im building a new pond and would love to know the does and dont of them and about building one,does anyone have luck with the koi fish or other kinds
does anyone know of anybody saling fish in hickory nc? i would love to see your photos thxs for helping
moretz
ponds-does anyone have them?
Moretz, In my previous home I had a pond (about 1,100 gallons)and loved it. Although I did have Koi, I would not recommend them if you want it for lilies or lotus. The Koi are playful and entertaining but they also love to up root plants. Shubunkins are smaller but very colorful and are much easier to have and enjoy your plants at the same time. Have you taken a ride to Perry's Water Gardens in Franklin? I haven't been there in years but they had awesome lotus and lilies; they probably have fish too.
no i sure havent i am just getting into ponding this is the 2 season for me so i am learning where all these places are thxs so much will look into it
I have about a half acre pond courtesy of Hurricane Hugo (he took out all the trees, so I dug a pond). The first year I grew some beautiful water lillies, but I also noticed some aquatic grasses coming up that I didn't want to take hold, so the next year I put 3 sterile carp in the pond to take care of the problem. And they did---but they also took care of my water lillies, too. Then I threw in 50 small goldfish just to see what would happen. What happened was the Blue Herons, Green Herons, and Egrets declared a fiesta! There were only 5 or 6 left by the next year, but they were much bigger (6-10") so I thought they'd be OK. Wrong. All gone by May. Then I planted some Louisiana Iris along the edge of the pond, thinking they would add some nice color, and they did. And they kept adding it! After 3 years, the entire pond edge was covered with them. The word invasive comes to mind...lot of work controlling those things! All in all, it's been fun, and the pond has been a total pleasure. And a source of irrigation water.
well i hope i dont have to worry about herons because i live near a lake and i think they get enough from it(i hope) but i have raccoons and i think that is what got my chickens and they might get my fish too but i want to try and see what i can have ans what i cant have lol thxs so much for telling me your exsperence
hi, more~ been reading about your trading, pond, and greenhouse adventures for a while. I've got lots of family in hickory:))
in my experience, the best deterrent to racoons, herons, voles, etc. is a jack russell terrier!! or, as the vet called her, a jack russell terror! my fish are just fine in their third year. the only thing they need to watch for is the jrt drinking their water and trying to get the fish food from the top of the water before they can!
oh, and i buy cheap fish, so it's not a total downer if something happens;)
best of luck with that!
Bev
I also learned that the herons do not like really deep water (20" or more). If I ever try a good size pond again I will make straight sides at least 3' deep so the herons can't get to the fish. Raccoons do not swim well either. They were my problem here as they pulled out the lilies and ate the roots. We did get a dog and it has helped but not eliminated the raccoon problem here.
Right now I have a Lotus pot on my deck and for the first time since we got the dog, the raccoons have left it alone. They do come up on the deck but as soon as he hears them he barks furiously and they saunter off before they can do any damage.
tggfisk
hi
we willhave to get together and do some trading or dividing or whatever you would like to do, so plmk when/where lol how far are you from hickory? well i really live in grace chapel but have a hickory addy and a granite phone # go figure lol
thxs for all the info
more~
actually my folks were just up that way a couple of weekends ago. they still live in mooresville where i grew up. we live right outside of raleigh, so we're a few hours away from you...more on race weekends when the traffic's bad;)
i haven't been up your way in a while...i'd love to get up there. it looks like the summer is going to go pretty fast, though...dd is going freshman year to ecu...sooo much to do.
let me know if you're going to be down this way...Plant Delights opens the first and second week of july!
bev
i would love to go to plants delights but dont have any money right now to go i love their plants they have well jlmk when you would like to come i would love to meet you and do some in person trading or just dividing if you dont have anything to trade lol thxs
i'll let you know...it sounds like fun:)
know what you mean about $$$, but i always succumb. besides i haven't been in the display gardens in a while. why not go when it's scorching hot outside;)))
bev
The Captain's pond is just below our front porch. It started out as the smallest round pond container Lowe's sells, with the pot and bronze frog. Next year it was bigger and deeper, and this year bigger and deeper yet, with a small waterfall (requiring a second pump). He doesn't want fish, but frogs have moved in and there are pollywogs now. The lillies are from ebay and doing well. The pond is about 12" deep, and gets full sun. No filter system yet, but he keeps threatening. Nice to sit on the porch with a glass of wiine and listen to the water.
very nice love it
what is that blue flower in the back? plmk and great job!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Moretz~
Just a thought about the pond...I know that I told you that I buy inexpensive fish...we did have a huge hawk lurking above the pond last week. But just to let you know, I went to a reputable nursery that sells some pretty expensive pond fish...HUGE koi, and lots of others. I noticed that the shubunkins that they had looked about the size of the ones I added to my pond about a month ago. The difference was not the size, the patterns, or the health of the fish...it was the price. I bought mine at PetSmart for $1.99!! instead of the $8.99 theirs were.
Gotta love that!
