September Meeting

September 21, 2006, 7 pm

Wood & Huston Bank Meeting Room

North Side of Square, Marshall, MO

NOTE THE

CHANGE IN MEETING LOCATION

FROM OUR USUAL PLACE.

Our program will be presented by Alice Longfellow owner of Longfellow’s Garden Center in Centertown, Missouri.  Alice has 20 years of experience in the plant business and holds a degree in plant and soil sciences from the University of Maine. 

Her program will be on “Color in the autumn garden” and “Cultural aspects of plants”.  She will bring samples of plants to illustrate her ideas.  She will have a discussion time to answer your plant questions.

Volunteers needed for

Jim Garden

We need volunteers to help with the fall clean up and maintenance of the Jim the Wonder Dog Park.   Contact Arline Borchers at 886-2413 if you can help sometime during September or October.

Community Service Project

We will work on the pond remodeling at Butterfield Youth Services during the month of October.  Work will be scheduled in the evening and weekends.  Let Larry Arrowood (886-8191) know if you want to be notified of the work schedule.

Photo Contest

We will have our annual photo contest at at the November meeting.  See page 2 for more information.

Board Meeting

The club’s board of directors will meet on Oct. 5, 2006 at 7 pm at Butterfield Youth Services, Board meeting room.

Dear Polly,

My water garden is leaking somewhere and I cannot find the leak.  I have a 12 ft. waterfall and stream that I think has the leak.  Do you have any ideas on how to find the leak. 

                                          Sue in Columbia

Dear Sue,

I too have had problems with leaks in my water garden and stream.  Sometimes it is extremely difficult to locate the leak.  Of course, the obvious thing to look for first is a wet place on the ground around the pond or stream.  The most likely place for a leak is in the waterfall and stream.  Look for places where the water could be running over the liner.  This often happens if the ground settles or if the water level in the stream changes. 

Other things to look for:

Evaporation can sometimes cause you to think the pond has a leak.  Believe it or not, on hot windy days a pond can drop an inch or more from evaporation.  The best way to check this is to turn off the waterfall for a few days.  If the water level continues to drop, you have a leak in the pond.  Continue watching it until the water level stops dropping.  Most likely, this will be the point of the leak in your liner.  If the water does not drop while the pump is off, then the problem is usually in the waterfall.

Check your plumbing connections. Look for wet spots along the pipeline. 

Move rocks along the edge of the waterfall and stream to look for overflows.  This is the most common source of leaks. 

If you still cannot find the leak, ask another water gardener to help look for you.  You may be overlooking something that someone else will see.

If your leak is in the liner of the pond, you will need to drain the pond down past the point of the leak.  Rubber liners can be repaired easily with an inner tube repair kit.

Good luck in finding your leak.  I know how frustrating it can be to find some leaks.

                                                                                                                                                                   Polly

To learn more about Polly Ponders and view other Polly Ponders articles, click here.

Back to top

To view other newsletters, go to Archives.