Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Koi: Did you know?

Fancy, different colored carp are called "nishikigoi," which literally means "brocaded carp" in Japanese.

Koi is short for nishikigoi. The story is that the word "koi' was first used by Confucius in 500 B.C. King Shoko, from Ro, gave Confucius a koi as a gift when Confucius' first son was born because carp were considered a symbol of strength.

This seems as good a story as any other.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Building a waterfall

Building a Waterfall

Building a waterfall is either simple or difficult depending on the point of view of the builder. We want them to look natural, like they just started happening in the rocks of our gardens, never mind that we had to buy the rocks because we live where no rock has ever been found like New Orleans where I live.

The easiest way to have a waterfall is to use a weir. A weir is a box that collect water that the pump has pumped into it. One side of the box is lower than the rest and has a lip on it so water will go over it.
These can be effective when building a waterfall. Simply elevate them above your pond, usually positioning them level on the dirt you have dug out to make your pond, put tubing from your pump in the weir.When the weir fills up, a sheet of water will fall over the weir and into your pond. You can hide the weir with rocks so no one can see the plastic box. Also, if you have a biofilter, you can put it in the weir. As an aside, if you do have a biofilter and use lava rocks in it, put them in several mesh bags, not just one. It takes several strong men to lift just one bag out, so use at least three. I usually float some hyacinths or other floating plants in the weir to further camouflage the plastic box.


Another, and my favorite way, is to start with a semi level surface, slightly raised in the back, starting at the same level as your pond. From there build the waterfall using the same kind of rocks you used in your pond construction. Start with large, flat and thin rocks. You can’t build a waterfall with round rocks or little ones either. After you put the first large rock down, run a hose over it to make sure the water flows into the pond. If it does not, shim up the back of the rock. If you don’t start on a slight angle, water will fall off the back and drain your pond dry in a few hours. Next, stack two or three thick and chunky rocks on each end of the bottom rock. Those rocks can be as much as 5 or 6” thick. Make sure they are flat on two sides because you are going to build the rest of your waterfall on top of them. If you have two large flat rocks on the ground level, you need more chunky rocks to rest the second level on.

Next place the second level of flat, thin and large rocks on the chunks. Again run water over to make sure the flow is going in the pond and not over the edge. Continue making levels until you like your waterfall or run out of rocks. Make your waterfall as wide as you wish, remembering that you may need more than one pump.

I have found that the easiest way for me to build the falls is for me to be in the water and have a couple of strong helpers placing rocks for me.

The back of the falls is equally important. Shimming must be done to keep the angle toward the pond and proper placement of rocks is most important to ensure stability of the falls.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Repairing a preformed pond

Usually when a preformed pond springs a leak, it is where the pond has ledges. We tend to step on the ledge when we get in the pond and because we have not seated it properly in the ground (almost an impossibility), it cracks. Now what?
I know of no way to patch a preformed hard plastic pond. I have heard of folks using Bondo, but have not seen it first hand. Because they are impossible to patch and crack so readily, I recommend against using them. If you wish to use a preformed pond, go to a feed store and buy a horse feeding trough. Rubbermaid makes them, they have a flat bottom, no ledges, are virtually indestructible and are much much cheaper than the preformed pond you find at the big box store.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Concrete ponds

I get calls from folks with pond problems. Here's one I got recently. A woman has a concrete pond with a huge crack in it. She hired a local pond professional to repair it and he guaranteed the repair. Neither she nor I know what he did, but he did not fix it. He has been back to try again a few times, but has failed each time. He now wants more money to continue to try. I told her that in my years of experience, you never, ever guarantee the repair of concrete. Most of the time concrete cannot be repaired. Just look at our expressways to see how brittle concrete is.

