I love both of your ponds.
How many ponders are out there ?? List your names - Update!
Thanks Carolyn, sure appreciate you saying that because I am not feeling real good about the water feature right now and not feeling terribly energetic with regard to cleaning and replanting it. I think I am getting too old to take care of it and the garden!! I am glad its 'bones' don't change from year to year or need any work --this winter sure was rough. I don't have fish and so I got an algaecide for pools and it cleaned it up s lot.
Missingrosie, yours looks great! Yeah I lost some when I dropped my old camera on the sidewalk (smart, huh?) and another batch on my phone when I tried to back it up with out success. lol!
And thanks, Carolyn22!
Rosie - what about perennials so that you don't have to keep planting around your pond? My husband is getting to that point, where it is more difficult for him to do the work to open or shut down the pond. I have been doing it for the last couple of years.
Corsetiere - I am still suffering the after effects of my phone going swimming in my pond. I just ordered a new phone on amazon. I have this messaging phone that my husband had and it is the most frustrating thing. Anyway, I had a number of photos on the old phone.
That's the worst, Carolyn! It's like time slows down as the phone falls towards the water. lol
I was using a net to clean out just over that stone bridge when I saw something odd at the bottom...it was a handset from the phone. It had to be there for months -- that is how long one of the bases was missing its counterpart! I clip the handset to me when I am in the garden..it must have dropped in.....or that rotten granddaughter of mine could have been toddling around with it. She loves the buttons. I dried it out and the darn thing WORKED.
Carolyn, I do have perennials. The sticks and debris from the peony still attached are a wreck, all the old fronds from the fern....the sticks from the birch tree that normally leaves a ton on the ground, but left two tons from the ice... The net covering the streamway that is speared with birch trash... The weeds..(but the creeping jenny ground cover is doing nicely to cover things up) -and all the oak trash.... I am in the middle of the woods...leaf debris everyehere. My husband had prostate surgery and he thinks he is an invalid. I just retired and so that means I have totally free time! Ha! He is going to find himself as they say 'swimming with the fishes' (but I only have frogs....and they bring snakes!)
This message was edited Apr 8, 2014 3:54 PM
Cort - The phones do go in slow motion don't they? Same thing when you find yourself falling - definitely slow motion.
Rosie - my husband doesn't do much anymore either. He has a heart probelm and has decided that means he can do very little. The doctor told him to go back to his normal activiites as soon as possible, but that hasn't happened. At this point in time, I would seriously doubt it will.
Enjoyed seeing all the ponds and streams. Such a variety.
Been a ponder for about 6 years now. It's a lot of work but I still enjoy the fish.
Both our ponds were all built by ourselves and family help. We have skimmers, UV's and waterfalls on both ponds. Sometimes they have clear water and sometimes not but I just add natural resources to clear them up. I use pondzyme, preform-C when needed, microblift PL and I don't get rattled anymore when they turn brown. They are both under an oak tree which drops MANY leaves and then oak bloom into them. Before next season plan to have a large net stapled to boards in the shape that will fit both ponds and help keep leaves and junk out.
Have lost many fish over the years to various problems but keep on keeping on.
Still have my 3 originals in old pond. Larger pond has all fish over 2 feet which we just bought that size at a price we couldn't turn down. Lost 3 of them but still have 8 living.
Happy ponding all.
Had to hunt some pictures:
1. Larger pond home for the large fish. None are under 2 feet 3,000 gals
2. Old pond home of my smaller fish and originals about 1,400 gals.
3. Fish in older pond has original 3 I started out with at 5" now almost 6 years old
4. Kumquart largest in the larger pond. He is well over 2 feet and extremely calm.
Bonnie - thank you! I have no explanation about why I have never thought about stapling netting onto boards! Every year I purchase a ton of netting ( $$$ netting at first but as time went by -- bought plastic bird netting meant for shrubs) but spend 2 hrs staking it down. I have a configuration in the stream and then the pond area that would lend itself to the board idea. Do you use two boards and then roll up when not in use or a more fixed 4 board shape? what weight wood do you use? Does it stay put or do you have to set rocks on it? Again - thanks so much.
We live in mid-Delaware, and have a 900 gallon fish pond with about 13 large goldfish, some native water lillies, mini cattails, and arrow-leaf. Lost my lotus, but would like to replace them. By summer most of the water is covered in greenery. Good thing, because the blue heron loves to visit. We have many leopard frogs that are now in the process of moving in, a large colony of trap-door snails and perhaps a few of the dozen fresh-water mussels I bought from E-bay a few years back are still among the living.
