New Pump

My garden waterfall pump died on Friday.  I had to replace it right away as it is the heart beat of my water garden. This is a picture of my old pump beside new pump.  The old one is on the right.  It served me well for 5 seasons.  The new one on the left was less expensive, but puts out about the same gph.   

Friday started out as a beautiful day. I only had to work four hours.  After grocery shopping Jim, Mark (my son) and I went for a nice walk on the Lake Michigan Beach. We wanted to go somewhere a little different, so we drove to Manistee State Park, called Orchard Beach. I guess when the State bought the property it was an old orchard. I was a beautiful day and a nice walk.  

When we got home I fed my fish in the pond and noticed my pump making a terrible noise.  I didn't have filters in it this week and I thought maybe a stick or something was caught in the impeller.  When I unpluged it I noticed the plug was very hot.  Oh, Oh, I knew that meant trouble.  I saw the impeller was clear and tried to plug it in again, but it wouldn't run.  When I looked at it again I noticed that when I turned it over I heard water sloshing about inside.  I took it into the workshop.  It was there I determined that the water was in fact in the motor housing.                    

                                 Below is a picture of the new pump about to be put into place.

 The old pump was 5 years old.  But it was expensive for my pocket book, $235, and I thought it would last longer.  However during my search that evening I realized that most pumps have a warranty of about that long.  I considered a lot of different ways to deal with this state of pumplessness. I considered getting a really small one to get through the season, ordering one on line or buying locally what I could get.  I settled on the last alternative.  I got as big a one as I could from Lowe's.  It was cheaper than the original at $160.  It may not be as cheap to run.  I'll see how much my electric bill goes up.  The watts are about the same, the gph (gallons per hour) is a little more.  My old pump was rated at 3000 gph and the new one is 3600 gph.  Once installed the water fall looked the same to me.  So guess there wasn't a lot of difference. 

The fish didn't know what to do about no waterfall.  They kept swimming down and looking at the spot where the water fall splashes into the pond.  They would just sit there, as though they they were waiting for it to start again.  Well it is running again and everything is back to normal.  

September Water Garden

Today is Monday September 15, and it is feeling pretty cold.  We had lots of rain this weekend here in Ludington, MI.  The pond was overflowing.  Because it was raining Sunday I took out the filters and rinsed them, but didn't put them back. It is a little early to leave them out, but the water looked clear this evening, so I may leave them out for a while.  I tried to catch guppies that had escaped into my pond this summer, but they were too quick and too much water to hide in.  I was trying to save them.  I know they will perish when the  winter winds come whipping out of the north.  In the picture on the left Jim, my husband, is feeding the last few Japanese Beetles to the rock bass that live in our water garden. There are a few water lilies still blooming and so are the wild asters and golden rod. I always leave a few of these "weeds" to bloom as they brighten up an autumn garden.

The heavy rains this weekend caused the squash vines to rot.  So we pulled them out of the garden and put the squash and pumpkin in a dry sunny spot to finish ripening. 

This is the time of year when it is good to get a lot of weeding done.  It's easier when things go dormant.  In the spring I hate to disturb the crocus and daffodils. Fall is a busy season.