I built two indoor ponds in my pond building career. The first one was an unqualified success. The clients had a ceramic tiled planter. I water proofed it with Dri-Lock, a powder mixed with water that will make anything waterproof, filled it with water, added dechlor, added a pump, snaked the cord over the side and plugged it into a handy receptacle at the base of the planter. Somebody was thinking ahead when they put a receptacle there. I put a bubbler on the pump, added wet feet loving indoor plants, like pothos and spaths and the clients were thrilled. They added goldfish later and the fish were as happy as the clients. Because it was indoors, they had to feed the fish, but were happy to install an aquarium-like filter and all was well.
So can you have an indoor pond? Of course you can. You can build it yourself and do it easily. Here's how.
Use a container that holds water, a plastic container at least 20 inches deep x 30 inches wide x 36" long is fine. Stack clean rocks up the sides. Make the top row of rocks cover the edge of the container.
Use a small pump, maybe 75 gph to bubble up in the water, maybe even over a rock in the pond.
Put a few indoor or house plants in the water like spaths or pothos. Change the potting soil for a clay like soil or sand or the perlite in potting soil will float all over the water surface. It's impossible to remove it all.
Put some plants around the back edge of the pond for a natural backdrop.
Feed the fish only a little or use an aquarium filter to make sure the water stays clean and clear. You can add a few cups of water from your outside pond to put some good bacteria in your new inside one.
The biggest problem with indoor ponds is keeping the water clear. With no plants to keep the water filtered, dust falls in the water just as it accumulates on your coffee table. The water gets dirty quickly and must be cleaned. A filter of some sort is a good idea. Aquarium filters are OK, as are mechanical filters like foam rubber attached to the pump before the water is pulled in. You can usually find one that is made for your pump.
You can make your own box with lumber. Just screw 1” x 12” boards together, line it, fill with water and put a 1” x 4” cap on the top of the boards and you have a pond. You can paint it, you can add a waterfall in the corner or just use a few rocks in the water and have water bubble up through them. I have seen indoor ponds make with muck buckets and wash tubs with designs painted on them. Just remember an indoor pond will not support underwater vegetation, bog plants or floating plants. If you put fish in the indoor pond, you must filter it like an aquarium.
Water bubbling is restful and relaxing. It is indeed great to have in the house.
I built second indoor pond. I shouldn't have. The house was being built when the pond got started. The client wanted a pond underneath a huge open staircase that reached up 3 stories. The pond to have a waterfall that started at the top of the wall under those stairs. How to do that? The carpenters made a copper box on the floor that reached from a laundry room door about eight feet to the base of the stairs. The copper box was 24" tall x 8' long x 3' wide. At the bottom of the box, I asked for a drain hose that led to the laundry room that had a drain in it. I also asked for an overflow that also led to the laundry room drain. I wanted a 6" lip on the top of the box all the way around, so I could put rocks on the top as the client wished. I got it all. But I still lined the bottom with a 45 mil liner as insurance.
I learned the clients were installing a special parquet floor that would cover the 40' living room and 30' kitchen. I figured I was safe with all the safeguards built into the pond.
What I didn't figure on was a huge standard poodle, a beautiful dog, who had the run of the house. The dog dislodged the waterfall rocks, the rocks on the 6" lip and all that water was directed onto that handmade parquet floor.
There was one more safety measure I included. I had the owner sign a release because I really didn't think his whole indoor pond was a good idea.
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Sunday, September 28, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Pond Gadgets
Now that you have a pond, you need a pond shelf in your garage, or a pond place in your outdoor shed to store your pond gadgets. We accumulate pond gadgets that we find we cannot be without. For those of you just starting, this is a beginning list of pond gadgets to have around the house because you will need them and you will need them when stores are closed.
HIP BOOTS for getting in the pond to fertilize water lilies or to trim plants. If the pond is deeper than hip boots are tall, you either need a BOAT because you have a lake or a BUCKET AND A ROPE because you have a well.
Of course, you can go in the pond barefoot unless you think there may be critters in there you would rather not encounter without foot and leg protection.
AQUA GLOVES You can fertilize lilies or cut back plants with clippers in your bare hands or you can use aqua gloves, a glove with long plastic sleeves, if you are afraid of pond critters and there certainly is no reason to be unless you live where poisonous water snakes also live.
HAND POND PRUNERS These are made with ultra long handles so you can clip plants while standing next to your pond, but if you have your HIP BOOTS on and are already in the pond, you can use regular clippers. Your bare hands will work pretty good here too.
POWER NOZZLE What on earth is a power nozzle? It will become your most valuable pond accessory and here's how to make one: Get a hose cut off valve and a separate nozzle with a small hole at the end. It fits on the cut off valve. Get both at your local hardware or big box store. Screw the pieces together and to your hose. You now can spray a stronger stream of water than you can with any one piece nozzle. Buy several of these because everyone will like it, borrow it and you will never see it again. Use the nozzle to get dirt and algae off the waterfall, the rocks and to clean the filter. Do not wring out filter material as it breaks down, gets smaller and smaller and soon you will have to buy new.
TWO SCREWDRIVERS One Phillips head and one flat head because the makers of screw driver bits have visited a plague upon us and make two different kinds of common bits, so we never know which one we need until we see what needs to be done and we always have the wrong one in our pocket. Buy and carry them both for pond chores like removing hose clamps and using your POWER NOZZLE to blow dirt out of your tubing and pump.
NET You need a net to scoop debris from the bottom of the pond. I normally do this from outside the pond so I don't need the hip boots. If you need to catch a fish, the net comes in handy as well.
DECHLORINATOR Please, please keep a bottle of dechlor on hand. If you never need it, that's wonderful, but here's why you need to have it on hand. You turn the water on to top off your pond. It's going to take a bit of time, so, you decide to fold the laundry while you are waiting. The phone rings. You chat with your friend for a few minutes. Then you remember you have to get some bill payments in the mail, so you hop in the car to drop them off at the post office. While you are out, you decide to pick up a few things at the grocery store and pick up the dry cleaning. In the cleaners, you talk with the clerk about the weather for a few minutes, get back in your car and see the car needs gas, so you stop to fill up the tank. You get home and for the life of you, you can't figure out why the driveway is flooded.
Suddenly it dawns on you. You rush to turn off the water and see your fish lying at the bottom of the pond not moving. If you have dechlor in the house, you can probably save those fish. Whew, aren't you glad you have some?
EXTRA PUMP, TUBING, HOSE CLAMPS Because they always break when no store is open and you need to do repairs immediately before tonight's dinner party.
AQUATIC PLANT FERTILIZER If you don't have fertilizer made for water lilies, you can use Job's Tomato Spikes, if you can't find those, you can use Job's Tree Spikes, if you use the tree spikes, then you will need a HAMMER because you must break those babies into 4 parts and only use one per gallon pot and you can't break them with your bare hands
MICROBE-LIFT PL I have found this to be the best thing to eliminate blanketweed or string algae and to keep your ecosystem balanced and water clear.
BEER I don't know who tried it first, but it often works to clear up blanketweed or string algae. Just pour it in the water. Or if it's really hot outside, drink it.
With these materials nearby, you will be able to do the necessary pond maintenance, do quick and easy repairs without running to the store first.
To talk to pond experts join us at Pondlady's Forum
For a great gardening community, join us at Gardeners Gumbo
HIP BOOTS for getting in the pond to fertilize water lilies or to trim plants. If the pond is deeper than hip boots are tall, you either need a BOAT because you have a lake or a BUCKET AND A ROPE because you have a well.
Of course, you can go in the pond barefoot unless you think there may be critters in there you would rather not encounter without foot and leg protection.
