He's Baaaaaaack

Hasenpfeffer for dinner!
Good thing I am a vegan.  That is one lucky bunny.

Don't you dare eat my Dutch Iris

Purslane about gone

The bunny is eating his way around a min-pond with a tiny pump pumping water over rocks about an inch under water. It's a great birdbath and the birds love it.

So does the bunny.

Read about tiny ponds and how to build them here.

Ask and answer pond questions at pondlady.com  We have a good time there.

Water Lily Questions

Cow lily, found wild in the Louisiana swamps.

Question:

I'm from Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. This is my third year with a water garden and I love it! I have a small pond - 50 gallons in a preformed liner with a small pump/fountain that I've made sure doesn't splash onto my lilies. I have a corkscrew rush, pickerel rush, and water lettuce plus my lilies. My pond usually gets between 6 and 8 hours of direct sunlight a day. 

Last year I had some problems with my water lily not blooming. We did have a colder than usual summer last year and the lady at my local pond supplier suggested that it could either be because of that or because my lily needed to be repotted/divided. 

This spring, I divided the lily and repotted the two halves. I had to wait longer than I really wanted to because we had a very chilly spring, but I finally got it repotted and into the pond around the end of May/beginning of June which was the first time we had temps stay above 50 in the evenings. Half #1 is doing MARVELOUSLY. There's lots of new growth, large pads and I fully expect to see buds/blooms any day now. Half #2 is not doing so hot. There are some small green leaves close to the rhizome, but only 2 leaves have reached out towards the surface and they were very small and yellow and didn't last long. 

At first I thought maybe it was getting splashed even though I had tried to make sure it wasn't, so I switched fountain heads to further control the fountain and now it is DEFINITELY not getting splashed. Next I thought perhaps it just needed time and fertilizer, but it's been about 6 weeks now and it's not thriving any more than it was. 

Tonight, I moved it to a separate tub with some of the pond water along with some fresh water because I'm really afraid there's something seriously wrong with it and if there is, I don't want it to infect the other lily. 

I've checked for bugs and other than a few water snails along the side of my pond, I can't find any evidence of bugs. The rhizome doesn't smell rotten so I don't *think* it's crown rot, but I didn't want to take chances. 

Could it just be that my pond is too small for two water lilies to flourish? Or am I doing something wrong? Or is there really something wrong with my lily? 

Any help/advice that anyone could give me would be *greatly* appreciated. I've searched all my books and I can't find any answers so I thought I'd search online. 

Thank you for any help you can give! 

  

Answers:

Yup, your pond is too small for two lilies. Are you fertilizing the lilies? You need to push in 1 Pondtabb per gallon of pot at least once a month. They really like a tab twice a month, but then you will have a gigantic lily. 

Add dechlor if you put the plant in fresh water. The chemicals our city fathers put in our drinking water is a crime. 

Continued conversation:

Thanks for replying! I'm glad to hear that it's just that my pond is too small and that there's nothing necessarily wrong with the other lily. 

Yes, I fertilize my lilies with Pondtabbs (all my plants actually). I did add some "Pond Start" which is supposed to take care of all those lovely chemicals, though I don't have nearly as many as those with city water because I'm on a well, but I figured better to add it and not need it than to not add it and be sorry! 

 More about waterlilies 

I am in the UK and have a waterlily which I found by the roadside therefore I have no idea what it is I have it in a bath which we have on our allotment,which is used as a pond for wildlife I think it has outgrown it as the leaves are high up the sides I have another bath there which like this one is home to all sorts of tadpoles and other creatures, should I wait until winter to divide it as I have never done this before and it is not in a pot I found it in what looks like a canvas wrap or bag

  

More answers:

Wait until spring to divide it. 

My guess is that it's a hardy lily as opposed to a tropical one or it wouldn't have been growing wild. You will find that if you just plant it in the water and not put it in a pot, it will take over and you will have a hard time getting rid of it after a few years. 

You can remove leaves as they get out of hand and not harm it. It should be blooming now. The blooms will probably be yellow or white and look wonderful.