I love that pond! Making a foray out after dark on a warm breezy summer evening, flashlight and bottle of cold a Dog Fish Head IPA 90 in hand, to take up a chair and spend an hour spying on the goings-on below is my idea of heaven.
Hubby and I designed and built a large bio-filter that pulls the water about 2 feet up into it, runs it through 4" of gravel then 4" of sand to trickle back down into the pond.
We are now in the market for a new filter.
Can anyone recommend a good one? How many changes per hour? Pre-filter needed? Advice gratefully accepted!
Missingrosie,
Tried bird netting, bricked it down all around. sagged into pond even with beach ball in center to hold it up. Fish got tangled when trying to eat and it didn't keep my oak leaves out. So took it off and netted leaves out 3 times a day.
I'm going to get some fine mesh net or bridal illusion (what brides wear on their heads) deer netting is finer mesh also. I've got some 2X2 boards in my garden shed so they will be what I will staple to. They are 10 feet long so 2 placed on each side would run length of large pond. Netting has to be taught going across pond. Big rock in center of ea. board meeting should hold them firmly. I can sew anything together if needed as I have all industrial sewing machines in my drapery workroom. I'm certainly not going through with the leaf and blossom drop what I went through this year. It also makes for a lot of sludge on the bottom. Got in the pond yesterday and tried to scoop muck out and it broke my dip net frame. My idea may sound way out but I think it will work and when not needed I can roll it up on both boards fold it in half and store in my garden shed until next season. My smaller pond is round about 13 feet so I'll have to use probably pvc pipe heated and bent to the shape and whip stitch netting on by hand with outdoor thread. Think hula hoop only larger. I use hula hoops to put floating plants in to keep them out of skimmer. Had bad experience that taught me that lesson. To them I hand stitched leftover screen like you see on windows. Works well. Our pumps are down inside skimmers so have to keep that from getting junk inside and clogging pumps. We also screwed hardware cloth on face plates of both skimmers to keep fish out and plant material from floating in. Ponds are enjoyable but they do present their own problems which we have to think of some way to solve. Hope this helps someone.
Bonnie Davis
PS there is another Bonnie on here so now you know which one I am. LOL
Jeannie
I would buy a pump that will turn over the volume of your pond in an hour. This should give you the filtration you need. I have a similar set up with the pea gravel cleaning the water and it works very well for us.
Do you have a uv light?
bird netting won't 'brick down, well - but it stakes down ( tent stakes) real well. We've purchased lengths of small gauge metal rod/ wire and cut it into 12 inch or so lengths andbent in half and made our own. But you can't save that stuff once it is used ..... I think if the boards will work, it would be soooooo much easier and $$ savvy --- time savings too
This message was edited Apr 9, 2014 11:02 PM
Greetings from central Alabama to all ponders. Here is our netting that DH came up with, the last several years. Primary purpose was to keep the fallen leaves out of the pond, but it also helps keepping herons and hawks, as well as other critters from easy access to the gold fish and koi. Picture was taken back in Jan. I'll post more newer pics. to share later. Happy spring!
Kim
edited for typos.
This message was edited Apr 10, 2014 10:45 AM
fiber or plastic? Staked?
Kim,
Love your bridge. That's the only thing I would like to add to my larger pond. Husb. and I will make one soon I hope.
Bonnie
Hi Bonnie, it would be a fun project for you and DH (darling husb.), if I have to do it over again, I'd have modified the bridge so that it isn't too steep to climb up/down, not to mention is slippery when wet. Also the pond placement; I've it in a partial shade; thus I couldn't raise lilies, and lotus successfully there. But water irises and other non-blooming vegs. grow well in this shady water garden. :)
Missingrosie, it's plastic netting, that we weighed down with big rocks in various places, some stapled down onto the wooden bridge in various places.
Lily love,
Can you post a picture of the wholw pond. I need to see the whole bridge.
Thanks,
Belle
Here goes Belle;
1. The rock dam was made to protect fish swimming out to the lake when flooded (we've a recent flood but the tide wasn't that bad), we're glad.
2. The pond looking to the west side.
3 & 4 " ...... looking East.
5. Looking down from above deck.
The red leaf trees are those of Japanese maples.