AQUA GLOVES You can fertilize lilies or cut back plants with clippers in your bare hands or you can use aqua gloves, a glove with long plastic sleeves, if you are afraid of pond critters and there certainly is no reason to be unless you live where poisonous water snakes also live.
HAND POND PRUNERS These are made with ultra long handles so you can clip plants while standing next to your pond, but if you have your HIP BOOTS on and are already in the pond, you can use regular clippers. Your bare hands will work pretty good here too.
POWER NOZZLE What on earth is a power nozzle? It will become your most valuable pond accessory and here's how to make one: Get a hose cut off valve and a separate nozzle with a small hole at the end. It fits on the cut off valve. Get both at your local hardware or big box store. Screw the pieces together and to your hose. You now can spray a stronger stream of water than you can with any one piece nozzle. Buy several of these because everyone will like it, borrow it and you will never see it again. Use the nozzle to get dirt and algae off the waterfall, the rocks and to clean the filter. Do not wring out filter material as it breaks down, gets smaller and smaller and soon you will have to buy new.
TWO SCREWDRIVERS One Phillips head and one flat head because the makers of screw driver bits have visited a plague upon us and make two different kinds of common bits, so we never know which one we need until we see what needs to be done and we always have the wrong one in our pocket. Buy and carry them both for pond chores like removing hose clamps and using your POWER NOZZLE to blow dirt out of your tubing and pump.
NET You need a net to scoop debris from the bottom of the pond. I normally do this from outside the pond so I don't need the hip boots. If you need to catch a fish, the net comes in handy as well.
DECHLORINATOR Please, please keep a bottle of dechlor on hand. If you never need it, that's wonderful, but here's why you need to have it on hand. You turn the water on to top off your pond. It's going to take a bit of time, so, you decide to fold the laundry while you are waiting. The phone rings. You chat with your friend for a few minutes. Then you remember you have to get some bill payments in the mail, so you hop in the car to drop them off at the post office. While you are out, you decide to pick up a few things at the grocery store and pick up the dry cleaning. In the cleaners, you talk with the clerk about the weather for a few minutes, get back in your car and see the car needs gas, so you stop to fill up the tank. You get home and for the life of you, you can't figure out why the driveway is flooded.
Suddenly it dawns on you. You rush to turn off the water and see your fish lying at the bottom of the pond not moving. If you have dechlor in the house, you can probably save those fish. Whew, aren't you glad you have some?
EXTRA PUMP, TUBING, HOSE CLAMPS Because they always break when no store is open and you need to do repairs immediately before tonight's dinner party.
AQUATIC PLANT FERTILIZER If you don't have fertilizer made for water lilies, you can use Job's Tomato Spikes, if you can't find those, you can use Job's Tree Spikes, if you use the tree spikes, then you will need a HAMMER because you must break those babies into 4 parts and only use one per gallon pot and you can't break them with your bare hands
MICROBE-LIFT PL I have found this to be the best thing to eliminate blanketweed or string algae and to keep your ecosystem balanced and water clear.
BEER I don't know who tried it first, but it often works to clear up blanketweed or string algae. Just pour it in the water. Or if it's really hot outside, drink it.
With these materials nearby, you will be able to do the necessary pond maintenance, do quick and easy repairs without running to the store first.
To talk to pond experts join us at Pondlady's Forum
For a great gardening community, join us at Gardeners Gumbo
Friday, September 19, 2008
Pond Pumps and Filters
Early pond building
When I built my own pond in my back yard in 1987, filters and skimmers were used on swimming pools, not ponds. Flexible rubber liner ponds had not yet been heard of. I used a PVC liner that was meant to be used as a liner in sanitary land fills. A pond pump was bright blue and normally used as a sump pump in leaky basements. Shortly after I started building ponds commercially, a few companies started building pumps especially for ponds, made them black and different sizes. We connected the pump to a garden hose to run water over a waterfall. If we wanted two streams of water over the falls, we used a hose divider to get those two streams. The largest pond pump was 1200 gallons per hour.
The pond market grows
Within a couple of years, companies realized that backyard ponds was the niche market of the future and started making products strictly for ponds. We had bigger pumps, special hoses, special dividers and now needed hose clamps. Our liner choice was still laminated PVC.
But the market grew and as it did, opportunists arrived. Until skimmers and filters were marketed, no one needed them. Koi pond enthusiasts were already using elaborate swimming pool filters. I was known to remark that the filtration system of a koi pond I was working on looked a bit like a heart - lung machine. If you wanted a pond with goldfish and plants, you did not need a filter, nor a skimmer. You still don't.
The new pond companies that were proliferating throughout the country began to convince pond installers and do it yourselfers that filtration was a necessity and no pond would work unless it had a skimmer.
Filters and skimmers arrive on the market
Pond filters and skimmers are relative newcomers to the pond building industry.
A pond skimmer is a black plastic box that attaches to the side of a pond with bolts and nuts through the now rubber flexible liner. The pump sits inside and draws pond water through the skimmer into a basket inside and removes surface debris before sending the water on over the waterfall. You clean the basket periodically.
If you build your pond under a tree, you might need a skimmer. Unfortunately leaves that fall from a tree don't stay on the surface very long and that skimmer cannot get leaves or other debris off the bottom of your pond. So there is your skimmer with the nuts and bolts and seal that have penetrated your liner. If the seal fails, and it frequently does, it can cause huge and possibly unrepairable problems.
A pond filter removes organic debris from your water, cleans it and returns it to your water. And it does a remarkably good job at that. If you feed your goldfish, you probably need a filter of some sort. I like the under $10.00 homemade ones. They do an excellent job.
Balance your pond
So how does your pond survive with no skimmer or filter? Balance it ecologically, with submerged vegetation and floating plants that cover at least 50-70% of the surface area. Do not overload your pond with fish and most importantly do not feed them! Those fish live off the submerged vegetation, usually anacharis, and the fish waste fertilizes it. Anacharis grows faster than the fish can eat it.
You don't need a pond filter or a pond skimmer. More money can be in your pocket to spend on better things than pond filters or skimmers.
Marketing works, but nature works better.
For more pond information, join pond experts and hobbyists at Pondlady's Forum
For a great gardening community, join us at Gardeners Gumbo
When I built my own pond in my back yard in 1987, filters and skimmers were used on swimming pools, not ponds. Flexible rubber liner ponds had not yet been heard of. I used a PVC liner that was meant to be used as a liner in sanitary land fills. A pond pump was bright blue and normally used as a sump pump in leaky basements. Shortly after I started building ponds commercially, a few companies started building pumps especially for ponds, made them black and different sizes. We connected the pump to a garden hose to run water over a waterfall. If we wanted two streams of water over the falls, we used a hose divider to get those two streams. The largest pond pump was 1200 gallons per hour.
The pond market grows
Within a couple of years, companies realized that backyard ponds was the niche market of the future and started making products strictly for ponds. We had bigger pumps, special hoses, special dividers and now needed hose clamps. Our liner choice was still laminated PVC.
But the market grew and as it did, opportunists arrived. Until skimmers and filters were marketed, no one needed them. Koi pond enthusiasts were already using elaborate swimming pool filters. I was known to remark that the filtration system of a koi pond I was working on looked a bit like a heart - lung machine. If you wanted a pond with goldfish and plants, you did not need a filter, nor a skimmer. You still don't.
The new pond companies that were proliferating throughout the country began to convince pond installers and do it yourselfers that filtration was a necessity and no pond would work unless it had a skimmer.
Filters and skimmers arrive on the market
Pond filters and skimmers are relative newcomers to the pond building industry.
