# A Forest Pathway



## Konrad Michalski (25 Jul 2017)

Welcome everyone in my second journal on this forum. For the last two years I've been working and experimenting with my Iwagumi project. 




Surprisingly I never got bored with it and only decided to change the layout as I wanted to create something slightly different, a bit more complicated and with use of wood. To be honest I didn't have any inspiration or idea how I want my tank to look like. First I wanted to see what materials I will be able to get and what I could make out of them in my 90x45x45cm aquarium. Below I will add some information about the setup and whenever have some time I will try to upload some photos, descriptions and hopefully I will catch up with the current progress. 
So, some general info:
Tank And Cabinet - TMC Signature (900x450x450)
Light - ADA Solar RGB 130w
Filtration - Eheim 2180
CO2 - 5kg Fire Extinguisher, ViV diffuser
Substrate - ADA Amazonia 
Ferts - Ferka
Plants - Micranthemum Monte Carlo, Micranthemum Micranthemoides, Eleocharis Acicularis Mini, Hygrophillia Pinnatifida, Hemianthus Callitrihoides Cuba, Aeshynomene Fluitans, Rotala Rotundifolia, Ludvigia Mini Super Red, Ludvigia Arcuata, Mini Pelia, Weepingand Christmas Moss, Fissiden Fontanus, Staurogyne Repens, Hydrocotyle Tripartita Sp Japan. (I coulud miss something)
Live Stock - Cardinal Tetra, Ember Tetra, Pygmy Corrydoras, Shrimps (Not decided, which one to add).


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## HenrySheehan (25 Jul 2017)

Wow, your iwagumi scape looks amazing. Can you post the link to your iwagumi journal please?

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## Konrad Michalski (25 Jul 2017)

HenrySheehan said:


> Wow, your iwagumi scape looks amazing. Can you post the link to your iwagumi journal please?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


Thanks. Now it's only a past 
Here is the link.
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/konrads-iwagumi.38875/


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## alto (26 Jul 2017)

Exciting new project - love the plant list


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## Ryan Thang To (27 Jul 2017)

Hi
Your new scape is coming along nicely i seen sneak peak and it look really cool. You say it will be hard to maintain and that but once it plant grows in and nature take over its going to be amazing. 

Keep us updated

Cheers
Ryan


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## Silviu Man (27 Jul 2017)

Hi!

If next project will be at least at same level of art and tehnique with first, then your next jurnal will be very interesting. 
Good luck!


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## Konrad Michalski (27 Jul 2017)

Ryan Thang To said:


> Hi
> Your new scape is coming along nicely i seen sneak peak and it look really cool. You say it will be hard to maintain and that but once it plant grows in and nature take over its going to be amazing.
> 
> Keep us updated
> ...


Thanks Ryan. I hope it will look good otherwise I will have to rescape again


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## Konrad Michalski (27 Jul 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> Hi!
> 
> If next project will be at least at same level of art and tehnique with first, then your next jurnal will be very interesting.
> Good luck!


It will definitely be something different but whether better or worse than the last one, let's wait and see.


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## Konrad Michalski (27 Jul 2017)

So, just after making decision about rescaping in the middle of February it was time to buy some wood, rocks and other materials. 



Not to buy random pieces I tried to make something up even while in the shop. 



Would that be my potential new layout? Possibly not, but it was all about excitement. All that counted was to bring some hardscape home


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## Konrad Michalski (27 Jul 2017)

As you can see below I got home with a very first few pieces of wood. Maybe not the best looking but who cares, I had some wood


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## Nigel95 (27 Jul 2017)

Looking forward to this 


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## Konrad Michalski (27 Jul 2017)

Nigel95 said:


> Looking forward to this
> 
> 
> Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk


As I'm quite far behind with the journal it all should be coming fairly quick.


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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

My first thought was to create a layout with a central island. I put two pieces together on the floor and here we go, layout nearly ready 




The only problem was, I wanted something more complicated and possibly slightly different with some sort of perspective and depth.  After scratching my head I eventually put two pieces together and thought - I will start taking it from there. 



Even my son's board became useful 



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## Nigel95 (30 Jul 2017)

Second layout has more depth. But I like the first one also. 


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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

Nigel95 said:


> Second layout has more depth. But I like the first one also.
> 
> 
> Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk



In my case thinking about creating depth was one thing available space was another. I only had 450mm (-16mm glass) of available space but I wasn't willing to use very tiny pieces of wood just so the plants wouldn't be outgrowing it a lot. 



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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

After playing with a few remaining pieces of wood I finally found what I was hoping to find. A few not very nice pieces eventually started matching. From this moment I roughly knew how I would like the final scape to look like. All I needed was more wood.


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## tadabis (30 Jul 2017)

Looks to symetric for my taste... dont look natural. Everything in the wild nature usually are asymetric...