Thank you!!!
Love it!!!
Belle
Love it too and what a great place for the maple.
Kim - your gardens are always such a pleasure to view. Love your pond. Please keep the photos coming.
Thanks all. Carolyn there isn't much going on with the pond. Should I embark on the revision of the bridge I then will post more pictures to share.
Love your red maples. Everything I've read says it's too hot for them here.
Thanks you for sharing pictures.
Bonnie
Thanks Bonnie, thus far our zone seems to be kind to those Japanese Maples. Glad you have enjoyed the pics.
Love this new thread! I have a 1000 gallon free form pond in Delaware. It has been extant for many years, but we added a biofilter a few years back -- now in need of a rebuild, but works like a charm. Thirteen large (6-8 inch) goldfish, Japanese trap-door snails, a few freshwater mussels I got on e-bay 3-4 years ago. We had a big old channel cat in there who came with the pond, but lost him in the very rough winter 3 years ago. I miss watching him vacuuming up the floating fish food! Will post pics soon, but have waterlillies, arrowleaf, and miniature cattails. The water surface is pretty much covered in greenery by summer, and that helps to protect our guys from the herons. Leopard frogs breed here successfully, despite the fish and one very obsessed frog-hunting cat.
I don't want a high rise bridge cause I'm getting older and easier to walk on would be better.
Even if we just laid wide planks across resting on top 4X4's would keep me happy. Anything that would allow me to go out into middle and feed fish would be fun.
I'm thinking about a flat bridge....one step up, but flat all the way across, then one step down. Things get so moldy and slimey with the humidity in Florida that I just don't want to fall (or anyone else)
Bonnie and Mary, excellent plans for flat bridge. As that is what I'm aiming to modify my bridge eventually. Anyone care to start a new thread for this one is way too long. Thanks.
Bridge will have to wait. Hubby started digging near pool skimmer trying to find a leak. We found it. Now we are taking turns digging under sidewalk around pool trying to get into pipe and see if we can join a new pipe to it. What we can see is over 2" copper. He is hopping to find a threaded joint or else we are in deep doo doo to fix it. Can you imagine what 2" copper pipe would cost now. Yikes. The copper being next to dirt since 1952 has probably caused the corrosion. Hope we can change it somehow to PVC.
Keep your fingers crossed. A little prayer wouldn't hurt either.
Bonnie
I have a very small pond about 4x5. I added a waterfall this spring and still need to fill in with rocks and such to make it look a little more appealing. I don't have any plants in it yet but would really love to try lotus. Do you think my pond is to small for those?
I grow my lotus in a bucket. It wasn't intentional, but when I split my lotus, my intention was to give some to friends, and threw the roots in separate buckets to keep them wet. Well...all of them are growing beautifully. I ran out of time to hand them out, so they just decided to grow where they were. I didn't add dirt or anything, but over the winter some decaying leaves have fallen in there, as well as tadpoles, so I guess that was enough?
Just returned from my friends ranch and she and I ride over her ranch a lot when I'm down there and I saw all the swamps full of lotus blossoms and should have brought some home but wadding in them doesn't appeal to me plus once I got stuck in the mud and getting out isn't easy.
They will look nice in your pond I'm sure.
I already have a lotus for you Bonnie, so don't go mud wading! :)
I don't since I had to get pulled out with the help of a tractor. Scared me a lot. Plus Audrey kept saying don't step on any moccasins. Ug!!!
Has anyone bought Lotus seed on Ebay? I'm tempted to try some seed from them.
Yes, they are fairly easy to get to sprout. The trick is deep water, like a tall glass, and change the water out daily.
I bought some one ebay as soon as I get them I'll start a thread and we can see my progress. Hopefully there will be progress..LOL
Hi everybody! I am new to this thread and am interested in Pond plants. I have four container ponds and a 2 acre pond that I would like to plant something in that won't take over. I wanted to plant water hyacinths in the big pond but I am afraid they will cover the pond if left unchecked. I am in zone 6a so what are your thoughts on this? I will post a pic later, I don't have it on this computer.
I bought some lotus seed on ebay, and they were easy to sprout, but you have to file the seeds down so they can sprout.
I started mine indoors in the winter and the temps were still not warm enough to sustain the plants once sprouted. They did get about 5 leaves before their demise! I am going to try again now that the weather is warm enough to put them outside.
This message was edited Jun 6, 2014 4:01 PM