Get your garden out

[zozo]

Absolutely awsome airpump!!.. And it can be used as a slicer in the kitchen..

 

[zozo]

Pimp My Pump is about finished..

It's bad , so bad you either love it or hate it... I love it and can't stop laughing about it..

Connected a little airpump with an air lift water pump.. Testing it currently and it runs like a charme..

Now the old swan is constantly dripping with incontinence.. Who wouldn't at that age..

Anyway, ordered a new solar powered air pump, the pump and tubing will all be hidden inside the pump itself with a cable to the solar panel comming out. The grey pvc pipe at the bottom still needs to be painted black of course.

As said unfortunately it is not mine, i made it for my nephew, he found this pump behind a bush in the yard from the house he resently bought. But it will be setup in his garden the same way.. Above a ½ wine barel with a lily. I bet his new born son is going to love this Fairytale pump growing up with it.. At least that i hope.. Well they can always give it back to me.. Still laughing..

 

[alto]

so bad you either love it or hate it...

Love it!

 

[foxfish]

Great job, looks really interesting.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Looking good. There are a load for sale on eBay but nowhere near as ornate as this one. The swan is a really nice detail which seems quite rare; I guess it's where you would have hung your bucket...
Makes me wonder about its history, who owned it and when it was made etc and where exactly it was used; maybe a posh residence. Do you think there is a chance of finding out more about it using the letters and number on its side ?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Last summer (2018) I was away for 6 weeks (end of June until the start of August), and one of the casualties was our wildlife pond, which dried out completely, and had obviously stayed dry for some time. I ended up having to remove absolutely everything and starting again. I kept all the pots and baskets and this spring one or two of the marginal plants have re-grown from seed or surviving stem fragments.

The pond had developed a bit of filamentous green algae bloom, so I've put a few spare floaters on it. So far they aren't really enjoying life, other then the hitchhiking Azolla.

The other reason for the photo is that the <"Libertia ("grandiflora") chilensis"> actually has some flowers. Most years it has a lot of buds, but all the open flowers are eaten by the snails. It is a pretty scruffy plant, with a short flowering season, but as long as you don't live anywhere really cold it is absolutely indestructible and nothing eats it (other than the flowers).

I call this my <"Lisdoonvarna"> corner, because the original plants (of both the Libertia and the <"Teucrium fruticans"> behind it) came from the Co. Clare Spa town, about twenty years ago. Lisdoonvarna is incredibly wet and cool, but it is never very cold in the winter, so a lot of <"S. American"> and New Zealand plants grow there pretty well.

cheers Darrel

 

[zozo]

Thanks Guys..

It was the ornaments that i fell in love with.. My nephew wanted to pait it in a Brass color all the way.. And i said hold your horses, give that thing to me and lay back for a few weeks. That pump screams for a descent pimp and High lighting the ornamentals. The Swan is the fairy garden touch for the kids.. It's indeed also for me the very first one i've seen with such intrecate casted details.. Was a pain in the neck to paint it..

That's a good one Tim, i didn't think of it, the swans head to hook the bucket.. Makes perfect sense, i love the story already even more..

Makes me wonder about its history, who owned it and when it was made etc. Do you think there is a chance of finding out more about it using the letters and number on its side ?

I have no idea about its previous owner and where it comes from. My nephew bought a house build in early 1900, this pump was hidden away in the garden overgrown with Ivy. My best guess it is British or either American made, all threads on the old bolds are withworth.. But it could also be that its from an era before metric was standarized in Europe..

Googling MCH pump i directly find Johnson pumps.. But MCH stands for Multi Centrifugal Horizontal pump.. Coinsidence, MCV is Vertical pump.
I might try MCH pump factory i try to find any?

 

[foxfish]

Marcel, you have given me renewed inspiration to restore my old water pump that I put on display in my front garden around 20 years back.

 

[foxfish]

@dw1305 do you think a stag horn fern will survive ok in my outdoor party house ?
I bought one yesterday and I was hoping to get it permanently mounted on a wall.

 

[sciencefiction]

But it could also be that its from an era before metric was standarized in Europe.

I've seen those where I grew up although not as fancy. I think it's from my great grand parents time who are long gone...so are my grand parents.

The pond had developed

I didn't know you have a pond Darrel. What do you keep in it?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I put on display in my front garden around 20 years back.

You have an Orobanche sp. in your photo.

They all look similar and none of them are very common on the mainland UK (I believe that Ivy Broomrape (O. hederae) is common in the Channel Islands).

cheers Darrel

 

[zozo]

Marcel, you have given me renewed inspiration to restore my old water pump that I put on display in my front garden around 20 years back.
View attachment 124562

That's also a very interesting pump... Can't wait to see where you go with this one..

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

a stag horn fern will survive ok in my outdoor party house

Not sure, my guess would be yes if you keep it fairly dry and light in the winter.

I didn't know you have a pond Darrel. What do you keep in it?

It doesn't have any fish, just plenty of newts. I also use it to store any native sedges (Carex spp.) that come my way, and aren't easily identifiable.

It was even more overgrown than in the <"moss in a pond"> thread, so I would have had to bite the bullet at some point anyway.

cheers Darrel

 

[zozo]

stag horn fern will survive ok in my outdoor party house ?
I bought one yesterday and I was hoping to get it permanently mounted on a wall.

Seems to be a Cold Hardy sub tropical able to survive down to -3°C
http://botanyboy.org/the-staghorn-fern-platycerium-bifurcatum-a-cold-hardy-subtropical-fern/

 

[Tim Harrison]

Disrupting the flow a little, I thought I'd post a pic of my azalea pretty much in full bloom again.
I've had it around 12 years and it's got a bit leggy, so I was thinking of rejuvenating it by gvinig it a severe pruning...any tips ?

by Tim Harrison, on Flickr

 

[zozo]

Makes me wonder about its history, who owned it and when it was made etc and where exactly it was used; maybe a posh residence.

Found this, you might like..
http://www.villagepumps.org.uk/manufs.htm

Lots of M's but no MCH..

 

[Tim Harrison]

Crikey, it must have been a huge industry at one time. But I guess that shouldn't be a surprise given that it was once one of the only ways to draw water.
You've really peaked my interest in a part of our industrial heritage that's seldom thought about these days.

 

[mort]

do you think a stag horn fern will survive ok in my outdoor party house ?
I bought one yesterday and I was hoping to get it permanently mounted on a wall.

I don't know if it helps but I've had one that overwinters in my unheated, non insulated, greenhouse for over a decade now without any trouble. I live in Norwich which got to -12c outside during the worst of the winter weather a few years ago.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

so I was thinking of rejuvenating it by gvinig it a severe pruning...any tips ?

Should be all right. I'd probably prune it straight after it has flowered. If you prune them later in the year they won't make any new growth until after they would have flowered the next year, so you have a long period of wondering whether your woody stump is alive or dead.

It will be two years until the new growth flowers again (so none in 2020).

cheers Darrel

 

[Tim Harrison]

Thanks Darrel, that's somewhat reassuring. Some advice on the internet cautions against severe pruning since it might not come back.
However, it's at the stage when it's beginning to look unsightly especially out of flower, so I don't think I have much to loose either way.