A pond skimmer is a black plastic box that attaches to the side of a pond with bolts and nuts through the now rubber flexible liner. The pump sits inside and draws pond water through the skimmer into a basket inside and removes surface debris before sending the water on over the waterfall. You clean the basket periodically.
If you build your pond under a tree, you might need a skimmer. Unfortunately leaves that fall from a tree don't stay on the surface very long and that skimmer cannot get leaves or other debris off the bottom of your pond. So there is your skimmer with the nuts and bolts and seal that have penetrated your liner. If the seal fails, and it frequently does, it can cause huge and possibly unrepairable problems.
A pond filter removes organic debris from your water, cleans it and returns it to your water. And it does a remarkably good job at that. If you feed your goldfish, you probably need a filter of some sort. I like the under $10.00 homemade ones. They do an excellent job.
Balance your pond
So how does your pond survive with no skimmer or filter? Balance it ecologically, with submerged vegetation and floating plants that cover at least 50-70% of the surface area. Do not overload your pond with fish and most importantly do not feed them! Those fish live off the submerged vegetation, usually anacharis, and the fish waste fertilizes it. Anacharis grows faster than the fish can eat it.
You don't need a pond filter or a pond skimmer. More money can be in your pocket to spend on better things than pond filters or skimmers.
Marketing works, but nature works better.
For more pond information, join pond experts and hobbyists at Pondlady's Forum
For a great gardening community, join us at Gardeners Gumbo
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Choosing a Backyard Pond Pump
So many backyard pond pumps to choose from: Which one is best for me?
Backyard Pond pumps do one thing: They move the water in your pond from where it is to somewhere else. Most of the time they pump it up and over a waterfall. Other times they pump water through a spitter, an ornament in or next to your pond, often a frog, dolphin, fish or piece of statuary. Sometimes they pump water up in the air like you see in huge commercial ponds near the mall or on the farm.
There are things you must know before choosing the right pump for your pond. Half of your pond water has to move through your pump every hour. So if your pond is 1000 gallons, your pump has to pump 500 gallons per hour or GPH. As this is a bare minimum requirement, you would be best to consider a larger pump. For example, if you are moving water over a wide or tall waterfall, you need more GPH. If you are pulling water through a filter, you must be sure you are pulling enough to make the filter work properly. So figure on buying a larger pump than the minimum size, so you have some wiggle room.
So now you have water moving around in your pond. It sure looks nice and sounds great going over that waterfall, but moving does more then just look nice. If you have fish in your pond and feed them, the pond will be out of balance ecologically. Feeding fish makes them grow too big for the available oxygen, so your water needs to have oxygen introduced. Your pump does that. If the pond water surface is moving oxygen is being absorbed by the pond water and then your fish can breathe easily.
If you do have fish, and most pond owners do, you probably have a filtration system. The pump also pulls water through that filter system, either mechanical or biological. That filter pulls suspended debris out of the water. Usually the debris is algae and when you get too much algae, your water will turn green. The proper filter can keep that from happening. So the pump must be big enough to meet the needs of your filter.
You have three choices of pump types: Submersible, external and solar. Submersible pumps cost less, but do not last as long. They are still the pump of choice with most pond owners. Because they are made of a resin material, they can be used underwater, but if the seal is broken, the pump must be thrown away. It cannot be fixed and returned to the pond safely. A submersible pump can easily last 5+ years if cleaned regularly. Cleaning is important to a pump's life. They often sit on the bottom of the pond and suck in all the rotted organic debris sitting in the bottom of your pond. If left uncleaned for any length of time, the pump impeller, a reverse propeller that sucks water in, can become damaged quickly.
In general, the more expensive the pump, the longer it lasts. Always check the warranty length of any pump.
External pumps last longer, pump more water, can be repaired and are more expensive. They also need to be hidden somehow. No one likes to look at a pump and filter set up right next to their waterfall. But if you have a large pond, you might be better served by a external pump. They are certainly more efficient than submersible ones, they cost less to operate and can pump more water. Because they are stronger, they can work with most biofilters and last longer because they do not have to work as hard. If I were to get an external pump, I would look for one that pumped as many gallons per hour as my pond held. If I had a 5000 gallon pond, I would want a 5000 gph external pump.
Solar pumps are starting to come into their own. We still have a long ways to go before they will perform as well as we want them to, but the technology is coming along. The biggest drawback of solar pumps is they will not pump if the sun is not shining, so your pump will be off during gray days and at night. As solar energy storage technology becomes more widely available, solar pumps will become the best buy.
For more pond info from all over the world, join us at Pondlady's Forum
For all around garden discussion, join us at Gardeners Gumbo
Backyard Pond pumps do one thing: They move the water in your pond from where it is to somewhere else. Most of the time they pump it up and over a waterfall. Other times they pump water through a spitter, an ornament in or next to your pond, often a frog, dolphin, fish or piece of statuary. Sometimes they pump water up in the air like you see in huge commercial ponds near the mall or on the farm.
There are things you must know before choosing the right pump for your pond. Half of your pond water has to move through your pump every hour. So if your pond is 1000 gallons, your pump has to pump 500 gallons per hour or GPH. As this is a bare minimum requirement, you would be best to consider a larger pump. For example, if you are moving water over a wide or tall waterfall, you need more GPH. If you are pulling water through a filter, you must be sure you are pulling enough to make the filter work properly. So figure on buying a larger pump than the minimum size, so you have some wiggle room.
So now you have water moving around in your pond. It sure looks nice and sounds great going over that waterfall, but moving does more then just look nice. If you have fish in your pond and feed them, the pond will be out of balance ecologically. Feeding fish makes them grow too big for the available oxygen, so your water needs to have oxygen introduced. Your pump does that. If the pond water surface is moving oxygen is being absorbed by the pond water and then your fish can breathe easily.
If you do have fish, and most pond owners do, you probably have a filtration system. The pump also pulls water through that filter system, either mechanical or biological. That filter pulls suspended debris out of the water. Usually the debris is algae and when you get too much algae, your water will turn green. The proper filter can keep that from happening. So the pump must be big enough to meet the needs of your filter.
You have three choices of pump types: Submersible, external and solar. Submersible pumps cost less, but do not last as long. They are still the pump of choice with most pond owners. Because they are made of a resin material, they can be used underwater, but if the seal is broken, the pump must be thrown away. It cannot be fixed and returned to the pond safely. A submersible pump can easily last 5+ years if cleaned regularly. Cleaning is important to a pump's life. They often sit on the bottom of the pond and suck in all the rotted organic debris sitting in the bottom of your pond. If left uncleaned for any length of time, the pump impeller, a reverse propeller that sucks water in, can become damaged quickly.
In general, the more expensive the pump, the longer it lasts. Always check the warranty length of any pump.
External pumps last longer, pump more water, can be repaired and are more expensive. They also need to be hidden somehow. No one likes to look at a pump and filter set up right next to their waterfall. But if you have a large pond, you might be better served by a external pump. They are certainly more efficient than submersible ones, they cost less to operate and can pump more water. Because they are stronger, they can work with most biofilters and last longer because they do not have to work as hard. If I were to get an external pump, I would look for one that pumped as many gallons per hour as my pond held. If I had a 5000 gallon pond, I would want a 5000 gph external pump.
Solar pumps are starting to come into their own. We still have a long ways to go before they will perform as well as we want them to, but the technology is coming along. The biggest drawback of solar pumps is they will not pump if the sun is not shining, so your pump will be off during gray days and at night. As solar energy storage technology becomes more widely available, solar pumps will become the best buy.