Continued conversation

They are white with a yellow centre, it was actually dumped not in the water when I found it too so I'm surprised it survived, they are gorgeous though

 And answers:

They are pretty hard to kill, being not much more than weeds. You will love it.

Read about water lilies in my best selling book, "A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond" available from Amazon here.

And join us at our interactive pond forum here.

Peter Rabbit....Bah

This is purslane, or should I say it WAS purslane.  It's a sweet little plant whose flowers bloom in the sunshine of midday and close when the nighttime comes. The pale orange of this particular one was beautiful near the running water of the bird bath.  Notice that the purslane is not much but stems, flowers nipped off at the ends.

                                                           Purslane

This is a bunny.  Isn't he cute?  He can make himself so big when jumping across the yard and so small when nestling in the garden.  

I thought, "Isn't that cute? The bunny is almost asleep with his nose in the flowers.  It's as if he is napping, making himself small to escape the notice of marauding predators."  

                                                            Bunny

Well, wasn't I wrong.  He was making himself small so I would notice that the tender, sweet purslane flowers were disappearing before my very eyes. 

This morning, I have no purslane flowers. Wonder if the bunny will reappear when the flowers do.

Don't forget that I wrote a book, "A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond" available here.  It talks about the little problems that can drive you nuts with your pond, but the professionals don't tell you. I tell you.    Here.

And for an interactive forum, join us at pondlady.com

It's Pond Cleaning Time Again

Once a year, and I think spring is a good time, I recommend a total cleaning of your garden pond. This means removing all plants, all water, all fish and giving the pond a good cleaning. This will get rid the pond of any toxins that have built up over the winter, but perhaps not yet to critical levels. These toxins can build quickly if the pond ices over. Leaves can fall in the pond in the fall and winter and start to decompose when the weather begins to warm. If there is debris in the pond, now is a good time to get outside and prepare to get dirty. If you live where the weather is warmer and some trees do not shed their leaves until spring, wait until after the leaves are gone or you will be scooping dead leaves out of your clean pond. If you do live in warmer climes where your water does not freeze, a partial water change might be all you need. 

Cleaning your pond is much easier with two people. See if you can find a helper, even if you have to bribe one. Both of you should wear very old clothes that you will use again only to clean your pond. And maybe even throw away when you are finished. Pond cleaning is not for the faint of heart. Pond scum is as awful as it sounds. 

Tools you need:

• Solids handling pump with very long hose attached
• Wet/dry vacuum cleaner
• Fish net
• Large bucket or box to hold fish in while cleaning
• Trash bags
• Boots or waders
• 2 milk crates

Steps in order:

1. Put some pond water in the large bucket or box. Put the pump in the pond. If you have a sump in your pond, put it there. I put the pump inside a milk crate to keep the worst of the bottom debris from clogging up the pump.
2. Stretch the hose out to where you want the water to go; if you have a veggie bed or garden bed or just lawn you want fertilized, place the hose end there.
3. Plug in the pump. Make sure you are using a GFI outlet. If not use a GFI extension so you will be protected against unknown electrical problems. Keep the ends of the cords out of water.
4. While the water is pumping out, remove the plants. Yes, you have to get in your pond to do that, so put your waders on first.
5. If you are dividing plants, do it now. If not, clean the sides of the pots off, cut all dead growth off, remove all live growth that has leapt from the pot. You can repot the extra plants and share with friends and neighbors. Please do not throw them into any public waterways because they can be invasive and become a public nuisance.
6. Remove your anacharis. Put the clean anacharis in one pile, the dirty anacharis in another. Make your helper remove debris from the dirty anacharis and rinse it off. Your pond should be almost empty now.
7. Net your fish and put them in their temporary home.
   