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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

tadabis said:


> Looks to symetric for my taste... dont look natural. Everything in the wild nature usually are asymetric...


You are right. Everything looks quite symetric but I was planning to apply rule of golden ratio and a perspective to one point in the same layout and that's what was slowly coming out. Thanks for your input though.


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## BarryH (30 Jul 2017)

Looking forward to seeing your new scape grow and flourish Konrad and also reading the journal recording its progress.


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## Silviu Man (30 Jul 2017)

Hi!
First, the roots look very nice, you have a lot of possibilities.

In my opinion, if you still want to keep all together, maybe if you bring the small one in between the others, you will have a deepness effect but without symmetry.
The golden ratio is also related to the position of the main rock or root in relation with the lenght of the tank (somewhere at a third of it).
Another solution is to split them, and to get a main root and a small, second one. But it is up to you. Good luck!


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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> Hi!
> First, the roots look very nice, you have a lot of possibilities.
> 
> In my opinion, if you still want to keep all together, maybe if you bring the small one in between the others, you will have a deepness effect but without symmetry.
> ...


Thanks for all the ideas. I know some people don't like the symmetry at all but I'm exactly on the opposite end - I like it and I put quite a lot of effort to achieve it. It wasn't easy to get matching branches and I think I will keep the way it is for now. Thanks though


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## Daveslaney (30 Jul 2017)

Lets have a look then lol.
lf its anything like the last scape im sure it will be fantastic.


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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Lets have a look then lol.
> lf its anything like the last scape im sure it will be fantastic.


Last one was just a warm up


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## Daveslaney (30 Jul 2017)

Nice one.


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## Silviu Man (30 Jul 2017)

Konrad Michalski said:


> Thanks for all the ideas. I know some people don't like the symmetry at all but I'm exactly on the opposite end - I like it and I put quite a lot of effort to achieve it. It wasn't easy to get matching branches and I think I will keep the way it is for now. Thanks though



Please don't get me or others wrong : symmetry is nice and have its aesthetic value. The ideea was that you cannot find it in nature ... at all! 
So, in the end of the day, you decide what is nice in your own tank. But if you want to make it look natural, symmetry have no place there. This was the 
meaning of all comments.


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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> Please don't get me or others wrong : symmetry is nice and have its aesthetic value. The ideea was that you cannot find it in nature ... at all!
> So, in the end of the day, you decide what is nice in your own tank. But if you want to make it look natural, symmetry have no place there. This was the
> meaning of all comments.


Thanks mate. I understand all the comments well and really appreciate each input, however sometimes we take the risk, go our own paths and do things different. I'm always open to constructive comments and that's why I create the journal so everyone can express their thoughts about the layout. And just because I decide to do things my way it doesn't mean I'm not respecting point of view of other members.


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## Silviu Man (30 Jul 2017)




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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

My next step was to work on the base of the layout. It was hard to do anything as I only had last few pieces of wood. I tried to use anything to keep it all in the position I wanted and my boy was constantly destroying it. 



After this stage my preparations have stopped for a while as out of nowhere me and Rayan Thang To (while chatting about aquascaping) decided to go Portugal and see Submersas Florestas by Takashi Amano. Even though initially we were not 100% sure we are going (we only spoke about it) my head was all around the journey rather than my new layout.
   To cut the story short we have made it ️️️️






While in Portugal we have also managed to visit a great aquascaping shop Aqueden (highly recommend to all hobbyists)



    Why am I posting all this? Because that journey has changed my thinking. I came back full of willingness to work a bit harder on my tank  instead of cowboys job with my layout I decided to built a sand pit exactly of the size of my tank and do it all proper. I only used leftovers of my decking but that was more than enough


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## Silviu Man (30 Jul 2017)

Looking to first picture I remembered an visual effect used in TV in 60'-70', with the rock singers (if I remember well, there is a Led Zeppelin clip close to this) or other singers, multiplied in a kind of fan, from the front to the back. It is like you look to your face in a mirror from a mirror.


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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> Looking to first picture I remembered an visual effect used in TV in 60'-70', with the rock singers (if I remember well, there is a Led Zeppelin clip close to this) or other singers, multiplied in a kind of fan, from the front to the back. It is like you look to your face in a mirror from a mirror.


Are you trying to say that Led Zeppelin clip was my inspiration?


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## GHNelson (30 Jul 2017)

Hi Konrad
Looks as though your taking this Aquascaping lark to the next level
Like the Sand pit.....and the pictures
hoggie


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## Silviu Man (30 Jul 2017)

Konrad Michalski said:


> Are you trying to say that Led Zeppelin clip was my inspiration?



Would be so bad? 

Of course, it was just an analogy, I'am sure you undestood.
But ...
.. if you ask me, I prefer "The Final Cut"


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## Konrad Michalski (30 Jul 2017)

hogan53 said:


> Hi Konrad
> Looks as though your taking this Aquascaping lark to the next level
> Like the Sand pit.....and the pictures
> hoggie


Maybe not next level but trying to improve things a little bit.