Our ground is always moving, water comes up and recedes, concrete freezes and thaws. Sadly it is not plastic, it is pretty solid and eventually cracks. The ONLY way I know to repair a crack in a concrete pond and this is definitely not guaranteed is to scrape out the crack, get it clean and dry and then use Plumbers' Epoxy and mash it in the crack. Make absolutely sure you are wearing rubber gloves while using Plumbers' Epoxy or you will be wearing the epoxy for weeks.
Remember this is not guaranteed, but it's the best I know.
And if somebody guarantees a concrete repair, do not believe them. They have not had enough pond experience.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Pond vacuum cleaners

I get letters about pond vacs. There are some that work great, but they are not cheap, nor are they perfect. Most of the letters I receive are asking about a cheap pond vac.


There are vacuum cleaners sold at swimming pool places. They look like large swimming pool blue dinner plates with a large hole in the center and attach to a garden hose. The force from the water going through the garden hose pushes the debris into a net that you have attached to the top of the 'dinner plate'. They will rarely do any good because they are best at removing leaves, etc., not clumped up dead algae. I have tried replacing the commercial net that you get when you by one of these, with an old panty hose leg and it works better, but still not great.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Ponds in a Warm Winter

We had a cold snap a week or so ago and the entire upper half of the US was hammered with snow, ice, high winds and just horrible weather. Here in New Orleans, we had temperatures in the 20's and that is really unusual.
Up north, ponds froze over, fish were at the bottom of the pond in torpor and we all thought winter was here. Wrong. It is now back to the 50's up north, ponds are no longer frozen and fish are swimming around happily.

The big question is "Do we feed our fish?"

I think not. The temps will drop again soon. It is dicey to feed fish when the temps are below 55 degrees anyway. Their digestive systems slow down and they may well have some problems with food. Any left over food will just stay in the water and decompose, thereby fouling the water.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Plant parasites

Pond plants can be infected with so many parasites. And the best way to find them is to get fish or plants from the wild. If you have the courage to walk into the swamps for plants (and I would not), then please take precautions with your plant treasures when you get home. Roots of wild plants can house parasites, fish eggs, snails, crawfish that will create havoc in your pond. If one plant has spider mites of caterpillars, your entire plant collection can become infected.
If you must collect from the wild, quarantine your collected plants for at least a month before introducing them to your pond. I often put a tablespoon of chlorox in the water just to make sure the bad critters are killed.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Winter pond days


When the temps are below freezing, or at least were last night, no one is out relaxing and enjoying their pond.
Check your water lily corms that you put in wet sand and then in plastic bags and stored in the garage. If they are mushy, throw them in the compost heap. If they are still firm, all is OK. You will pot them up in the spring. Until then, you can enjoy a picture of them.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

If your pond freezes

You woke up this morning and your pond was iced over. You forgot to throw a semi filled water jug in the pond last night and now you have no hole in the ice through which gases can be exchanged. Do not hit the ice with a hammer. The shock can kill your fish. Get a pot of warm water and set it on the ice. That will thaw the ice. Now go find that jug, put a couple of cups of water in it and put it in your pond, so you can pull it out tomorrow morning.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

In the 20s this morning

Good grief, it's cold for Southern Louisiana. My zinnias bit the dust, my mums are brown. The Louisiana Iris loves this weather and sticks up like the flag it is called in other parts of the world. My cassia is droopy but that's weight, not cold. The snaps, pansies and petunias are happy in their beds covered with a blanket of mulch so just their heads stick out. The pond looks lifeless with no water moving. The fish are at the bottom, not moving at all; it looks like they are barely breathing. But when the water warms they will wake up and be fine.



Monday, December 04, 2006

Here we go again

It's not even 40 degrees outside. And there's a wind, so it feel even colder. The pond is doing fine all by itself. I have removed the pump and tubing. Nothing will cause tubing to crack faster than sun and cold and we have both. One spring task I hate is having to replace cracked and leaking plastic tubing that usually can't be found until the water has been pumped out of the pond. The pump is cleaned and sitting in water in the garage. If a pump is stored dry, the seals are likely to dry out, crack and the pump will never work again. If you are at the beginning of winter, its time to tend to your pump and tubing. If you live in the American Midwest, let the tubing crack and stay inside until it warms up. It is too awful out there to worry about a few bucks worth of plastic tubes.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

It's cold this morning

Ponds are not frozen here, but at 40 degrees outside this morning, I have no desire to be outside tending to one. So today will be pictures of summers gone by.