   Wet vacuum the bottom of the pond. Rinse it with a strong hose stream, wet vacuum again. Continue until water is clear. Don’t forget the waterfall, the pond sides. between the rocks. This is the hardest part of pond cleaning. When you are finished with this, the rest is easy.
8. Put the debris, fish poop, just plain pond scum you have removed in the other milk crate. When the dirty water drains out, it is not so heavy to carry. It is the best fertilizer you can find, so put it under trees, plants, in garden beds, veggie beds. I know it stinks, but that goes away in a few hours. If you cannot put it in your yard or compost pile, put it in trash bags.
9. Put the larger debris, e.g., sticks, limbs, old shoes, golf balls in the trash bags.
10. Put the clean plants back in the pond where you want them to be.
11. Start running new water in the pond.
12. PUT THE DECHLORINATOR IN NOW!!
13. When the pond is about half full, put the fish in plastic bags, tie the top closed and float them in the pond for a few minutes so the old water temperature and new water temperature equalize. Release your fish within 15 minutes. Continue to fill the pond until full.
14. Plug in the waterfall again. The fish will play in it.

Whew, that’s done for another year. 

You can also probably find someone in your area who cleans ponds. I used to clean about 200 ponds a year and charged from $245.00 up. That should help you choose someone. 

Learn how to care for your pond in my book, "A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond,' available for download here..


And visit us at my website to get pond questions asked and answered.  

Pond Critter Question

Questions and answers from pondlady.com


Just started my new small outside pond I'm adding under water plants and top plants as well. I'm adding just 4 goldfish. I wanted to know what other kind of animals I can add without messing up the ecosystem I'm trying to create. can I add a snail or a plecostomus.


****A lot depends on how "big" your "small pond" is.


It's going to be right under 300 gallons



****Other animals will find your pond on their own. Toads and frogs will arrive, so will dragonflies and butterflies. Birds will want a drink and maybe a bath if you have a shallow end. Do not buy snails. They will get their by themselves as well. The plecostomus is a tropical fish and will not survive a winter. I have seen them do so every once in awhile in zone 9a and scare the pants off you when you are cleaning the pond in the spring when one slithers over your bare foot. If you anticipate freezes where you live, any tropical fish will not survive a winter.



I live in south Texas 30 minutes from Mexico. We don't get freezing weather down here, but I will keep that in mind. I found a pond place in a city nearby but when i asked them for anacharis they had no idea what i was asking for. So i ordered from ebay. I don't know what zone I'm in but are average temp is mid 90s. I'm new to ponds and I really appreciate all the help. Thank you.



****You can use hornwort if you can't find anacharis, as it is becoming known as a noxious weed and outlawed in some states. Ebay is a great place to get pond plants. If you are brand new to ponds, you might want to buy my book. You can download it to your ebook reader here

Not that I am trying to sell books or anything.

Join us at pondlady.com to get your questions answered.

Dratted Bird Bath

The bird bath is now equipped with a ½" hose that goes through a hole in a rock and comes out the top end.  The pump is too strong.  Even though it says I can adjust it, I can't seem to do that and make the outflow less.  As with any attempt to move water in a small container, it splashes out.  

It looks pretty……for a little while until the water level gets too low and the pump starts sucking air.  I bought a 300 gph LIttle Giant pump because the little pumps for little fountains last about 3 months and then die.  

The few visiting birds have had a drink out of the birdbath, but so far none has ventured in.  They are probably scared to death by the Niagara sized waterfall rushing out of that hole.  

I will keep filling the little washtub for a few days until I figure out how to do it better. I suspect I have to make the container bigger and the rock with the hole in it bigger even if it means drilling a hole through a larger rock.

Learn from my mistakes and learning experiences in my new book, "A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond"  Download it here.

And for design ideas, pond problems, swapping ideas, join us at pondlady.com

Bird bath progress

A trip into town yesterday yielded no ½" hose.  Not one.  So the birdbath is cobbled together using rocks to direct the water.  

Now directing water with rocks is something I have done hundreds upon hundreds of times, but I had a collection of hoses to rival a hardware store.  So unless I can find a hose at an auto parts store, drive two hours to find one or order one online, I shall have to be happy with the rocks. But I'm not.

PIcture this morning.

By the way, birds started visiting last night. They would have a drink, but not one dared to get his feet wet.  Maybe today.  

Of course, it's about to rain.  I don't know if birds bathe in the rain. Do they?

We desperately need the rain. My creek is dry. Burn bans are in force all around.  So I'll take the rain and wait until I can find a ½" hose.

Don't forget, I wrote a book, "A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond."  Download it here. 