For more pond info from all over the world, join us at Pondlady's Forum
For all around garden discussion, join us at Gardeners Gumbo
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
How to build a backyard pond
Building a Pond in Your Backyard with the Pondlady
Material List
To build your pond, you will need the following:
A shovel, maybe two if you can get help
A rake, garden clippers, pliers and hammer
14" 28 gauge roofing flashing
1/2" PVC pipe cut into @ 2' pieces
15# roofing felt for underlayment
Pond liner Pump, hose clamps, tubing for waterfall
At least one ton of flat veneer rock, like a Tennessee Fieldstone, 1î to 4î thick
A good friend to help
Digging The Hole
When digging, do not break the edges of your pond by stepping on them. They hold your decorative rocks and if disturbed during the digging process, can collapse after you are finished because of the weight of your rocks. If the sides of the pond are soft, you must reinforce them. I use 28 gauge roofing flashing and support it with PVC pipe stakes.
Dig almost vertically to 14" inches. Place the excavated dirt in a ring about 18î away from the outer edge of the pond. You will need it later to finish off the pond. Install flashing along the sides and hold it in place with PVC pipe. Crimp top edge of flashing with pliers toward the outside of the pond so sharp edge does not penetrate liner.
Level & Felt Placement
Level the bottom with the rake. Clip off any protruding roots and smooth the sides and bottom well. Cover all exposed surfaces with 15 pound roofing felt, which serves as a cushion for the liner. It is easier to place plants with a flat bottom. I often dig a shallow sump in one corner of the pond, so if I have to empty the pond, I can do it easily.
Calculating the Size of the Liner
Length of the liner = the overall length of the pond plus twice the maximum depth plus three feet.
Width of the liner = the overall width of the pond plus twice the maximum depth plus three feet.
Liner Placement
Open the liner and spread it across the hole. Pleat or fold the liner as the pond begins to fill up with water to make the bottom and sides as smooth as possible.
Rock Placement
After the pond is almost full or water, place the first layer of decorative stones or bricks around the sides overhanging by about 2 inches. Caution: Wait until the pond is almost full of water before you place any rocks. If you donít, the water will pull the liner in place and your rocks will fall in the water.
Pile the rocks one or more layers thick depending on how high you wish to raise the level of the pond above ground level. You will need about one ton of 1" - 4" flat veneer rocks for a 6' x 10' pond. If you build a waterfall, you will need more.
Placing the Final Rocks
When you get one or two layers of rocks on top of the liner, stand inside the pond, grasp the edge of the liner and pull it over the bottom layer of rocks about six inches. Put another row of rocks on top. Make sure no liner is showing through the cracks. Cover cracks with thinner rocks. Finish filling the pond with water.
You have built your pond slightly above the level of the rest of your yard so that it will not collect runoff from surrounding areas. Also the water above ground level gives the pond enough weight to keep it in its place when the water table gets high. And the bottom layer, (now under water) not only looks great and completely hides the liner, it also serves as a hiding and spawning place for fish.
Completion
Remember all that soil you dug out and have been walking over and around. Rake it back toward the pond as backfill to cover up the liner that is showing above the ground. Gently grade it down and use it as a planting area. Put dechlorinator in the water if you live where the water is chlorinated. Now you are ready for plants and fish.
Landscaping
You may plant whatever you like around the pond. I use native plants as much as possible. I also try to use mounding plants so they will drape over the rocks and into the water. I like to have plants that creep around the rocks and partially cover them as the seasons pass. Soon your pond will look as if it has been there forever.
For more pond information from the pondlady and experts all over the world, join us at:
Pondlady's Forum
For gardening info and chatter, join us at:
Gardeners Gumbo
Material List
To build your pond, you will need the following:
A shovel, maybe two if you can get help
A rake, garden clippers, pliers and hammer
14" 28 gauge roofing flashing
1/2" PVC pipe cut into @ 2' pieces
15# roofing felt for underlayment
Pond liner Pump, hose clamps, tubing for waterfall
At least one ton of flat veneer rock, like a Tennessee Fieldstone, 1î to 4î thick
A good friend to help
Digging The Hole
When digging, do not break the edges of your pond by stepping on them. They hold your decorative rocks and if disturbed during the digging process, can collapse after you are finished because of the weight of your rocks. If the sides of the pond are soft, you must reinforce them. I use 28 gauge roofing flashing and support it with PVC pipe stakes.
Dig almost vertically to 14" inches. Place the excavated dirt in a ring about 18î away from the outer edge of the pond. You will need it later to finish off the pond. Install flashing along the sides and hold it in place with PVC pipe. Crimp top edge of flashing with pliers toward the outside of the pond so sharp edge does not penetrate liner.
Level & Felt Placement
Level the bottom with the rake. Clip off any protruding roots and smooth the sides and bottom well. Cover all exposed surfaces with 15 pound roofing felt, which serves as a cushion for the liner. It is easier to place plants with a flat bottom. I often dig a shallow sump in one corner of the pond, so if I have to empty the pond, I can do it easily.
Calculating the Size of the Liner
Length of the liner = the overall length of the pond plus twice the maximum depth plus three feet.
Width of the liner = the overall width of the pond plus twice the maximum depth plus three feet.
Liner Placement
Open the liner and spread it across the hole. Pleat or fold the liner as the pond begins to fill up with water to make the bottom and sides as smooth as possible.
Rock Placement
After the pond is almost full or water, place the first layer of decorative stones or bricks around the sides overhanging by about 2 inches. Caution: Wait until the pond is almost full of water before you place any rocks. If you donít, the water will pull the liner in place and your rocks will fall in the water.
Pile the rocks one or more layers thick depending on how high you wish to raise the level of the pond above ground level. You will need about one ton of 1" - 4" flat veneer rocks for a 6' x 10' pond. If you build a waterfall, you will need more.
Placing the Final Rocks
When you get one or two layers of rocks on top of the liner, stand inside the pond, grasp the edge of the liner and pull it over the bottom layer of rocks about six inches. Put another row of rocks on top. Make sure no liner is showing through the cracks. Cover cracks with thinner rocks. Finish filling the pond with water.
You have built your pond slightly above the level of the rest of your yard so that it will not collect runoff from surrounding areas. Also the water above ground level gives the pond enough weight to keep it in its place when the water table gets high. And the bottom layer, (now under water) not only looks great and completely hides the liner, it also serves as a hiding and spawning place for fish.
Completion
Remember all that soil you dug out and have been walking over and around. Rake it back toward the pond as backfill to cover up the liner that is showing above the ground. Gently grade it down and use it as a planting area. Put dechlorinator in the water if you live where the water is chlorinated. Now you are ready for plants and fish.
Landscaping
You may plant whatever you like around the pond. I use native plants as much as possible. I also try to use mounding plants so they will drape over the rocks and into the water. I like to have plants that creep around the rocks and partially cover them as the seasons pass. Soon your pond will look as if it has been there forever.
For more pond information from the pondlady and experts all over the world, join us at:
Pondlady's Forum
For gardening info and chatter, join us at:
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Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Where to Build a Pond
Building a pond
You want a pond in your garden. You want fish and water lilies and a waterfall; you want to relax next to your pond after work and sip your tea.
You have seen many kinds of garden ponds while shopping around. You may have had a landscape architect or water garden designer come to your house and give you an estimate that blew you away when you saw the price. So you have decided to build your own backyard garden pond. It canít be that hard. And it isnít. But there are a few things to think about before you go buy a shovel.
