Placing aquatic plants around the pond

Meeting Date	Thu, May 11, 2006 7:00 PM - Thu, May 11, 2006 9:00 PM

will be the second monthly meeting for 2006. Paul and Rose Swenby will present a slide program on placing aquatic plants around the pond. Paul & Rose Swenby are dedicated to creating water gardens that provide many years of enjoyment. Since building their first pond, Paul & Rose have been very active in the water gardening community; as members of the Colorado Water Garden Society and teachers at Denver Botanic Gardens, their goal has been to further the hobby of water gardening. Avid water gardeners themselves, they know first hand the benefits of a back yard pond. Paul's first experience in gardening was as an apprentice in a Japanese landscape company in Kyoto. This opportunity shaped his future goals; inspiring him to graduate from the University of Oregon with a degree in Landscape Architecture. Moving to Colorado in 1983 Paul realized that his real enjoyment came from building as well as designing gardens. Recognizing what a dynamic element water is in a garden, Paul focused on ponds as a way to satisfy his creativity and desire to contribute to the environment in a positive way. (visit aprlandscape.com for more information)

The Pikes Peak Water Garden Society meetings are held every 2nd Thursday from April to September.  Most meetings start at 7:00 PM and wrap up around 9:00 to 9:30 PM.

This year our meetings will once again be held at the Mountain View Church of Christ located at 1080 East La Salle Street.  This is at the west end of Constitution Avenue on the southwest corner.

Enter through the east door on the north side of the church.

To see a map for the meeting location, click on the Link Below

Mountain View Church of Christ

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Meeting Minutes

Pikes Peak Water Garden Society
General Club Meeting Minutes
May 11, 2006

Meeting called to order at 7:40 PM by Ron Bissonnette, Vice-President, at the Holy Cross Church. A conflict prevented Bob Pollock from attending and Ron made announcements and introduced the speaker, Rose Swemby of aPR Landscaping and her guest Mary Mirgon of the Denver Water Garden Society.

Dick presented the treasurers report; currently the club has $8,438.28 total club funds. This includes $3,631.90 in savings and $4,806.38 in checking.

LaNell recruited a replacement Librarian. LaNell has been Librarian for 11 years. Well done, LaNell! The new Librarian is Lynn Goin. Thank you, Lynn.

Ron discussed some general club information including the new screen which is up, cordless mikes available for use with question and answer times, and upcoming club events. He then introduced the guest speaker whose topic was “Planting Around the Pond.”

Rose and her husband Paul own a landscaping business and have their own, plus have built many ponds for clients. They have been involved in water gardening for 22 years. Rose showed an excellent video which covered multiple topics including hardscaping (the bones or “anchor” of the garden) which would consist of the rocks and boulders and size of the pond; large trees and shrubs (the “muscle”); and smaller plants (representing the “skin” of the garden). She stated that plants reflect ones aesthetic and artistic sense. She went into extensive detail on the advantage (and disadvantage) of a variety of plants and handed out a list of the plants mentioned in the video.

During a brief Q & A time after the video she addressed the following:
What plants for xeriscaping? Go on the Denver Water board web site and find excellent books on the subject.
Heat and drought tolerant plants? Sage, penstemmon, Blue Mist spirea, Mugo pine.
What plants can creep around a waterfall? Clematis, trumpet vine, vinca – if shaded. Combining two varieties of vines adds interest and texture.
How to keep fish out of a skimmer? A club member suggested using hardware cloth to screen the skimmer.
Should one prune ice plant? No.
How does one build a pond up close to the house foundation? Very carefully. Good drainage and make sure it will not leak.
Has she had trouble with poisonous plants near the pond? Not really.
What grasses grow in the shade? Blue Avena, Maiden grass (with some sun).
What can grow under large pines? Vines on the fence, under-story trees like red bud or dogwood, hydrangea. Noted that some pine needles dropping in a pond can help reduce algae.
What plants are tall and narrow? Buck thorn, hawthorn, yew, and skyrocket juniper.

Door prizes were handed out. The winners are:
Larry Brown; gift certificate to Rose Bridge Healing Therapies
Jock Schwank; table-top fountain
Julie Evans; water celery
Barbara Corsentino; hyacinth
Lisa Price; DO emitter
Darrell Levitt; water celery
Bethany; white iris
Kathy Walther; white iris
Paul Ellis; white iris
Joyce Willener; notebook
Hans Walther; water celery
Bob Oatman; froggy feeder
Bev Fallis; white iris
Tim Evans; white iris
Lowell Anderson; white iris
Dale Crockett; white iris
Dottie Hume; white iris
Robert Lammon; hyacinth

The meeting adjourned at 8:35 PM.

Respectfully submitted
Mary Bucher
Secretary