What you can't find in the book, you can probably find at my website, pondlady.com

Pond Pump Question

Until I get my birdbath wired on Monday, see this latest pump question answered by the pondlady

Pump question:


My tub pump not working (sucking) for pond?
I am using a pump from a jet tub for my pond. I put the intake directly into the water it works normally, I use one stick of PVC with all required fittings and glued properly and the pump will run but not suck.

I can't figure out why the pump will not suck with a 3' stick of PVC attached.

I have primed the pump, done everything I could think of.

Any suggestions?


Pondlady sez:



There are a couple of things that might be going on. First of all, is the pump running? You can usually tell by a slight hum when you touch it. It could have tripped the GFCI, so the outlet needs to be reset. Try that. Or the impeller could be gummed up with something. Check the intake end of the pump. Use screwdriver to move the impeller to loosen it. Of course, you have the electricity off when you do this.

Or the pump does not have enough head to push the water 3 feet up in the air. That is probably the reason if the pump is working normally otherwise.


You can see the answers to dozens of pond question in my book, "A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond" available

here:

Or join us at  pondlady.com to get your questions answered or share your pond experiences.

Make a Water Rock Birdbath

I am in Stone County, Arkansas and it lives up to its name.

These were found just outside the back door.

And will be put in this, which I did not find outside the back door.

Along with these, I have special rocks given to me by a friend.  Note they have holes in them.  

Holes that I can put a piece of clear 1/2" tubing through and attach the tubing to a 300 gph pump

I will artfully arrange the rocks inside the tub (It's a small one) and by tomorrow, will have a tub full of water and wet rocks.

Why on earth would I want to do that?

Birds will bathe in it and drink from it and generally have a ball in it.

Pics when I am finished.

Total cost: less than $70.00 and 50 of that was the pump.

To read tips and ideas like this, read my book, "A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond".  Download it at Amazon.com or any ebook site.

And visit my website at pondlady.com

Update!!!

The woman who stole my website copy has removed it. In fact, she has removed the entire website. (Thanks again, Ruth.)  Why on earth is my copy so valuable?  It's one of dozens and dozens of sets of directions about how to build a pond that you can find online.  

Mine is different because it shows how to build your pond up above the surround grade about 4". Now that's not difficult enough to steal an entire 2000 or so words about designing and building a pond.  In fact, it's pretty easy.

Of course, it's one of the most important things to do when building a pond because that 4" keeps run off out of your pond. That's the chemicals from your roof, your lawn, the neighboring golf course, the nearby fields or streets that can foul your pond and kill your plants and fish.

It also keeps the liner where it belongs--on the bottom of the pond instead of floating up during heavy rains. (Not that we have many of those anymore.)  But if we do, your pond water will stay put.

Oh, and building it up a bit looks fantastic as well.

Is that information really worth stealing when it's available for free on my website?

It's also in my new book, A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond. Buy it here.

See it on my website as well.   pondlady.com

My Website Thief, Fountains and your Kitchen Window

The woman who stole my copy from my website wrote to me and told me it has been removed.  It has not.  I have written her again citing the law that one of my readers sent.  (Thanks, Ruth.)  Now we shall see what happens.

On to more fun things, or at least things about your pond, the reason you read this.

Ya know those fountain heads that look like shower heads and spray out water in cute little patterns.  They look something like this:

They look nice, don't they?  Here's the deal.  Hook it up and water comes out all the holes in the spray head.  

Then, usually within a day or so, one of the holes gets stopped up. After all it is pond water you are pumping through those tiny holes and pond water does have some debris in it. It's not the cleanest stuff in the world. 

So one hole is stopped up by debris and the other holes shoot the water a bit higher.  Then a second hole gets stopped up and the water goes even higher. Can you see where this is going?  Soon, more holes are stopped up and one stream of water is coming through your kitchen window.  And you can't figure out what happened.

Ah, but you figure it out, clean it out. And in three days, your window sill is wet again.  

But you are smart, so you make the holes bigger.  That works a little bit, so after a few more cleanings of the holes, you make them even bigger. Now you have missed the mark a bit and some of the holes have run into the other holes, so you have fewer and larger holes. The spray pattern doesn't look very nice anymore. 

