumbrian wall in my head and its hard to see past it. Perhaps natural was a poor choice of words, I simply meant that I'd expect the wall to be in a state where it shows a little age and degradation. I completely understand the limitations of the base materials and don't have your planting plan in my head like you. This is why I asked the first question in my post albeit badly, simply if this was inspired to closely mimic a natural scene (picture postcard scene) or your take on a scene?
 
I simply meant that I'd expect the wall to be in a state where it shows a little age and degradation.
This is something that will hopefully be added with the completion of the wall along with the 'damage' and adjustments yet to be made - the wall is not finished.
I don't think I can describe what I'm looking to achieve but it will be my take on a scene that will evolve, takes steps forwards - and backwards and at the end hopefully I will end up with a planted aquarium I find aesthetically pleasing.
It's not going to look natural or organic in form but I have a rough idea of what I hope it will look like in time.
 
I'm all for humour but when your initial posts were suggestions of cows and a Christmas scene after me saying the likes of a scarecrow and mobile telephone mast were too far for me, and of course the comment good old British humour I didn't see as constructive or helpful at all.
Some would and did see this as offensive so chose to PM me instead of comment on the thread.
The fact you offended others by your comments is the reason I chose to not respond to you.
Hi Andrew
I did make a joke regarding the cows which may have been out of turn.
Like I said maybe the wrong place for humour.
In regards the link it was to show you that you can take it to far of in my view. That's all
No offense was ment by my post or any other post.
The humour comment was in aid of us.me making light of what you could add to your scape.
No malice hear.
Peace and love
 
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I've never been looking to make an aquascape or planted aquarium that fits any particular style and just want to achieve something that to me at least I find easy enough to maintain, enjoyable to look at and a happy enough place for the inhabitants.
Since this idea of the wall from @dean which to point out I quite like things have got silly on this thread so I think drawing a line under the past 4/5 pages and moving on is a good idea as I don't think it's helped anyone.

This is roughly how things looked before the addition of any wall.
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The next 2 photos show roughly how things look now. I plan to continue the coping stones in the second photo around the top of the wall.
I do plan to cause some 'damage' to the wall; around the tree and also where you can see the fallen branch further down to break things up a bit hopefully.
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The next two photos show roughly how I view the aquarium from the two different viewpoints and might help to show how the substrate layout helps even with the water diffraction and why the path heads to the front corner.
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view1.jpg


The next photo shows a rough outline of the general kind of direction I'm thinking about taking a path although I am unsure what construction to use.
It is only a rough shape and would be made smaller in places so it looks like it was tapering towards the back.
I know sand or gravel alone will just be blown around, I also think that slate alone will mean too much slate so this is something I am currently thinking about.
path.jpg



I do still question the wall!
I know it is far from finished, there is a lot of work to do with the substrate levels, 'damaging' the wall, building a path and of course lets not forget planting it out.

Although it's something that draws this further towards the tactless I do like the idea of at least trying a photographic background showing some interesting clouds.
I will probably hate it all by the time it's planted out but it might just be something I do try and see where it gets me.

I know there are many things I should do before I show any further progress but it will just take time and will get done as and when.
I've never set out to follow a particular style as I've already said but I would also like to achieve a planted aquarium that I enjoy looking at - whether that happens this time; we will see!
 

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I think the path is much to wide and not in scale with the wall
If you used a long piece of slate in the shape you want but then stuck broken pieces onto to say the same width as the wall I think it’s scale would be much better
Also you will have gaps in the top path layer which will add interest and an extra depth

If it’s a natural scene then wouldn’t the path be made of the same material as the wall ?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I think the path is much to wide and not in scale with the wall
The next photo shows a rough outline of the general kind of direction I'm thinking about taking a path although I am unsure what construction to use.
It is only a rough shape and would be made smaller in places so it looks like it was tapering towards the back.
;)
 
UPDATE!.........a major thing; the wall might just go, it's never been a definite; infact it's out at the moment as there's some work to do on it at the very least.
I've been weighing up the pros and cons and the fact is from my point of view a wall of some kind has more pros than cons.
 
Moving on, I liked it in dec 2018, the tree looks wind swept and very natural, just a small idea like a windswept tree in high wind with no protection from the elements, I have a few bonsai trees so love the tree idea, have a look at some windswept stuff might inspire, the path does not have to be made of hardware you could manipulate plant type, colour, so it looks like a raised or sunken path of flora.
 