Sunset in Florida




Sunset at Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park

Friday, December 01, 2006

Winter plants

Now that winter is here, you can liven up your pond with artificial plants until your real ones return in the spring.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Decorating the pond for the holidays


Have a great holiday, no matter which one you celebrate.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006




We are still in the 70's here in New Orleans, so we still have water lilies blooming. I stopped feeding a month ago. I hear from the weather forecasters that our summer is coming to an end at the end of the week. Ah well, it has been a month when no heat, nor air conditioning had to be turned on.

Monday, November 27, 2006

just pictures

Water lilies from a pond I built several years ago.



Victoria water lilies at Oxford University in England.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

water lily pics





I thought I would brighten your weekend with water lily pictures I have taken throughout the summer:

Friday, November 24, 2006

Pond Letters

I have a plan for 2 ponds connected by a waterfall on the side of a steep
north facing slope. I have 2 different pond builders bidding on the job,
one uses strictly concrete and one a liner Aquascape system. While clearing
the site of grasses this weekend I noticed a gopher housing project going on
very close to pond site. Should I not even consider using a liner? Will
the rocks that completely cover the liner and weight of the water be enough?
Or could we line it with carpet or wire? I am learning a lot but didn't see
much about the darn rodents!

Answers

Hi,
When I built our pond (3 yrs. ago-3,000 gal.) I put lots of chicken wire down
first, and then old carpet before I put the heavy duty liner inside. I
haven't had any problems with gophers or leaks :)



We have no gophers (that I know of) here in New Orleans, but the chicken
wire sounds good. Just a note of caution, though. The Aquascapes system does
not build the pond above grade and the rocks are a PITA when pond cleaning
time comes every year. Unless you are under a tree, you do not need a
skimmer and most probably don't need a biofilter either. Don't let them sell
you (for a great deal of $$) things you don't need. Concrete is most always
a bad idea because it isn't elastic, won't move with the ever moving ground
and will crack at some time, always sooner rather than later.


Gopher removal:

Unless you intend to tame the gophers, (burrowing North American RODENT according to definition in the dictionary) I think you should first check with Wildlife Commission to see if (1) you have rights to move them to a more suited environment, (2) if they are prone to mark their territory and return, (3) have the Animal Resque League (police) trap & move them to a m
Jore fitting area.

As far as construction of your pond, CONCRETE DOESN'T HOLD WATER! So, if this guy/gal doesn't tell you it will be painted with Elastomeric to wet seal, then two coats of Ramuc (black/blue/white) to fish proof..........RUN!

AquaScape Design doesn't work in Mississippi (differing opinion from manufacturers & some designers not in my area) without the addition of special blends of bacteria (8 or more strains targetting string algae). I also prefer UV lights (some like the natural approach/not me/too busy to mess with) to keep water crystal clear & as healthy as it can be. Add Magnitizer (RED one) to target string algae, with right formula of fish & plants. Also, N E V E R plant your vegetation in a rock bottom pond!!!

Weight of water and stones will not hold down liner if trouble comes.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

roofing material as pond liner

I had an inquiry about using roofing material as a pond liner. I looked it up online and found the following from a manufacturer of roofing material. I guess we can't get a better answer than this:


There is a difference in Pond Liner EPDM and roof grade EPDM.

Most roof grade EPDM is chemically compounded to be specifically used in roofing installations. Part of the mixing and compounding process usually includes the use of additives such as anti bacterial and anti fungicide agents that will prevent mold, mildew, fungus and other such growths from happening on a roof top. These are additives that the pondkeeper would prefer NOT to have in their pond liner, particularly in order to maintain the health and proper balance of the pond life.

EPDM Pond liners are proven fish friendly, and is a membrane which has no anti bacterial or anti fungicide additives used in the manufacturing process. In addition EPDM Pond Liners are practically talc FREE. Thus providing an enhanced performance of the sheet as a 100% secure and healthy habitat for all of your pond life.

If you are a roofing contractor and use roofing EPDM, then buy Roof Grade EPDM with all of the additives. If you need Pond Liner EPDM and would like to maintain a healthy pond environment, then buy an EPDM Pond Liner!