Designing your Pond
When you are designing your pond, you must consider your lifestyle. Is it formal and you like catered sit down dinner parties for 16 in the garden? If so, you'll probably want a formal pond, a rectangle, circle, or oval to fit in your formal garden. In this case, usually the pond is built from concrete, gunnite, masonry or tile. The formal pond usually holds a fountain or a piece of statuary. It may have fish, but probably not. It can be a reflecting pond or pool with a three tier concrete or wrought iron fountain in the center. You would care for a pond like this just as you care for your swimming pool - with chlorine to keep the water clean and clear.
If you like to have your friends over for outdoor barbecue and the thought of a sit down dinner party for more than your own family is anathema to you, you will probably like a more informal pond.
Ponds that are informal with rocks or boulders placed around the pond are the ones you will love. A roaring waterfall or trickling stream might be the moving water feature rather than a formal fountain.
Your pond might also be chlorinated, but most likely have vegetation, fish and be treated as a balanced ecosystem. The pond must fit your lifestyle.
What Kind of Pond is Best for Me?
After you determine your style, you must know what type of pond you will build. You have heard of koi and would like to have some. What most people donít know is the koi pond is a special type of pond and needs much filtration. It must be deeper than most other ponds, is treated like a very large outdoor aquarium and must be taken care of like one. The filters must be cleaned regularly, the koi must be fed daily, and most of the time, there is no vegetation growing because the koi will eat it....and they will eat it FAST.
If you only want goldfish in your pond, your maintenance is less, but only if you donít feed your goldfish. If you do feed them, they will grow larger than the pond can support, keep having babies and sooner or later there will be a fish kill. To have a balanced ecosystem and therefore the least maintenance, the goldfish must survive in the pond with existing vegetation, working daily for their room and board.
Where Should I Put my Pond?
So after you have decided on the style and type of pond you want, the location is the next most important factor to decide. I always recommend the pond be as close to the viewing area as possible. The pond/bog plants move in the breeze, the waterfall makes a delightful noise and the fish are colorful to watch. If the pond is in a far corner of the yard, chances are you will not enjoy it as much as if it is near a den or kitchen window or even a bedroom window that can be left open in good weather.
Figure out what room of the house you spend the most time in and decide the location from there.
So before installing the pond, at least three things must be decided:
Style
Type
Location
After you make these decisions, the rest is easy!
There's More.
Always check with your local government to see if you need a building permit and check with your insurance company to find out if your finished product requires special insurance. And if digging is required always check with your local utility companies to find out where wires, sewer or water pipes might be buried.
For more pond information and to learn from other pond builders and keepers, join us at
Pondlady.com
For gardening chatter, information and ideas, join us at Gardeners Gumbo, a great gardening community
You want a pond in your garden. You want fish and water lilies and a waterfall; you want to relax next to your pond after work and sip your tea.
You have seen many kinds of garden ponds while shopping around. You may have had a landscape architect or water garden designer come to your house and give you an estimate that blew you away when you saw the price. So you have decided to build your own backyard garden pond. It canít be that hard. And it isnít. But there are a few things to think about before you go buy a shovel.
Designing your Pond
When you are designing your pond, you must consider your lifestyle. Is it formal and you like catered sit down dinner parties for 16 in the garden? If so, you'll probably want a formal pond, a rectangle, circle, or oval to fit in your formal garden. In this case, usually the pond is built from concrete, gunnite, masonry or tile. The formal pond usually holds a fountain or a piece of statuary. It may have fish, but probably not. It can be a reflecting pond or pool with a three tier concrete or wrought iron fountain in the center. You would care for a pond like this just as you care for your swimming pool - with chlorine to keep the water clean and clear.
If you like to have your friends over for outdoor barbecue and the thought of a sit down dinner party for more than your own family is anathema to you, you will probably like a more informal pond.
Ponds that are informal with rocks or boulders placed around the pond are the ones you will love. A roaring waterfall or trickling stream might be the moving water feature rather than a formal fountain.
Your pond might also be chlorinated, but most likely have vegetation, fish and be treated as a balanced ecosystem. The pond must fit your lifestyle.
What Kind of Pond is Best for Me?
After you determine your style, you must know what type of pond you will build. You have heard of koi and would like to have some. What most people donít know is the koi pond is a special type of pond and needs much filtration. It must be deeper than most other ponds, is treated like a very large outdoor aquarium and must be taken care of like one. The filters must be cleaned regularly, the koi must be fed daily, and most of the time, there is no vegetation growing because the koi will eat it....and they will eat it FAST.
If you only want goldfish in your pond, your maintenance is less, but only if you donít feed your goldfish. If you do feed them, they will grow larger than the pond can support, keep having babies and sooner or later there will be a fish kill. To have a balanced ecosystem and therefore the least maintenance, the goldfish must survive in the pond with existing vegetation, working daily for their room and board.
Where Should I Put my Pond?
So after you have decided on the style and type of pond you want, the location is the next most important factor to decide. I always recommend the pond be as close to the viewing area as possible. The pond/bog plants move in the breeze, the waterfall makes a delightful noise and the fish are colorful to watch. If the pond is in a far corner of the yard, chances are you will not enjoy it as much as if it is near a den or kitchen window or even a bedroom window that can be left open in good weather.
Figure out what room of the house you spend the most time in and decide the location from there.
So before installing the pond, at least three things must be decided:
Style
Type
Location
After you make these decisions, the rest is easy!
There's More.
Always check with your local government to see if you need a building permit and check with your insurance company to find out if your finished product requires special insurance. And if digging is required always check with your local utility companies to find out where wires, sewer or water pipes might be buried.
For more pond information and to learn from other pond builders and keepers, join us at
Pondlady.com
For gardening chatter, information and ideas, join us at Gardeners Gumbo, a great gardening community
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Winter Pond Care - pumps, filter, UV lights
Pumps, filters and UV lights
When temperatures drop, winter pond care is necessary. Algae growth stop, so you can disconnect your filter and UV light if you have one. Remember you only need filters and UV lights if you feed fish. If you make them work for their room and board by eating submerged vegetation and in turn fertilizing it, you have no need for filtration or UV lights.
As the temperatures drop to 39 degrees F, turn off all pumps and fountains. Fish like to stay in the bottom of the pond where the water is warmer, so don't stir up the water and lose the bottom layer of warmer water.
Remove your pumps now, check the hoses for leaks. Clean your pump, clean and wipe down your filters and UV lights. To clean tubes and remove lime scale, you can wipe them with vinegar.
De icing
When the pond freezes over, you must create an ice free opening in the ice, so gases can be exchanged and the fish can breathe. You can buy deicers, but if you do, buy the ones that are used to keep horse trough water from freezing. They cost about 1/4th as much and work better. And cost much less to run. Another way to keep a hole open is with a plastic jug that milk or water came in. Put a couple of cups of water in the jug, tie a string on it and float it in the water, tying the string to something you can reach easily. If the pond stays iced over in the morning, pull the jug out and you will have a hole in the ice. If the temperatures stay below freezing all day and you expect them to stay there, you must use several jugs or a different method altogether. You must be vigilant if the temperatures continue below freezing because ammonia and carbon dioxide build up from fish breathing. Ammonia is also generated from decomposing plant material and fish waste. If these gases can't escape, your fish can die, plus they need oxygen to breathe.
If your pond does freeze over completely for more than a day, do NOT whack it with a hammer to open it. The shock can kill your fish. Use warm, not hot, water from your inside faucet to open a hole. Just run it over the ice or put it in a pot or bucket and put it on the ice. You can also run water from your garden hose and the ice will melt, unless you live where the hose is frozen too. I have heard of people putting a piece of black visqueen on the ice to thaw it, but have never tried it. Let me know if it works. You can do these things daily, but I think the plastic jug is easier. And, of course, the deicer is easiest, but also costs a few dollars.