You are so frustrated, you are ready to pitch the entire thing in the trash and give up.

Try this:  Remove the spray head altogether and do throw it in the trash, leaving just the pipe sticking out of the water or just below the water level.  It will make a delightful bubbler.  If it goes too high in the air, just lower the pipe farther in the water until it's where  you want it.  

Now aren't you glad you read this today?  

You can read solutions like this one to your pond problems in my book, "A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond."

You can get it here. 

And join us at pondlady.com for more questions and answers. Or ask your own.

Internet Theft

The owner of this website, http://worldofgardens.ca/water_garden.htm
 a woman named Roz, who lives in Ontario has decided the way to make herself look good is to steal articles from my website and put them on hers.  I have written to her, her website tech and admin asking them to remove what she plagiarized and gotten no results, not even and answer to my letter.  What does one do in cases like this?

What she stole:
http://worldofgardens.ca/water_garden.htm

Who did the stealing:

Domain name:           worldofgardens.ca
Domain status:         registered
Creation date:         2004/04/05
Expiry date:           2014/04/05
Updated date:          2011/02/04

Registrar:
    Name:              Go Daddy Domains Canada, Inc
    Number:            2316042

Registrant:
    Name:              RipNET Limited

Administrative contact:
    Name:              Rob Hall
    Postal address:    43 Auriga Drive
                       Ottawa ON K2E 7Y8 Canada
    Phone:             +1.6132211215
    Fax:
    Email:             pmbt511831@privacy.ca

Technical contact:
    Name:              Jamie Orzechowski
    Postal address:    101 Water St West
                       Brockville ON K6V 3M1 Canada
    Phone:             613-342-3946
    Fax:               613-342-8672
    Email:             admin@ripnet.com

They are based in Canada, so I have no idea if the FCC has any reciprocal agreements with Canada.

I am furious that someone would blatantly steal what is mine and then do nothing about it when confronted.

What to do?

Thank You

                    We honor our soldiers today and every day.

Thank you, all of you, for your service to our country.

Felder Rushing and the Spring Garden Show

Before I sold my pond business and retired, I often did lectures and presentations at the various garden shows in New Orleans. Probably the ones that were the most fun were the City Park/botanical garden Spring garden shows in the spring and fall.  

One spring, the famous Felder Rushing of bottle tree fame was speaking at 11:00am.  I was speaking at 10:00am.  I always had a good crowd at one of my presentations, but was surprised to see standing room only this time.  Folks crowded in.  

I finished my 40 or so minutes about how to build a pond and opened the discussion for questions. There were very few, so at the end of my appointed time, I packed up my slides and got ready to leave.  Most of the time, people followed me out to ask individual questions and I was happily detained for at least another ½ hour.  Not this time.  No one followed me out, no questions were asked.  The audience did not move.

I could not figure out what was going on.   I chatted with Felder for a moment, but time was short and so were our remarks.  I looked for a seat to hear him, but was unsuccessful.  

As I was leaving, it finally dawned on me.  All those people were not there to hear and see me, the pondlady. They were trying to get a good seat to hear Felder Rushing. Talk about being a sobering experience.  I had to laugh.

But like Felder, I have written a book,  A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond. You can buy it  here

And for lots of pond info and and interactive forum, check out my website at pondlady.com

Summer Pond Maintenance

It's official.  Regardless of what the calendar says, summer has arrived.  And with it, the pond's maintenance needs change. Relax, ponds still require less maintenance than anything else in your yard or garden.

Summertime pond care is important when summer arrives, We are already breaking heat records in New Orleans and it's not even officially summer yet. 90 degree temperatures and 110 heat indices are making everything miserable, including our gardens and our ponds.

Summertime maintenance


Keep fertilizing your water lilies. They are heavy feeders and will keep blooming until October when the days start to shorten or until the temperatures sink below 55 degrees F.