Remember, American Wholesale Supply Company (AWSC) wants your business and we will show you the best products, services and pricing on the net!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Cheap pumps

Lots of us want to buy cheap pumps from a big box store. While they usually perform as expected, they don't perform as long as more expensive ones. Worse than that, they cost much more per month to operate. The more expensive the pump, normally, the cheaper the operating costs.

Electric costs are easy to compute. I am often asked how much it costs to run a submersible pump and if there is a difference between brands. I will use the example of a 100 watt light bulb and a utility cost of $0.08 per KWH. A KWH is a kilowatt-hour or, 1,000 watts used for 1 hour. A 100 watt light - .1 kilowatt or .1 KWH = less that 1 cent per hour.

• Find the actual wattage used by the motor. (If the actual amp draw is not available, estimate by using the full load amps plate.)

• Watts = volts x amps for single phase motors. The light bulb has an amp draw of 8.7 x 115 volts = 100 watts.

• Compute your cost per month by multiplying the KWH x 24 (hours used per day) x 30 (days used per month) x cost in KWH (to find the actual cost look at your last power bill and divide the total power charges byt KWH used).



Monday, November 20, 2006

Liner questions

Question: Can I use a cheaper liner than EPDM?

Pondlady sez:

The biggest enemy for any liner is the sun. I have never found a liner that does not crack and break after a season or two except EPDM. Replacing a liner is harder than building the pond the first time.
I have seen ponds done with kiddie pools and yes, they work just fine untl they crack. The preformed ponds that you can buy at big box stores crack just as fast. If you must use a preformed pond, buy a horse drinking trough. Usually they are made by Rubbermaid and last forever. I had one buried in the ground when Katrina hit, left it there for a year. When I retrieved it, it was fine. I now have in my new front yard.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Pond without rocks?

You can build a pond outdoors using no rocks at all. Use landscape timbers and stack them 18" high in any shape from a square to a rectangle to any other geometric shape. Use 16 penny nails to nail the timbers together. Line the inside with roofing felt as a cushion for you liner. Drop your 45 mil liner in, fill the pond with water. The liner is now sticking over the edge a few inches. Use a 1 x 4 to finish the top. You can use a 1 x 6 if you want to use it for a shelf for plants or rocks. If you want a waterfall, put one in one of the corners or build one in the middle. Looks great and is much cheaper than using rocks.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Make a tabletop pond

Building a tabletop fountain or pond is easy. First find a pretty pot. I usually use a ceramic one. Make sure it has no holes in the bottom. The easiest way to get a bubbling noise is to put a tiny pump in the bottom, fill the pot with round pebbles and turn on the pump.

If you wish to be a bit more elaborate, you can omit the rocks, put a couple of indoor plants like spaths or pothos in there, find some pretty larger flat rocks to cover the tops of the pots in the water, and then put a pump in. Make it as elaborate or simple as you wish. Plants around the pot make a beautiful backdrop for your indoor pond. If you wish to put a goldfish in it, be sure to include aquarium filtration and feed your fish, but sparingly. You will need to exchange the water occasionally so don't make it so large that you cannot easily manage to carry it.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Perennial of the year


Nepeta or catmint was just named perennial of the year. It's a member of the mint family and grows everywhere. There are lavender blue ones that are a great substitute for lavender plants that hate our summer heat and bad drainage. It has great grey green foliage and sprawls. Because of that sprawling habit, it's a great plant for next to the pond. It will drape over and look great.
It will also attract every cat within 10 miles. Use at your own risk.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Formal ponds


This is a huge formal pond in a courtyard of Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans. I did not build it but took care of it for years. One of the particular problems with this pond was the lime leaching out of the concrete. It was improperly sealed and the pot at the top had so much lime in it, there were calcium deposits on it that had to be removed yearly. It looked like it had the chicken pox. Since the pond was always planted and in use for ceremonies, I could not have it emptied and sealed although that would have been the best way to deal with the problems. I hauled a gallon of vinegar with me and poured it in the water weekly. That kept the plants alive and looking great. Of course the courtyard always smelled like a Caesar Salad.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

planting the rest of the garden


After you have built your pond, you usually want to tie the rest of your garden into your new room. You can use the same rocks that you used in the pond to make paths to other rooms, or out the gate. Soon your entire garden is a park.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Pond water layers in winter