Some people build a frame over their pond, like a cold frame, out of PVC and visqueen to keep the pond warmer and protect it from debris falling in the winter. This can be a good idea because we tend not to pay as much attention to the pond in winter and a small problem can become a disaster if not prevented.
Do not run a pump that brings the warmer water up from the bottom of the pond to the top. Pretty soon all the water will be cold. If you do put a pump in the water, raise it to only 10 or so inches from the top. That will leave the warm water at the bottom where the fish are more comfortable.
Fish food, liquid bacteria, fertilizers
Now is the time to discard all fish food, if you have been feeding fish. It loses nutrients over time, so throw it away and buy new in the spring.
Buy all the pond things now that you might need this winter because no stores stock pond supplies in the winter.
Be sure you have enough dechlor, Microbe-Lift and any fish meds you may need.
If you do these few simple tasks, your pond will come alive happy and healthy next spring.
For more pond information and our interactive forum, visit us at Pondlady.com
For an interactive gardening community, join us at
Gardeners Gumbo
When temperatures drop, winter pond care is necessary. Algae growth stop, so you can disconnect your filter and UV light if you have one. Remember you only need filters and UV lights if you feed fish. If you make them work for their room and board by eating submerged vegetation and in turn fertilizing it, you have no need for filtration or UV lights.
As the temperatures drop to 39 degrees F, turn off all pumps and fountains. Fish like to stay in the bottom of the pond where the water is warmer, so don't stir up the water and lose the bottom layer of warmer water.
Remove your pumps now, check the hoses for leaks. Clean your pump, clean and wipe down your filters and UV lights. To clean tubes and remove lime scale, you can wipe them with vinegar.
De icing
When the pond freezes over, you must create an ice free opening in the ice, so gases can be exchanged and the fish can breathe. You can buy deicers, but if you do, buy the ones that are used to keep horse trough water from freezing. They cost about 1/4th as much and work better. And cost much less to run. Another way to keep a hole open is with a plastic jug that milk or water came in. Put a couple of cups of water in the jug, tie a string on it and float it in the water, tying the string to something you can reach easily. If the pond stays iced over in the morning, pull the jug out and you will have a hole in the ice. If the temperatures stay below freezing all day and you expect them to stay there, you must use several jugs or a different method altogether. You must be vigilant if the temperatures continue below freezing because ammonia and carbon dioxide build up from fish breathing. Ammonia is also generated from decomposing plant material and fish waste. If these gases can't escape, your fish can die, plus they need oxygen to breathe.
If your pond does freeze over completely for more than a day, do NOT whack it with a hammer to open it. The shock can kill your fish. Use warm, not hot, water from your inside faucet to open a hole. Just run it over the ice or put it in a pot or bucket and put it on the ice. You can also run water from your garden hose and the ice will melt, unless you live where the hose is frozen too. I have heard of people putting a piece of black visqueen on the ice to thaw it, but have never tried it. Let me know if it works. You can do these things daily, but I think the plastic jug is easier. And, of course, the deicer is easiest, but also costs a few dollars.
Some people build a frame over their pond, like a cold frame, out of PVC and visqueen to keep the pond warmer and protect it from debris falling in the winter. This can be a good idea because we tend not to pay as much attention to the pond in winter and a small problem can become a disaster if not prevented.
Do not run a pump that brings the warmer water up from the bottom of the pond to the top. Pretty soon all the water will be cold. If you do put a pump in the water, raise it to only 10 or so inches from the top. That will leave the warm water at the bottom where the fish are more comfortable.
Fish food, liquid bacteria, fertilizers
Now is the time to discard all fish food, if you have been feeding fish. It loses nutrients over time, so throw it away and buy new in the spring.
Buy all the pond things now that you might need this winter because no stores stock pond supplies in the winter.
Be sure you have enough dechlor, Microbe-Lift and any fish meds you may need.
If you do these few simple tasks, your pond will come alive happy and healthy next spring.
For more pond information and our interactive forum, visit us at Pondlady.com
For an interactive gardening community, join us at
Gardeners Gumbo
Friday, September 05, 2008
Winter Pond Care - Plants and Fish
Ponds in winter require some special care, not much, but just a few things to watch. If you have not done all the nasty fall care, you must do it in cold weather, but before freezes. Trying to remove debris through the ice is impossible.
Fish care
Your pond changes in the winter. The fish are in torpor, a word for fish hibernation, as soon as the temperature drops to 43 degrees F. Their metabolisms have slowed and they are hanging out where the water is warmest - at the bottom of the pond. They hang out in a tight group to stay warm. They are not eating because they cannot digest food at these temperatures. If you feed them and they do eat the food, the partially digested food will kill them. They can survive if the pond freezes over, but only if you keep a hole open in the ice so gasses can be exchanged. If they have no oxygen, they will die.
If your pond freezes solid, do not leave any fish or living creatures in the pond. They will not survive.
Any plant material or fish waste left in the pond will decompose and cause a build up of toxic gases and your fish will die, as will any frogs, turtles or toads. The aeronomas bacteria produced continues to grow and your pond inhabitants will die. And it will be your fault. And this decomposition quickens in the spring faster than your fish come out of torpor and can become even more dangerous.
Turtle, frog and toad care
Make sure the frogs, turtles and toads have mud to burrow into. Inside the house is better for them, but most of us don't have a spare room to house our turtle, frog and toad population. If you must leave them out and can't get them out of the pond, try this trick. Find a plastic dishpan or plastic box and fill them with sand, dirt and kitty litter. Put the box in the bottom of the pond. They will dig in and hibernate there. When the weather warms in the spring, you can remove the temporary rooms in their fine hotel and pack them away until next winter.
Plant care
Cut all bog plants back. Or remove them from the pond. You did this when you prepped for fall, right? The plants will die all the way back even if they are hardy plants. They will return in the spring bigger and better. If you have tropical bog plants, they need to come in the house with the water lilies. It's getting crowded in the house.
Water lily care
If you have hardy water lilies, drop them to the very bottom of the pond. If your pond freezes solid they have to come in the house too. If you have a greenhouse or something you can turn into a green house, it's better because the water in that pot can get pretty rank before spring arrives and your lilies can go back outdoors.
If you live in a part of the country where the pond would never freeze solid, you are fine leaving them in the deepest part of the pond. Water lilies thrive at 10,000 feet in Rocky Mountain National Park lakes.
If you have tropical water lilies, you must bring them inside where temps do not drop below 50 degrees. If you have a greenhouse, all the better because your house is now full of plants sitting in water. If you live in the south, as I do, you can put your tropical lilies in the deepest part of the pond and they have at least a 50-50 chance of survival
You may also remove the lilies from their pot, rinse them well and store the tubers in a sack of damp sand, again do not put them where temperatures drop below 50 degrees F. Remove them in the spring and repot. Be sure the tubers are firm. If they are mushy, throw them away. You will have plenty, don't worry. In the spring you will be able to pot up plenty of lilies to give to friends.
Fish care
Your pond changes in the winter. The fish are in torpor, a word for fish hibernation, as soon as the temperature drops to 43 degrees F. Their metabolisms have slowed and they are hanging out where the water is warmest - at the bottom of the pond. They hang out in a tight group to stay warm. They are not eating because they cannot digest food at these temperatures. If you feed them and they do eat the food, the partially digested food will kill them. They can survive if the pond freezes over, but only if you keep a hole open in the ice so gasses can be exchanged. If they have no oxygen, they will die.
If your pond freezes solid, do not leave any fish or living creatures in the pond. They will not survive.