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## Konrad Michalski (31 Jul 2017)

As my sand pit was ready I quickly filled it up with sand and started sniffing for some more wood. 
    Next three pieces arrived from my brother from Poland. But not to send an empty box I also bought some lava rock from there.


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## Konrad Michalski (5 Aug 2017)

I added some more wood but it still wasn't enough so had to buy some more again. And finally added a bit to the left side of the hardscape. In fact I even had two options to chose from. 






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## alto (5 Aug 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> symmetry is nice and have its aesthetic value. The ideea was that you cannot find it in nature ... at all!



This is such an odd statement (can I say that without offence? I hope so  )
There is very much "symmetry in nature" - with books & papers published on this subject ... try "google scholar" as well as "google" for texts & images
but it is very difficult to recreate in an aquascape  

@Konrad Michalski - intriguing journal! 
especially with that spontaneous trip to Portugal & Submersas Florestas & Aquaeden, can't wait to see where this journal takes you next


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## Silviu Man (5 Aug 2017)

alto said:


> This is such an odd statement (can I say that without offence? I hope so  )
> There is very much "symmetry in nature" - with books & papers published on this subject ... try "google scholar" as well as "google" for texts & images
> but it is very difficult to recreate in an aquascape
> 
> ...



No offence, I understood well what you said. I didn't refer to that kind of simmetry, that is existing just as a singular form. I was speaking about simmetry in the macro-structures of the nature. Otherwise, there is a simmetry in snowflakes, in nuclear division of the cell, in chromozomes, ... not to mention DNA. But, when you step out from the genetics and biophysics, everything becomes totally asimmetrical. There is no tree, face, river, rock, ... nothing made by nature and human eye can see that is symmetric. So, is just a question of aesthetics.

Edit : By the way, second form looks great!


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## Nigel95 (5 Aug 2017)

Lovely hardscape. Much depth in it! Very Nice shapes of wood. 


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## alto (5 Aug 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> nothing made by nature and human eye can see that is symmetric.


Step into a sub-alpine lodgepole pine forest - getting lost in one is surprisingly easy


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## Konrad Michalski (5 Aug 2017)

Nigel95 said:


> Lovely hardscape. Much depth in it! Very Nice shapes of wood.
> 
> 
> Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk


Thanks Nigel


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## Konrad Michalski (5 Aug 2017)

alto said:


> This is such an odd statement (can I say that without offence? I hope so  )
> There is very much "symmetry in nature" - with books & papers published on this subject ... try "google scholar" as well as "google" for texts & images
> but it is very difficult to recreate in an aquascape
> 
> ...


Thanks Alto. Well I hope it won't end up with loads of problems like co2 distribution issues, algae etc


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## Daveslaney (6 Aug 2017)

Reminds me a little of one of these.


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## Konrad Michalski (6 Aug 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Reminds me a little of one of these.View attachment 109578


Maybe I was looking at it for too long


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## Konrad Michalski (21 Aug 2017)

After visiting Aquaeden Shop and seeing ADA Solar RGB above one of their tanks I thought it would be nice to get one of these and test it with the current, mature tank. I was thinking for a long time and couldn't quite convince myself mainly because of the price. After I heard Ryan ordered his I thought I will give it a go and in the worst scenario I will just sell it. 








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## Ryan Thang To (21 Aug 2017)

Konrad Michalski said:


> After visiting Aquaeden Shop and seeing ADA Solar RGB above one of their tanks I thought it would be nice to get one of these and test it with the current, mature tank. I was thinking for a long time and couldn't quite convince myself mainly because of the price. After I heard Ryan ordered his I thought I will give it a go and in the worst scenario I will just sell it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Oh yeah. You got to love the colours. Red plant really look good and fish too

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## Konrad Michalski (26 Aug 2017)

My last decision was whether I should use lava rocks or seiryu stones. First I had a go with lava but it was just too big contrast between them and wood. In fact they were nearly as dark as charcoal and it puts me off a bit.


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## Tim Harrison (26 Aug 2017)

Nice wood, great illusion of depth, I can almost see the vanishing point


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## Silviu Man (26 Aug 2017)

Looks great! 
I try to imagine the plant from your list ... It will be very important what and how will be planted, to keep this very nice scape!


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## Konrad Michalski (27 Aug 2017)

Thanks for a good words guys but after I used them lava rocks I knew right away I won't have that in my tank. I could see that lava and wood is a big contrast already. If I added light colour sand there (which I was planning to do) it would just create a big mess. The final decision was to replace them with Seiryu stones. My choice wasn't huge and I promised to myself not to go shopping again. It was really hard to make something out of them and even now I would happily replace one or two but that will just have to wait.  So, my final scape before moving it onto the tank looked roughly like that:



There were still small pieces of wood to be added and because of the bottom of the sand pit I couldn't really imagine how the base of the layout is going to look like but I just had to hope it will all be ok once in the tank. 


