I don't like throwing anything away so here is what I do with old wheelbarrows and wet/dry vacs.
Behind the lattice next to the wheelbarrow is an old box freezer pond. Just put a new water lily in that one also. Just wish waterlily plants were not so expensive!

They're not too hard to propagate...

That's what I always say when I give talks on water gardening. Two people should get together and each buy a different plant then the following season share pieces of rhizomes (or tubers from the tropicals.) By this time there should be enough to share/trade with still more people. When I had a large pond I had eight different lilies and I don't remember buying more than one.

So last week a friend gives me a pond and a waterlily (and a catfish which is now in one of our large ponds). So here I go again with another water garden project. Once the plants fill in the support around the side will not be visible. Main thing is this is done at no cost.

No cost is always (almost always) good.

packed some more soil around the edges today and filled it. Just noticed a little settling on the far left corner, maybe half inch off level so will have to put a post in for more support.

Almost finished. Just have to put some more soil around that left hand side and fill the large pots.
Azaleas will go in the pots with bedding plants spread around. Gold fish and swordtails will be added when the water settles down. Much of the support structure will not be visible when the plants fill in

That is going to be beautiful. I never thought of using azaleas in pots, they get so big so fast around here but I bet they will look great. Can you grow the Vireyas, they are one of the most beautiful plants in the rhododendron family.

Vireyas do really well, I have a few. Our soil is very acidic. The Azaleas can get big but some folks keep them trimmed really tight. I might try topiary or even try a standard shape like a standard rose. Camelias do well as do Hydrangeas. We are at the 2200 ft elevation in rain forest so we are not your typical Hawaii beach and palm trees environment.

I've been there and I was envious that the Camellias and Azaleas pretty much bloom year round. A Hilo nurseryman told me it was because you do not have distinct seasons like much of the East Coast of the Mainland has.

Lots of progress on the ponds. There will now be five along the edge of the driveway. Three are finished. The long pond at the top is 90% done and now has its plastic liner installed and filled with water. The round one at the bottom has a ways to go. Now need more fish and water lilies.
This all started because of that one pond shown on May 9th post.

Beautiful set up! Be sure to add plenty of fish! I still remember how bad the mosquitos were at the Botanical Gardens.

ctcarol said:Beautiful set up! Be sure to add plenty of fish! I still remember how bad the mosquitos were at the Botanical Gardens.

I agree with adding some fish. Even my little container water garden has a half dozen of Mosquito fish. They eat the larvae as soon as they hatch.

I hear you. We get a few mosquitoes but our elevation and cooler temps seem to discourage them.
Also I need the water to mellow out a bit with the help of pond plants. The new plastic liners pollute the water. I usually wait two or three weeks before adding swordtails.
Gold fish are hard to find over here. I won't pay for fancy goldfish in the pet shops. It's all word of mouth.

When you go to the pet store, ask for feeder goldfish. They are small, and they cost about fifteen cents a piece. They sell them to people who have fish who eat other fish. So you'll be saving them from death row and giving them a good home.

Thanks Liz, I am familiar with feeder fish and they are just what I'm looking for. I keep making inquiries at our local pet shop but so far no luck. They had them in the store years ago and after that it was a case of putting my name on a waiting list but they never did call.
Consider we are in Hawaii so very limited market and add to that we are on the Big Island with only 200,000 population the market is even smaller. Oh well, will keep looking.
By the way, your Jacuzzi is looking great!

That's too bad that they don't have them. I do take for granted what I have access to living in a big metro area on the mainland. Thanks for the encouragement about the jacuzzi. More work on it to come over this long weekend.

I don't care for Koi in small ponds as they do make a mess of the plants but every big hotel on the BI has a water feature with Koi and they breed like crazy, you might be able to find some offspring from whomever maintains the ponds. Their growth would be constrained by the size of your containers so they would never get very large. I would bet there are a number of pond maintenance services in your neck of the woods and they may even have a source of goldfish.

Finally finished the pond project yesterday and also purchased a new night blooming water lily. Now just need to focus on maintenance as the plants fill in.
Sorry but not easy to get a pic of all five ponds together.

I used to keep Paradise Fish /Macropodus opercularis over the Summer outside in our backyard pond and in the greenhouse over the Winter.
They are small, nice Anabantids which will surely do very well year around in your ponds and won't grow into giant fish, as the gold fish surely will. Those feeder goldfish may/will turn into foot long creatures!! Just an idea!