Any plant material or fish waste left in the pond will decompose and cause a build up of toxic gases and your fish will die, as will any frogs, turtles or toads. The aeronomas bacteria produced continues to grow and your pond inhabitants will die. And it will be your fault. And this decomposition quickens in the spring faster than your fish come out of torpor and can become even more dangerous.
Turtle, frog and toad care
Make sure the frogs, turtles and toads have mud to burrow into. Inside the house is better for them, but most of us don't have a spare room to house our turtle, frog and toad population. If you must leave them out and can't get them out of the pond, try this trick. Find a plastic dishpan or plastic box and fill them with sand, dirt and kitty litter. Put the box in the bottom of the pond. They will dig in and hibernate there. When the weather warms in the spring, you can remove the temporary rooms in their fine hotel and pack them away until next winter.
Plant care
Cut all bog plants back. Or remove them from the pond. You did this when you prepped for fall, right? The plants will die all the way back even if they are hardy plants. They will return in the spring bigger and better. If you have tropical bog plants, they need to come in the house with the water lilies. It's getting crowded in the house.
Water lily care
If you have hardy water lilies, drop them to the very bottom of the pond. If your pond freezes solid they have to come in the house too. If you have a greenhouse or something you can turn into a green house, it's better because the water in that pot can get pretty rank before spring arrives and your lilies can go back outdoors.
If you live in a part of the country where the pond would never freeze solid, you are fine leaving them in the deepest part of the pond. Water lilies thrive at 10,000 feet in Rocky Mountain National Park lakes.
If you have tropical water lilies, you must bring them inside where temps do not drop below 50 degrees. If you have a greenhouse, all the better because your house is now full of plants sitting in water. If you live in the south, as I do, you can put your tropical lilies in the deepest part of the pond and they have at least a 50-50 chance of survival
You may also remove the lilies from their pot, rinse them well and store the tubers in a sack of damp sand, again do not put them where temperatures drop below 50 degrees F. Remove them in the spring and repot. Be sure the tubers are firm. If they are mushy, throw them away. You will have plenty, don't worry. In the spring you will be able to pot up plenty of lilies to give to friends.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Fall Pond Care
Special fall pond care is necessary when our plants and fish begin going dormant in cooler weather. When temperatures start dropping and we know that Indian Summer is just around the corner, our pond requires that we slow down or stop many things we did daily or weekly in the hot summer.
Water lilies
Our water lilies pads are getting smaller and they are blooming less and less. Water lilies respond to temperatures and length of daylight. Stop feeding your lilies in the fall and allow them to go into dormancy. If you stimulate growth now, you could lose the lily when winter freezes hit your part of the country. Lower them to the bottom of the pond if they are not there already. They will over winter better there where the water is warmer. If they are hardy lilies, they will be fine in freezes. If they are tropical special care is needed to keep them through the winter.
Bog Plants
If your bog plants are tropical you can bring them in the house and hope they will survive. Many of them, like taro, callas and cyperus do not require being in water and will do well in soil or sand. Bring them in the house, keep them in medium light and they should do fine. If your plants are hardy, just cut them back to make sure none of the emergent vegetation freezes, dies and fouls the pond. The hardy bog plants will come back in the spring bigger and better.
Remove Japanese Iris and Lobelia cardinalis and plant it in the ground if it freezes where you live. Mulch it up good and they should survive nicely and be ready to put back in the pond in the spring. Remove canna rhizomes from their pots. Store them in a pot in peat in a basement. Keep the peat damp.
Submerged Plants
If your pond is below the freeze line in your part of the country, your submerged plants should do just fine. If not and your pond freezes solid, bring them in the house right before the freeze and keep them in an aquarium with aquarium lighting.
Fish Feeding
If you feed your fish, when the temperatures start to drop below 60 degrees F, ease up on the feeding. Feed no more than two or three times weekly. Fish are cold blooded animals whose body temperatures are the same as ambient temperatures, therefore their metabolisms are slowing down as temperatures drop. When metabolisms slow, digestion slows as well. If you feed the fish too much, they cannot digest it and may die. When the temperatures drop to 50 degrees F, stop feeding completely.
Predators
Your floating plants are getting smaller and smaller, so cruising herons and egrets can see your fish more easily. To protect your fish make places for them to hide. You can buy "castles" commercially or you can turn some clay ponds on their sides. Another good hiding place is a large flat rock placed on top of a couple of chunky rocks makes a great spot for fish to get away from hungry birds.
Leaf netting will keep the predators away as well as keep debris out of the pond.
Cleaning
It's time to get all the falling leaves, debris, sticks, dead and decomposing organic material and fish poop off the bottom, in the waterfall cracks and sides. You can do a total cleanout, use a pond vac or a siphon if you can. No matter how you do it, the pond has to be clean and it sure is easier to do it now than the night before a hard freeze.
If you have a skimmer, it will not remove the leaves. It is made to remove the occasional leaf, not a tree full. You can cover your pond with leaf netting. You can buy it at most nurseries or make it from nylon net available in most big box stores.
I have known some folks to pound stakes around their ponds and cover the entire pond with visqueen, making a pond greenhouse. This will add at least 10 degrees to the temperature inside your greenhouse. Putting lights under there will add even more heat and keep leaves and other debris out of the water. Just make sure air can get in and out.
For lots more pond information visit Pondlady's Forum
For Gardening info check us out atGardeners Gumbo
Water lilies
Our water lilies pads are getting smaller and they are blooming less and less. Water lilies respond to temperatures and length of daylight. Stop feeding your lilies in the fall and allow them to go into dormancy. If you stimulate growth now, you could lose the lily when winter freezes hit your part of the country. Lower them to the bottom of the pond if they are not there already. They will over winter better there where the water is warmer. If they are hardy lilies, they will be fine in freezes. If they are tropical special care is needed to keep them through the winter.
Bog Plants
If your bog plants are tropical you can bring them in the house and hope they will survive. Many of them, like taro, callas and cyperus do not require being in water and will do well in soil or sand. Bring them in the house, keep them in medium light and they should do fine. If your plants are hardy, just cut them back to make sure none of the emergent vegetation freezes, dies and fouls the pond. The hardy bog plants will come back in the spring bigger and better.
Remove Japanese Iris and Lobelia cardinalis and plant it in the ground if it freezes where you live. Mulch it up good and they should survive nicely and be ready to put back in the pond in the spring. Remove canna rhizomes from their pots. Store them in a pot in peat in a basement. Keep the peat damp.
Submerged Plants
If your pond is below the freeze line in your part of the country, your submerged plants should do just fine. If not and your pond freezes solid, bring them in the house right before the freeze and keep them in an aquarium with aquarium lighting.
Fish Feeding
If you feed your fish, when the temperatures start to drop below 60 degrees F, ease up on the feeding. Feed no more than two or three times weekly. Fish are cold blooded animals whose body temperatures are the same as ambient temperatures, therefore their metabolisms are slowing down as temperatures drop. When metabolisms slow, digestion slows as well. If you feed the fish too much, they cannot digest it and may die. When the temperatures drop to 50 degrees F, stop feeding completely.
Predators
Your floating plants are getting smaller and smaller, so cruising herons and egrets can see your fish more easily. To protect your fish make places for them to hide. You can buy "castles" commercially or you can turn some clay ponds on their sides. Another good hiding place is a large flat rock placed on top of a couple of chunky rocks makes a great spot for fish to get away from hungry birds.
Leaf netting will keep the predators away as well as keep debris out of the pond.
Cleaning
It's time to get all the falling leaves, debris, sticks, dead and decomposing organic material and fish poop off the bottom, in the waterfall cracks and sides. You can do a total cleanout, use a pond vac or a siphon if you can. No matter how you do it, the pond has to be clean and it sure is easier to do it now than the night before a hard freeze.