If you have lotus, they want more fertilizer than water lilies. I feed them at least twice weekly, even every ten days with one aquatic plant tab per gallon of pot. You rarely have to fertilize other pond plants because fish waste takes care of that for you, but if you are not satisfied with the plants growth, stick an aquatic plant tab in those too. You may wish to stagger your feeding because aquatic plant tabs fertilize all the plants in the pond including the dreaded green algae that will grab nutrients before they can get to what you really want to feed. Bury the plant tabs in the pots and make sure they are covered with soil or sand.

Floating plants

I keep at least 70% of the top of the pond covered with floating plants like water hyacinths, water clover and water lilies especially in the summer to give the fish some shade and some places to hide from predators. Egrets, herons, raccoons, and even your own Labrador retriever are looking for extra food and your pond is a brand new all you can eat buffet that you laid out especially for them. I even suggest making a cave for your fish. You can buy them already made or make your own out of a couple of flower pots on their sides or a flat rock on top of a couple of block shaped ones. The fish don't care how fancy their new digs are, as long as they are safe.

Remove debris

Remove dead foliage as soon as you can. As water lilies grow, the outer ring of leaves starts to yellow and die. Cut those off as close to the pot as possible. A water lily bloom opens and closes for about three days, then dies. Remove it as close to the pond as possible. If other plant foliage yellows and dies, cut it off and remove it. If foliage is allowed to decompose in the pond, waste material builds up, removes available oxygen and can foul the pond and kill your fish. Removing dead plant material makes room for new growth and sure does make the your pond look nicer. It's about the same as tending the rest of your gardens.

Those of you who feed your fish, do not feed them more than what they can eat in 5 minutes, and only 1 - 3 times daily. If the fish do not eat the food, it too, will decompose in your pond and foul the water. Also remember that the more the fish eat, the more fish waste you will have to feed algae and make your pond turn green quickly.

Keep your pump running

Maximize your aeration. Warm water does not contain as much oxygen as cooler water, so your fish can struggle to breathe. And just when the warm water holds less oxygen, the fish need more. Add an airs tone or another pump to your pond. Be sure you keep your pump running 24 hours daily in the heat of summer. If your pond is shallow, less than 18" deep, more aeration is a must. If your pond is 3' deep or more, you are safer. The fish can go to the bottom where the water is cooler and more oxygen is in the water, but still keep those pumps running.

What not to do:

Clean your filter only occasionally, if it is a biofilter. If it is a mechanical filter, e.g., foam rubber that strains out suspended material, clean it often. Your biofilter grows a colony of bacteria that can eat the sludge and decomposed organic matter in your pond. Cleaning your biofilter destroys that bacteria colony forcing it to start growing all over again. If you do clean it, kick start it with one of the bacteria products on the market. I like Microbe-Lift PL. It not only kick starts your biofilter, regular use, following the directions on the bottle can keep the dreaded string algae or blanketweed at bay.

Enjoy your pond

Now that summer has arrived, it is time to relax next to your pond after work. Entertain your friends on weekends, show off your garden, your pond and your beautiful waterfall. Bring out your iced tea or glass of wine, sit and enjoy yourself.


Learn seasonal maintenance and more in my book, A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond available for download here.

And for specific questions or to show off your pond, join us at pondlady.com

Pond Vacuum Cleaner

Question:

Leaves keep blowing in my pond. Is there an easier way to get them out besides using a net? It keeps getting tangled in the plants.

Pondlady sez: There are vacuum cleaners sold at swimming pool places. They look like large blue triangles and attach to a garden hose. The force of the water from the garden hose pushes the debris into a net that you have attached to the top of the triangle. You move the vacuum around on the bottom of the pond and it collects debris.  Be sure to empty it often because it gets heavy.  You can't turn off the hose when you lift the vacuum out of the pond, so be prepared to get wet. Either that or go back to the hose bib, turn off the water in between each emptying.

Some look like this, but there are other shapes available as well.

TIP 

Instead of using the large holed mesh that you buy at the swimming pool store, use the leg of an old pair of panty hose. It will pick up finer debris as well.

Get ideas like this and more in my new book, A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond available here.

Join us at pondlady.com to ask questions you may have and get answers from experts from all over.

Water Lily Planting

Question

Hello,

We planted the water lilies in the black square mesh type plastic buckets. Tonight I realize one had fallen over and now the dirt particles are floating around the water and getting kicked up by the fish.