Bev
oh yes i have already scoped out petsmart
i bought a koi there for 3.99 and every where else wanted at least 6 of not more for the size i got from petsmart plus they have a 14 day garuantee on theres i love that place lol thxs
And...do I have some water irises for you! Spring blooming (of course) and dark purple.Let me know when you 'take the plunge' :-)
ok since i am going to be gone this week i decided not to do pond until i get back so it willbe next weekend before i get back startedon it and i was hoping we would get some cool weather but dont look like that is going to happen any time soon but i will post a pic of it here when i get it done have you seen what i got done so far?
thxs
here you go
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/734843/
And I have some cattails...Can send when you're ready!
Bev
LOL We keep typing at the same time. Looks good on the thread. Keep up the good work!
ok great sounds good are yours the small cattails or the large?
maybe you need to come to my house and help me finish this pond
would you lol? thxs so much
i am still trying to figure out which filter system to get any advise?
Oh, sneaky, sneaky!!! Mine are the small ones. I say that, but they get about 4 ft. for me, but the cattails themselves are small and pretty cute.
I'm still trying to get all the stuff from Plant Delights planted today. Almost killed myself...Went with a friend and we bought too much stuff, then went back and split everything so we had twice as much stuff to deal with...Not that I'm complaining.
We got a regular pump and filter combo, but our pond is much smaller than yours. I'm sure someone else will have better advice than I do for that.
Bev
tggfish - Thanks! The blue flower in the back is salvia, left over from last year. The blue flower on the right front is Walker's Low catmint, the 2007 plant of the year. The ferns are a test that dug from the woods - didn't think they would make it with so much sun, but so far fine.
Entlie
I don't know your birds up there in NC but on the coast you pretty much have to net your ponds. Herons and egrets will get all the small fish once they find your pond. I saw a pelican clean out a half acre pond over two days. Odd that the pelican did that, they usually stay in the salt water areas.
I live on a 13 acre pond that has marsh grass or whatever it is growing on all the sunny edges and thought about getting some fish that eat the marsh grass. Problem there is the pond is loaded with bass, some large and I don't think adding small fish would work. I just picture the bass having a good meal. It would be kind of cool to have Koi swimmimg around but big ones are just to expensive.
The small inexpensive koi grow faster than a speeding bullet. Get them some pond fish chow and they will be eating out of your hand in no time.
Hey moretz! How's the pond coming along? Wish I could get up there...I'm great at supervising;-))
We had quite a scare with ours. Seems the pump sort of flopped over (no idea why) and very nicely pumped most of the water OUT of the pond. Not the sort of irrigation system that I was looking for! That coupled with a lack of rain...Poor fish, huddled in the bottom screaming for help.
Thankfully we noticed before all the water was gone.
well it isent going lol i just got back from gatlingburg and i am wore out hehehehe thxs
Hey, do you read Carolina Gardener? In their calendar I noticed there is a pond and garden tour in the Hickory area on the 21st. $5.00 per vehicle. call 828 322 8614 for info. It is sponsored by the NC Unifour Pond Society and you get to visit 10 ponds.
Go and take lots of pictures for us. LOL
Hope it was a good 'wore out' !! Fill us in?
Bev
i will later
well i got to go to 1 nursery up there and the only reason i got to go to it is because we passed it trying to find the cabin we was going to stay in lol and of course i said" we have to stop there " lol well we did and i am glad that i did here is a pic of one plant that i dont know exactly what it is lol i know it is an impatient but not sure which cultivare it is lol does anyone know? and guess how much i paid for it?
There's a few photos at the photobucket link below, which might clue you up on aquatic plants and what a water garden can do in the Carolina's
Regards, andy
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l42/adavisus/
OK I see a road trip in the making Bev and I maybe can both come over to Hickory as I have relatives in Hudson.
I also teach Medicare classes every so often at the college there.
ROAD TRIP_ROAD TRIP
Lavina
Lavina~When are we leaving?? Are we taking the jeep with the top down??? Did your E. Bosanquet bloom??
Sorry, I can get a little excitable when road trips are discussed...
Moretz, we never did find out how much you paid, did we? (Another question;-)) Gee, if we came up, I could bring some of those cool purple iris that are taking over the pond!!! Popped right through the pot!
Bev
lol come on over hehehe i would love for you all to help me clean my beds out hehehehehe just kidding,
well i only paid $2.50 for that impatiens real cheap and unique never seen this one before thxs
Can you overwinter the impatiens in your greenhouse? They are lovely! Next thing you know, we'll all be wanting some:-)
I'll clean out your beds if you'll clean out mine;-)
lol im not sure you want that deal i have BIG beds do you? lol
yes i can over winter them in the gh as long as my heater dont go out roflmbo not sure what i will do this winter
Oh, yeah...I remember that you had problems with your gh...Bad memories, huh? I have some big beds at least for me. Major problem is that they are packed full. Yummy things for sure, but not as easy to get to...and there's that centipede grass that gets in there!
i have had no birds or racoons since putting my my gator head.
oh i love it,where did you get that and does it make noise or light up? plmk and thxs