In the cold of winter, you will notice your fish stay near the bottom of the pond. Why? Because the water is warmer and denser there. As temperatures fall, the water forms layers of water with the warmest layer at the bottom. With each temperature drop, a new colder layer is formed, but the bottom layer stays warmest.
The layering of the water helps the fish stay healthy, helps them absorb oxygen.
All of this assumes your pond is built below your frost line: That's the depth your soil or water freezes solid.

So do not keep your pumps running during the winter. It can kill your fish.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

bamboo and bananas

Down here in the subtropics of New Orleans, we love to plant banana trees and we love to plant bamboo. There are red dwarf bananas, medium sized bananas and the huge ones that produce fruits you can pick and eat. Each and every one of them is invasive and you will soon have banana trees sprouting all over your yard and your neighbor's. If you plant bananas close enough to your pond, they will sprout up through your liner. I have seen them come up through 45 mil EPDM liner, so beware of bananas.

Bamboo comes in hundreds of different kinds and is beautiful. We love bamboo as much as we love banana trees. There are clumping and non clumping kinds of bamboo. Each is invasive. The difference is that the non clumping kinds will take a little longer to send a shoot up through your liner. And bamboo is much harder to get out of your yard, neighbors yard and for that matter, your neighborhood, than bananas. Bamboo is persistent and must be watched daily for new shoots and that's hard to do when the only way you can see a new shoot is when it has popped its little head through your brand new liner. The way to contain bamboo is to surround the plant with metal that is three feet deep and completely surrounds the root system. That's a mighty deep hole to dig.

So CAUTION! Do not plant either of these plants near your pond or you might be patching your liner.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

The Sacred Pond


This is the largest pond I ever built. It is on the grounds of American Aquatic Gardens in New Orleans and is now called "The Sacred Pond." It has changed over the 15 years it has been there. The planting is huge now and has changed the look of the watefall. The pond and most of the plants survived Katrina.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Baby Goldfish in Winter

Generally speaking, baby fish will survive a winter in the pond if they are an 1 1/2 inches long or longer. Most of the time they are still blackish, grayish, brown, so you can't find them if you are trying to catch them to bring inside. Next spring they will be orange and you will think they magically appeared during the winter.
Just make sure there is a hole in the ice so toxic gases can escape and oxygen can get in.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Building a rain garden

What on earth is a rain garden? It's a garden supported completely by rain. It can be nothing more than a garden of native plants in a shallow low spot in your garden, or it can be huge terraced areas in cities to catch and retain storm water rather than sending it straight down a storm drain to pollute our drinking water even more.
Use rain water to top off your pond after filtering it through gardens in the yard.


Oh, and a rain garden makes a great addition to the beauty of your garden.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Birds need a drink


Turtles sunning themselves in the Big Branch Wildlife Reserve in Lacombe, Louisiana.

Another great way to give birds a drink in the winter is to pound a nail in the bottom of a bucket or pail. Put a small rope or short piece of cotton in the hole to act as a wick. Fill the bucket up with water and hang it over a tree branch. You might want to hang the bucket up first before you fill it with water. Fill the bucket daily.


Friday, November 03, 2006

Ponds, birds, butterflies


As soon as water is in your pond, you will start noticing birds, butterflies and dragonflies arriving to check out the new resort in the neighborhood. Dragonflies are usually first and will be buzzing your head as you build the waterfall. When you begin planting in and around your pond, the butterflies arrive. Give birds a special place to have a bath and a drink. Make one end of the pond very shallow, about 3 to 5" deep and turn it into a bog garden. You can put rocks there for bird perching and maybe some smaller pebbles for tiny bird feet to stand on while bathing or drinking. If you put plants in the pebbles, your bird resort and pond garden will also act as a filter for your pond. The birds will flock (pardon the pun) to your yard. If you put feed out in the winter, you will make your feathered guests even happier. Make sure the bog area does not freeze. You can do this by using a de-icer.