So first stop Pondlady.com and I took a gander at your articles to see if you go into plating them which I didn't see. So I went to google and found this link:
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/landscaping-projects/water-gardens/growing-water-lilies/ 

So my question is this a good method and does it really prevent the dirt from getting out, I know that if it fell over and dumped it wouldn't but for all other aspects of it.

Thanks

Answer:

That is a great way to plant water lilies. I think they need to be as deep as 3' though.
You can use any planting media that will hold the plant and fertilizer. It doesn't necessarily have to be soil.


Follow up question

When you say plant media, could you give me some examples.

I only ask because the impatiens (annual flowers) are in just water and pebbles and doing fine. I wonder if this would work for lilies?

Thanks

Answer:

You can use rockwool, clay, kitty litter, pea gravel, even marbles I suppose. The media needs to be able to keep the pond contained and hold onto a fertilizer tab. Maybe marbles is not such a good idea


Read questions and answers like this one in my new book, A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond. Download it here

And visit my website for more questions and answers. Or ask your own  pond question and get expert answers.

Pond Disasters

You finally have your pond in your garden and have been told that maintenance is almost nonexistent. And you are right. There are some pond disasters, though, that do happen. To recognize them and be able to deal with them is easy, so don’t panic. 

Most pond disasters are easily fixable, so let’s start with the most common and easiest to deal with. 

My Pond has Turned to Green Pea Soup! 

The pond has turned to green pea soup and you have only had it a few days. First, don’t worry, this is a common problem and an easy fix. Second, do not empty the pond and start over again. You will face the same problem again in a few days. The pond turns green because it is not ecologically balanced. When sun hits water, algae grow. This will never change. Your bird bath gets green, your swimming pool gets green, lakes turn green. So we must balance the pond to keep the algae from growing. 

If your pond water turns green, have a look at it and decide if the water has suspended microscopic particles of algae in it or if there is something floating around in there that looks like angel hair spaghetti. You will have no problem seeing the difference. 

If the water is green from microscopic suspended algae, here’s why: If sun hits water, algae grow. If we want the algae to be filtered out, we can do it easily and ecologically. Figure out the square footage of your pond (Length times width) and add one bunch of anacharis (submerged vegetation) per square foot of surface area. The anacharis filters out algae. It also is an oxygenator, so fish can breathe and is great goldfish food. Don’t worry because it grows faster than goldfish can eat it. You have now solved most of your algae problem. 

Next, cover about 1/2 of the surface area with floating plants. That will keep half of the pond in the shade, will keep the water cooler, the fish happier and the sun from being so brutal. Floating plants could be water hyacinths (illegal in some states, so check with your local extension service), water clover, parrots’ feather, water lilies or any of the other floating plants. 

You now have a balanced ecosystem that will keep itself clear with no help from you as long as you don’t have koi or feed goldfish. 

My Pond is Leaking! 

Another easily fixable disaster is a waterfall leak. I get calls all the time, ”My pond is leaking.” Most of the time, I say, ”No, it isn’t.” And then explain that most likely the reason the water level is falling is because water is leaking from the back or sides of the waterfall. 

Turn off the waterfall pump. Fill the pond up with water. Don’t forget the dechlorinator. Leave it for 24 hours. Tomorrow, see if the water level is where you left it. Look at that, it is! So now you know that water is somehow leaking out the back or sides of the waterfall. Turn the pump on. Have a look around the waterfall. Most of the time you will find the leak immediately because you can see it. Tip the rocks or move the hoses towards the pond so all the water returns to the pond and your leak problems are over. Occasionally water is splashing out, so check for that as well. If you have statuary, make sure there was not a strong wind blowing and water from the spitting statuary is not being blown out. Also, if the statue is on the side of your pond check it to make sure water is not dripping down the side or front statue and out of the water. 

If you are using a weir or biofalls for a waterfall, check at the edges. Sometimes the water can hit a rock and splash out; other times the biofilter box can move around and the seal between the box and the liner can fail. 

Water is Splashing Out! 