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## Silviu Man (27 Aug 2017)

I still belive lava looks better. With plants, the contrast will be not so evident. But, again, it depends of the planting plan. Still, you are the one that should like it, not us.


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## Nigel95 (27 Aug 2017)

Remember the wood will turn also very dark. You can cover lava stones with mosses by yoghurt method. Nice depth


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## Daveslaney (27 Aug 2017)

Looking good.


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## Silviu Man (27 Aug 2017)

Maybe if you use a substrate with a "transitory" colour, this will act as a buffer between rocks and roots...


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## Konrad Michalski (27 Aug 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> I still belive lava looks better. With plants, the contrast will be not so evident. But, again, it depends of the planting plan. Still, you are the one that should like it, not us.


That's why I tried lava and seiryu to give myself some choice. To me in daylight seiryu were looking much, much better so without any thinking I decided to go for them. 


Silviu Man said:


> Maybe if you use a substrate with a "transitory" colour, this will act as a buffer between rocks and roots...


This time I decided to go for ADA substrate and to be honest I like the dark colour of Amazonia the most. Also it is reachest in nutrients comparing to the Malaya or Africana


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## Konrad Michalski (27 Aug 2017)

Nigel95 said:


> Remember the wood will turn also very dark. You can cover lava stones with mosses by yoghurt method. Nice depth


Thanks Nigel. I wasn't going to use much of a moss at the substrate level as I wanted the roots and rocks to be sort of more visible. With this type of layout bottom parts are not very well accessible so if I let the moss grow on rocks and wood maintenance wood become a never ending story but unfortunately my time is very limited at the moment. And believe me, with good lighting, fresh substrate we are talking about at least weekly trimming. If I did what you suggested it would look much more natural though.


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## Konrad Michalski (27 Aug 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Looking good.


Thanks Dave


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## Silviu Man (27 Aug 2017)

In the end of the day, the most important achievement of your scape (just my opinion, of course) is the _*almost perfect effect of ... old alley bordered by trees!*_
Looks like an alley to an old castle, like those from old moovies I use to watch at TV ... 40 years ago !!! I don't remember well what moovie but definitely an adaptation after Charles Dickens or Warwick Deeping ...


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## Zeus. (27 Aug 2017)

Looking very nice already, definitely worth watching 

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## Konrad Michalski (19 Nov 2017)

Hi all. As always I owe apologies to those who followed my thread. Unfortunately I was so busy with work and family that I never got a chance to update what was going on with my tank. My plan was to start uploading only good quality photos but on the end of the day I’m more than sure that I will never have time for that. So today I decided just to go ahead and post a few photos taken with my phone. They are not great quality but at least will give you an idea where process of moving hardscape to the tank took me. 

















And complete layout ready for planting 





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## doylecolmdoyle (20 Nov 2017)

Look great! cant wait to see this one come together!


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## Daveslaney (20 Nov 2017)

Great hardscape.
Gives a good depth to the scape.


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## Tim Harrison (20 Nov 2017)

Very nice hardscape and setup


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## Konrad Michalski (25 Nov 2017)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Look great! cant wait to see this one come together!


Thanks.


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## Konrad Michalski (25 Nov 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Great hardscape.
> Gives a good depth to the scape.


Thanks.


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## Konrad Michalski (25 Nov 2017)

Tim Harrison said:


> Very nice hardscape and setup


Thanks


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## Konrad Michalski (25 Nov 2017)

Just after planting:






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## Silviu Man (25 Nov 2017)

Looks great!
A big plus is that you didn't exagerate with planting (common temptation for many people in such scapes), so nice details can be seen even after plants will grow.


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## steveno (25 Nov 2017)

Lovely scape, really looking forward to seeing how this one matures...


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## Konrad Michalski (25 Nov 2017)

Silviu Man said:


> Looks great!
> A big plus is that you didn't exagerate with planting (common temptation for many people in such scapes), so nice details can be seen even after plants will grow.


That is a very good point, which I unfortunately lost with time. I was planning to keep my hardscape more exposed but plants quickly took over. Even weekly hours of maintenance didn’t let me keep the plants where I want them to be and soon after trimming wood disappear again. The only way would be to use carpet plants on the third plan but saying that even my monte carlo is going crazy and grows super quick.


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## williak (28 Nov 2017)

Wow amazing depth and layout planning!


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## HenrySheehan (28 Nov 2017)

Pretty inspiring alright.

One day maybe, one day...........

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## CooKieS (28 Nov 2017)

Roots trees are too symetrical to look natural but I love the path. Let's see how this one turns out when full grown plants


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