Thursday, November 02, 2006

swamp photos

The Buckeye butterflies were playing on the wild ageratum in the Big Branch Wildlife Preserve over the weekend.






A monarch attracted to the wild ageratum

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

More pond questions

Is it ok to leave the water fall on during the winter MOS.? My husband thinks that if it freezes, the rocks around the fall will break, I'm pretty sure that we left on last winter and it did ok.

Pond lady sez:
It can be dangerous in many ways to leave the waterfall running. The pump churns up warm water from the bottom and the fish are hibernating there. That can kill your fish.

If you have any ice/freezing, you can greatly shorten the life of your pump.



Reply from yesterday's questioner re water level dropping:

Found the leak. It's behind the water fall, can't get to it. Know we'll have to wait until the Spring, I'll just keep adding water to it.
Thank You

Monday, October 30, 2006

Pond Questions

Hello,

Got a question, my skimmer box keeps emptying out by itself. Is it supposed to do that?, I have noticed that lately. It never did that before, until after I cleaned the pond back in June.
Thank you.

Pondlady sez:

First of all, turn off the pump, fill up the pond and let it sit for a day. If the water stays at the same level, you have water escaping somewhere.

Turn the pump back on. Check to see if there is a tiny dripping off the waterfall. You are losing water somewhere and that's the most likely place.

Maybe your pond has settled and the water is going over the side? This does happen over the years.

Or you could have a small liner leak....very rare, but possible.

To find out what is happening, either remove the pump from the skimmer box and put it in the pond. Run it without water going through the skimmer. If it works without losing water that way, you probably have a leak in the seal where your skimmer is attached to your liner. That happens often.

If you don't want to remove the pump from the skimmer, use another pump in the pond. Turn the one in the skimmer off and run the other one. If you don't lose water, you know the problem is with the skimmer.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Using Pots in the Garden



You can use most any container for plants in the garden. For me the key is using different heights of plants or pots. The great thing about pots is that they can be moved until you are pleased with the effect. It's just like moving furniture.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Overwintering Tropical Water lilies

To those of us who live in the Southern part of the US, winter rarely arrives and overwintering water lilies is far from our thoughts this early in the year. Even when we do think of it our choices are two: Hope that we do not have a hard freeze and most of the time we don't, or even if we do, chances are it will not last long enough that the tropical water lilies will be lost. And even if they are, chances are a neighbor's won't be, so we can get a start. I know, I know, we are lucky, BUT you are not having to wonder how you will make it through one more day of the intense heat that August heaps on us, while knowing that September is just another name for August and October is more of the same.

So to you who have to concern yourselves with freezing weather, here are some tips for overwintering those expensive tropical lilies.

First of all stop feeding them about 6 weeks before the first frost. You have already stopped, right? Even here in New Orleans, I recommend ceasing feeding in October so the lilies will be dormant for the colder months. If we continue to feed them, chances are we will lose them even in a mild freeze because the tender new growth will be damaged.

One way to overwinter lilies is to drop the pot to the deepest part of the pond, remove the leaves and just forget them until spring. In the spring, remove them from the pond. If the corms are mushy throw them away. There should be many corms in the pot, so you will not lose your lily. Just pot up non mushy corms. Pot them up, put them back in the water and start feeding when the leaves reach the top of the water.

This method works about half of the time.

As the days shorten and the weather cools, the leaves will become smaller and smaller, turn yellow and die. When the leaves are gone or almost gone, remove it from the pond. Take it out of its pot and rinse off the soil. There will be tubers all through the soil, among and beneath the roots. They will be about the size of walnuts, hard and dark brown. If they are mushy discard them. Cut or break them apart...usually you can do this with your fingers, and put them in a warm place to dry. Let the dry for a few days.

