Lazy summer days

We had the hottest day in history in New Orleans yesterday. We have been breaking heat records daily for several weeks and until Tuesday, had not seen rain all month. The rain just turned the heat to steam. I am not sure any hit the ground. Everything outside is suffering. So is everything inside, for that matter. The AC never shuts off. I shudder to think what the electric bill will look like.
Ponds all over the area are green. Fish are lethargic. During this heat, do not turn off your pumps. Not even at night. O2 levels can drop when the water is so hot, so keep it moving.

I do have some flowers blooming, kinda hard to believe, but here are a a couple:


The cannas are about done for the year, but this red one is soldiering on in all this heat,



The Dutchman's Pipe is a bit droopy, but blooming anyway.

From my inbox

Dear Jan,
I don't know if you remember me but I wrote to you last fall and we talked about Gregg Wittstock and Aquascape and their CAC's. I have now been fighting them for 10 months to get the pea gravel out of this man-made waterfall and stream because I found pea gravel clear up in the biofalls and my pump failed because it was pumping gravel instead of the water. To make a long story a bit shorter, they have finally decided to finally get the gravel out of the basin and put in AquaBlox. They will do this for free. But do you know anything about these glorified milk cases? They are only warranted for 1 year. After that who knows, another fight. Do you feel this is needed? They are supposed to give the basin more water volume. ????

Also, I have two plants in the water of my pondless......my contractor put them in. The second season of running our pondless, we noticed tons and I mean TONS of string algae. I have used the NON-guaranteed algaecides, barley straw, bleach, chlorine tabs and nothing has worked. Should I take OUT the two Sweet Flags I have in the water? Are they causing the algae to form? Any information would be greatly appreciated. OR is there something the contractor did that would lend to this production of algae? Like, not making the biofalls level or something like that. I was told to put in bleach, but how much and how often? My pondless is 4' by 12'.

Without bad luck, I would have no luck at all..............after spending over 20 hours getting the pea gravel out of the basin and stream........I would say we were able to get at least 90 percent of this stuff out........now Dreamscapes call and say they will take out all the pea gravel.........I am sure my husband and I got more out than they would have, so although it was really hard work, I now know what is in and around the centipede......and it is not pea gravel!! My husband is 68 years old and he must really love me to do all that work because he knew how I was fretting over it. I just didn't want to put in a new pump and have it ruined by all the pea gravel. Also, could you tell me again what pumps you would choose to put in the skimmer that have good guarantees? You told me before but I must have misplaced your information. Thanks.

If I could just get rid of the string algae..........I did put barley straw in the biofalls in March a couple of years ago. We live in PA. It worked for a while but then seemed not to do anything except muck up the stream bed.

I wish there was a way to really blog about Aquascape Design, Inc.-- I really can't stand them or their products. They are crooks in my book.

Thanks for letting me vent again. Hope to hear from you soon.

Pondlady sez:

Try Microbe-Lift for your string algae.
I don't know a thing about Aquabox.
Ya know, you could remove the irises, plant them next to the pond and use swimming pool chlorine and your pond water would stay crystal clear. The irises are not causing the algae, nor did the contractor. Sun + water = algae. Use more chlorine than you have before and you should be fine.

As far as pumps go, I like Oase brand pumps.

Summertime Pond Care

It's summer finally and it's time to relax and enjoy your pond. There are a few things to do in the summer, but not many. Read about it here.

Summer Pond Care

The mdansby saga continues

Yesterday I made a formal complaint to FBI internet fraud
about mdansby.com. My complaint to them follows. Isn't it awful to have to spend time fighting crooks when spring is here and the garden is wonderful?

In mid February, I downloaded a demo copy of psychreport.com a mental health practice management software application. On March 9th, I paid $199.00 for an official copy. I found out at that time that I needed to pay an extra 150.00 to 'customize' the program for my needs. Paypal transactions follow:

Mar. 9, 2009 Payment To Mdansby.com Completed Details -$150.00 USD $0.00 USD -$150.00 USD
Mar. 9, 2009 Payment To Mdansby.com Completed Details -$199.00 USD $0.00 USD
-$199.00 USD
I never received the 'customized' copy, have not been able to contact them after dozens of attempts, by phone or email. I have not received a refund.
I want my money back.

If any of my readers is having problems with this company, please register a complain with the BBB of NYC and with the FBI internet fraud department.

More about mdansby

As a result of yesterday's blog entry, I received a comment from another therapist regarding mdansby.com
I wrote to the BBB in New York. Complaints@newyork.bbb.org, presented the facts and the company was contacted by them. I have also written an article about them at Associatedcontent.com, a place for writers both paid and unpaid. I have used twitter, facebook, myspace, my pondlady website, my gardenersgumbo website and anywhere else I could find. Good luck and let's hope we can get our money back.

Spring in New Orleans

Louisiana iris, Little Rock Skies


Spring has arrive in New Orleans with cool nights, warm days and hot jazz at the French Quarter Festival and the JazzFest coming up this weekend. Along with spring we need to start waking up our ponds and ease our fish out of torpor and into warm weather and activity. Here's an article I wrote about the spring pond chores we must do.

Spring Pond Care


On another note, I am still waging war against mdansby.com, the makers of Psychreport.com, a mental health practice management program. It does not work. They neither answer the phone, nor emails. They have not refunded the money I paid them. I have lodged a formal complaint with the BBB of NY where they are housed, even tho they are incorporated in Reno. I know this is not pond advice, but simply a warning to never ever do business with this company.


For more pond info, go to Pondlady.com

For a great gardening forum, join us at Gardeners Gumbo

Filter question

The first canna of 2009 starts to open in my bog garden.


I get email with pond questions. I got this one a few days ago and thought I would share it with you.

Question: I would like to put a 25" round by 15" deep tub. If I put in a bunch of grass, 1 drawf lily, 2 regular goldfish with a pump hooked up to a spitter will I have a successful little pond? Do I need a filter? What size pump would I need. The spitter will be place on some flat rocks at the edge of the pond. I don't plan on feeding the fish but will feed the lily.

Pondlady sez: Yes, you will be successful and need no filter. Don't feed the fish and put a couple of bunches of grass in the water. Feed the lily one tab a month. Use a pump that will pump about 140 gph depending how high the spitter will be. The spitter cannot exceed 12" in height or the water will splash out.


For more pond information, join our forum at The pondlady's page
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