If you have a skimmer, it will not remove the leaves. It is made to remove the occasional leaf, not a tree full. You can cover your pond with leaf netting. You can buy it at most nurseries or make it from nylon net available in most big box stores.
I have known some folks to pound stakes around their ponds and cover the entire pond with visqueen, making a pond greenhouse. This will add at least 10 degrees to the temperature inside your greenhouse. Putting lights under there will add even more heat and keep leaves and other debris out of the water. Just make sure air can get in and out.
For lots more pond information visit Pondlady's Forum
For Gardening info check us out atGardeners Gumbo
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Pond Troubleshooting - a Case Study
Pond troubleshooting is something all pondkeepers must do. Things can go wrong in our ponds and we must know what to look for, so we can keep the problem from becoming a disaster.
Several years ago, I was called to care for a pond that filled my customer's front yard. He had built it with concrete, making any pond difficult to keep balanced. Concrete can leach lime if not sealed properly. He could not keep water lilies or fish alive. What was wrong? I could see the pond was about a foot deep. Problem number one was found. A pond must be at least 18" deep to keep both water lilies and fish happy. The water was getting too hot for fish to survive, so problem number two was found.
My customer built a second pond attached to the first one. It was 18" deep, and still concrete. The ponds were connected, so the fish and the water lilies could both live in the deeper part of the pond. We planted parrots' feather in the shallow pond to keep the water shaded and cooler. Over the years the parrots' feather grew so large, it took two men to drag it out and cut it back when the pond got its annual cleanout.
We thought we had the problems solved, but we were wrong. I had a motivated client. He loved his pond and did much research on pondkeeping, so we could try to figure out the problems together.
Within a year, the fish began to get sick, the submerged vegetation started to turn yellow and lose all its leaves. Now what was wrong. My first instinct was to check the pH. It's easy, but rarely the problem. pH usually fixes itself in a balanced pond and this one was balanced. My client did not feed his fish, so we did not have excess fish food or organic waste to deal with. Most people, if they feed their fish, feed them too much and much of it falls to the bottom of the pond, where it decomposes and fouls the water. Even if the fish do eat the food, they produce so much waste, that it fouls the water. You can always tell if people feed their fish even if they say they don't. If you walk to the edge of the pond, the fish come to the top, racing toward you smacking their little mouths waiting for their treats. All the while, the pondkeeper is protesting, saying he does not feed his fish. Then he gets busted by his own fish.
But that was not a problem with this pond.
Neither was pH. Excess ammonia was not a problem, nor were nitrates or nitrates. All of these things must be dealt with if fish are fed.
So why was the submerged vegetation dying, the water clouding up and the fish dying, but not all at once. My first hunch is always that chemicals from somewhere are getting into the water. Check to make sure water is not running off from surrounding streets, insecticides or pesticides being sprayed by the gardener, the neighbors' gardener or the city. Make sure there is no rain running off the roof into the pond. Nope, not at this house. Check with the neighbors to see if anyone is scraping paint off their houses and microscopic particles are drifting into the pond.
By this time, I have been working on this pond for several weeks being a real pond detective.
As a last resort, I pumped all the water out of the pond and started over. Within a week the pond was cloudy and foul again. What was the problem?
The client had household staff. He also had an entry just outside the front door. It was about 8 feet wide and 40 feet long. It was the only way people used to enter and exit the house. I asked all the staff about their shoes. Did they have new ones? Did someone drop something in the pond? Did the nanny let the kids put things in the pond? No to all questions.
Finally, I asked the right question. I found that one of the staff members had decided the patio entry needed to be cleaned at least twice weekly. She sprayed it with floor cleaner, scrubbed it and then hosed it off.....right into the pond.
After being assured she was not going to be fired, I asked the staff member if it was OK to leave the patio a bit on the dirty side. She agreed. The pond recovered. The anacharis was replaced as were the fish. The crisis was over. It took about 2 months and 10 visits to find the problem and fix it.
There is always a reason that ponds get foul and fish and plants die. Most of the time the reason is relatively easy to find and fix. Occasionally we must play detective and take much longer to find out what is happening. Keep on looking for your pond problem. You will find it. After that, fixing the problem is easy.
~Jan Goldfield
Several years ago, I was called to care for a pond that filled my customer's front yard. He had built it with concrete, making any pond difficult to keep balanced. Concrete can leach lime if not sealed properly. He could not keep water lilies or fish alive. What was wrong? I could see the pond was about a foot deep. Problem number one was found. A pond must be at least 18" deep to keep both water lilies and fish happy. The water was getting too hot for fish to survive, so problem number two was found.
My customer built a second pond attached to the first one. It was 18" deep, and still concrete. The ponds were connected, so the fish and the water lilies could both live in the deeper part of the pond. We planted parrots' feather in the shallow pond to keep the water shaded and cooler. Over the years the parrots' feather grew so large, it took two men to drag it out and cut it back when the pond got its annual cleanout.
We thought we had the problems solved, but we were wrong. I had a motivated client. He loved his pond and did much research on pondkeeping, so we could try to figure out the problems together.
Within a year, the fish began to get sick, the submerged vegetation started to turn yellow and lose all its leaves. Now what was wrong. My first instinct was to check the pH. It's easy, but rarely the problem. pH usually fixes itself in a balanced pond and this one was balanced. My client did not feed his fish, so we did not have excess fish food or organic waste to deal with. Most people, if they feed their fish, feed them too much and much of it falls to the bottom of the pond, where it decomposes and fouls the water. Even if the fish do eat the food, they produce so much waste, that it fouls the water. You can always tell if people feed their fish even if they say they don't. If you walk to the edge of the pond, the fish come to the top, racing toward you smacking their little mouths waiting for their treats. All the while, the pondkeeper is protesting, saying he does not feed his fish. Then he gets busted by his own fish.
But that was not a problem with this pond.
Neither was pH. Excess ammonia was not a problem, nor were nitrates or nitrates. All of these things must be dealt with if fish are fed.
So why was the submerged vegetation dying, the water clouding up and the fish dying, but not all at once. My first hunch is always that chemicals from somewhere are getting into the water. Check to make sure water is not running off from surrounding streets, insecticides or pesticides being sprayed by the gardener, the neighbors' gardener or the city. Make sure there is no rain running off the roof into the pond. Nope, not at this house. Check with the neighbors to see if anyone is scraping paint off their houses and microscopic particles are drifting into the pond.
By this time, I have been working on this pond for several weeks being a real pond detective.
As a last resort, I pumped all the water out of the pond and started over. Within a week the pond was cloudy and foul again. What was the problem?
The client had household staff. He also had an entry just outside the front door. It was about 8 feet wide and 40 feet long. It was the only way people used to enter and exit the house. I asked all the staff about their shoes. Did they have new ones? Did someone drop something in the pond? Did the nanny let the kids put things in the pond? No to all questions.
Finally, I asked the right question. I found that one of the staff members had decided the patio entry needed to be cleaned at least twice weekly. She sprayed it with floor cleaner, scrubbed it and then hosed it off.....right into the pond.
After being assured she was not going to be fired, I asked the staff member if it was OK to leave the patio a bit on the dirty side. She agreed. The pond recovered. The anacharis was replaced as were the fish. The crisis was over. It took about 2 months and 10 visits to find the problem and fix it.
There is always a reason that ponds get foul and fish and plants die. Most of the time the reason is relatively easy to find and fix. Occasionally we must play detective and take much longer to find out what is happening. Keep on looking for your pond problem. You will find it. After that, fixing the problem is easy.
~Jan Goldfield
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