When dealing with splashing water, remember this: Water cannot fall more than one half the width of what it is falling into without splashing. If the area the water is falling into is 4’ across, the water will splash if it falls from more than 2’. This is universal and can be difficult to overcome. You can make the falls lower, you can make the width wider. But if you have purchased a wall fountain or a three tier fountain and put it in a small area, resign yourself to refilling often. 



Read about these solutions and more in my new book, A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond available for download here.


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Clearing up Green Water

I started my pond fresh a few months ago. I scrubbed it down (gag!) and cleaned it the best I could without poking a hole in the pre-fab liner with my foot. I have a small 50 gallon that usually plagues me with all sorts of issues. I noticed that literally about 9 hours after scrubbing it down there was, no joke, at least 2 inches of algae growing on the sides. It was like magic. I let it go.. I had one potted plant in it and that was it for then.

The weather got warmer and I dropped an Eco-Bio block in it since I had that in the plastic pond liner I had on my side porch to keep my fish alive during the winter. So, my fish were transferred to the outside green pond. I then dropped two water hyacinth in there and that was it. So two floaters and one potted plant and my 4 comets.

Let me tellya, this pond is CRYSTAL clear. There is not one speck of algae in it. I usually have the terrible green water.. string algae and whatnot. I have never been able to see beyond 6 inches below surface. We have had some spells of 98 degree weather for days on end.. I can see to the bottom of this pond. I am wondering if it's not the Eco Bio block I threw in there. What else could it be? I am baffled but happy.

Also, before I put the fish in there, there was the sweetest frog. He would croak at us every time we went out.. nice little fella. Well, as soon as the fish were put in there.. GONE! He split. Why won't frogs stay with the fish?

My fish aren't anywhere near large enough to eat him.. what's the deal? I want both, not either or. Perhaps when my algae bog cleared up, he wasn't interested anymore!



Pondlady sez:

I suspect it was the Eco Bio that did the job. And chances are your frog is around somewhere, just dug in to get out of the heat.

Put some submerged vegetation in under those hyacinths, don't feed those fish and you will have clear water all summer. And keep using the Eco Bio thing. Looks like it is working!

Read about keeping your pond water clear and more in my new book, A Practical Guide for Building and Maintaining your Pond.  You can download it here

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The Pond is too Small

I live in Orlando, florida and have recently installed a pond on my patio. It is a 25 gal. above the ground barrel pond with 3 anacharis and 2 hardy water lilies. I have a fountain and a filter as I have a few fish in the pond. I also have a snail and a plecostamus for cleaning. the filter is rated for 50 gal. My question is how can I stop the goldfish (4 of them) from eating the water lilies? At one time I had 14 lily pads and now I am down to just 8. the lilies are still putting out new growth but they seem to only last about 1-2 weeks before they turn black and die. The snail and pleco take care of the remains. I feed the goldfish about 2 times a day as they are constantly at the water surface. Is there something I can do? Or am I just missing something? The patio is screened in so there is no chance of outside invasion. Thanks,

Pondlady sez: I think I am hearing several problems here. 1) Your fish are eating your water lilies
2) Your lilies are turning black and dying.
3) a combination of the two

I have a question for you.....is it the lily pads or the lily blooms that are turning black and dying. If it is the blooms, they open and close for about 3 days and then die. You must cut them off at the base of the plant, remove them and not let them foul the pond water. If it is the lily pads, you have some sort of lily disease, probably aphids.

Mix up a solution of a quart of water, a tsp of vegetable oil and a few drops of dishwashing liquid and spray the lily pads. Remove all the black ones before you do that.

If it is your fish eating your lilies, you have too many fish. You may have one linear foot of fish per 25 square foot of pond surface.

If you are feeding your fish, they are getting too big for your small pond. They should eat the anacharis and the anacharis grows faster than the fish can eat it. So, trim back your fish population, buy a few more bunches of anacharis so you have 1 bunch per sf of pond surface, stop feeding the fish and you should be OK.

Oh, and you really don't have enough room for 1 water lily let alone two. So give one away to a friend and keep yours trimmed back. Trim the outer ring of pads whenever a new ring forms. They may be turning black because they can't be in the water.

Read about problems like this one and more in my new book.  YOu can download it here.

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