Moving on, I liked it in dec 2018, the tree looks wind swept and very natural, just a small idea like a windswept tree in high wind with no protection from the elements, I have a few bonsai trees so love the tree idea, have a look at some windswept stuff might inspire, the path does not have to be made of hardware you could manipulate plant type, colour, so it looks like a raised or sunken path of flora.
The whole idea of changing things up now is me wanting to add a little interest to it that also helped me simplify maintenance, so if I could use a wall which was solid then I could keep plant 'A' in that area and plant 'B' the other side.
The general idea of the wall did that for me and adding a pathway in of some description added yet another division for plant 'C'
Plants A,B and C would all be carpeting plants then I could add some other little bits here and there like some Rotala Bonsai and buces.
I could also add a few smaller stones into the carpet to add a little more interest but these are just ideas in my head.
The wall might still make an appearance as I like the proposed look it gave to the aquarium looking at it without now.
 
The wall has a lot of great detail and is made really well. I think the main thing to look at is the wall has to diminish or change in height a bit more for agreater prospective.;)
 
The wall has a lot of great detail and is made really well. I think the main thing to look at is the wall has to diminish or change in height for a bit more for greater prospective.;)
You've no need to say it's brilliant if you dont think so! Maybe I should have finished things and planted it before I posted the pictures to avoid any confusion about its final look. I'm more thinking about its start/end position and shape now.
Oh and a path that will be made from hardscape of one type or another which will require some experimentation.
 
You've no need to say it's brilliant if you dont think so!
I wouldn't, it is well made. Infact if was bigger a lot bigger you could see the detail and pop moss in between. Just ideas
I live very close to some amazing walls built by the Moroccan nation many moons ago.
It's all about the journey
 
I wouldn't, it is well made. Infact if was bigger a lot bigger you could see the detail and pop moss in between. Just ideas
I live very close to some amazing walls built by the Moroccan nation many moons ago.
It's all about the journey
If I started to make the wall any bigger then in my opinion it would be out of scale with the tree as I see it, I could make it taller but I don't see the need.
In the UK we have same massive trees that stay there years after they have died which is how I see this.
I imagine if you were to ask everyone in the UK to show a picture of what they see as a typical dry stone wall then there would be many different suggestions; especially by region.
There are many different types and styles within 30 minutes of my home. I would imagine your idea of a dry stone wall would differ very much from mine.
This wall has never set out to replicate any particular wall type but designed so that not only it is easy to build but also so that when you are sat 1.5m+ away it gives enough interest and to be honest neither the perp joints or courses in the slate are so noticeable but I have no real concern there either, it's only really when you get up close you begin to notice these things.
Also it's a planted aquarium not something intended to be an architectural model of a hillside scene although if it looks half good I'll be very happy.
Moss is something I'm looking to possibly avoid due to it taking over the tank, I've heard people having problems keeping it under control and I think I'll get enough algae on the wall to give it interest! :lol:
There are places I know some of the smaller leafed Bucephalandra will happily nestle in the wall once the main carpet's grown in.

This whole style is to find the balance of style over substance for me.
It won't be finished overnight and I will put time to it when I have the energy and opportunity.
 
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I am actually British, the last place I had the very great pleasure of living was Great Witley in Worcestershire close to Whitly court, amazing countryside. I get style over substance I also get taking your time.
Having true patience is an art in itself
 
So it's pretty much a month since I've updated any progress and there hasn't been any really!
I've added the 'skyscape' background which I'm happy with but the true test is when it's full of water and plants.
I've finished the top of the walls but still have the fallen rubble to add along with final substrate levels.

Now I'm starting on the pathway but this will probably take a bit of time - like everything I do.
Since the photo I have tapered the right hand side of the path towards the back.
I've opted for Dennerle Baikal gravel which matches the walls, too much slate? - we will see.
I'm wondering the best way to do this so put a thread out to hear peoples ideas.

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The curves of the pathway seems rather unnatural. Any person/animal would go in a more direct angle or follow the contours of the landscape. Similary, walls usually go in straighter lines.
Perhaps, instead of a path, a stream would be a better fit, as the wall and tree do look good as they are.
Are you planning on putting stones back around the fallen branch?
I'm not feeling the background. If the landscape rose and then dropped at the rear (as if cresting a hill) it might seem more natural but right now it appears the sky crashes into the ground. Maybe it's the lack of grassland or just the image.
 
The curves of the pathway seems rather unnatural. Any person/animal would go in a more direct angle or follow the contours of the landscape. Similary, walls usually go in straighter lines
along with final substrate levels
If you look at the back left there is a hill so I could argue the path does follow a contour but after input from other people
a stream would be a better fit
How would I achieve this?
Are you planning on putting stones back around the fallen branch?
still have the fallen rubble to add
hopefully this answers your question?
Do me a favour and just don't comment on this thread anymore - if you don't like it that's fine but at least take the time to read through a post before commenting or give some more constructive comments with more detail.
Maybe how you think the path (or stream) should be constructed or direction

Such an unusual and original scape idea. Keep at it!!!
Great, just keep going in the same direction......
Thank you both - people who maybe understand not everything has to conform and my planted aquarium has never set out to replicate anything natural which I think the wall demonstrates straight away.
 
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