Then get some play sand or builder's sand, dampen it and fill a resealable plastic bag with sand about halfway. Put the corm in and fill the bag the rest of the way. One corm per bag, please. If you label the bags, you will remember what they are. Seal them and store in a cool, dark place where the temperatures are between 50 and 55 degrees. When spring arrives, pot them up and feed when the leaves reach the top of the water.

This method will work about half the time.

The surest way to overwinter water liles is to buy hardy varieties. Their flowers do not shoot above the water like the tropicals and the colors will not be quite as dramatic, but they will overwinter anywhere.

Friday, October 27, 2006

Planting in SW Florida

A guest writer today, Michael Spencer ASLA, MSA Design, Inc

Regarding plant material that works in SW Florida, there are several good sources of information. Don't ever buy materials from Home Depot/ Lowes unless you know the material; while I frequently buy new plants there, I am careful about the natural ranges. These stores buy in bulk for the Southern part of the state, and material that works in Orlando [Azaleas, for example] will not work in Naples.

The best thing by far is to develop a relationship with a knowledgeable local person. This can be a neighbor or even a sales person at Lowe's, if you find the right one.

There are also books at Barnes and Noble that can help. Look for books by Pamela Crawford, Robert Haehle, or Gil Nelson.

There is also daves garden.com
for some advice, but again screen the advice.

By far the most important thing is to understand your soil conditions and amend as needed. Really. Don't waste money on plants until you have tested the soil; this is free at the Extension offices in Collier, Lee, and every other county in the country. We have an alkaline soil, mostly, that is very low in organic matter. You should amend the soil to 18" deep in the areas around the pond where you want rich plantings. Don't skimp on this. Period.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that if it is native it just works. This is not true, especially in the kinds of visual gardens that we want around our homes and around our pools.

DO prepare a plan. You need this before you buy your materials. When you do your planting plan, you do NOT need to know the plants you want to use [yet]. You draw your plant and you indicate where you need bed lines, where you want a small plant with blue flowers, where you want a big juicy tropical plant, etc; in short, a conceptual plan helps you frame the design. Then you can look for specific materials that match your concepts. Perhaps you want to use Philodendron, or Alpinia, as your tropical accent, for example. Once you start naming plants, the choices for adjacent plants can be made in terms of size or color or textural contrast. It starts to fit together like a glove. After you know your materials you can shop for the best prices.

Do not think about planting without irrigation in southwest Florida. And do not think that an irrigation system is necessarily 'anti-xeric'; it is assuredly not. A properly design irrigation system will give you a rich garden with the minimum amount of water usage.

Be aware of micro-climates and sun patterns. Our sun here is brutal beyond belief so be sure you understand it.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Newstead Abbey pond


The gardens at Newstead Abbey in England, where Byron wrote are some 400 years old and incredibly beautiful even in October when this picture was taken. The ponds and streams were incorporated into the garden seamlessly. In America, we only began taking our ponds seriously within the past 25 years. I think that the idea of ponds for decoration started in China about 700 AD when emperors began keeping goldfish as pets. Now we can all have as many goldfish as we wish, royal or not. And if we continue to garden, ours will become 400 years of beauty as well.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Decorating the pond

Have you ever thought about decorating your pond for the holidays. You can put a cinder block that you have spray painted black in the water and put a scarecrow or a witch or a pumpkin on it. You could change the decorations for each upcoming holiday. Use rope lights in the plantings around your pond.



Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Pond spitters


The spitter in the pond is a great way to get water sound with a small pump, thus saving electricity costs. The small pump used to power the spitter uses much less than the larger waterfall pump. The downside is that a wind can blow the water out of the pond and your pump can be dry in a couple of hours. If there is a strong wind blowing, just unplug your pump.

Monday, October 23, 2006

To build a waterfall



Yesterday I spoke of building two separate ponds rather than try to build a multi-level pond. This picture is an example of a multi-level pond, not separate ponds. I had a hill to build on, which is uncommon in South Louisiana, so I could easily make different waterfall levels. But I did find with these falls, about 10' tall altogether, that to make a dramatic sound, I had to use a separate pump in each level pumping water up to the next level and back down in the same never ending circle we are used to.
By the way, I had to stand on one group of rock to build the higher one. You know I had to have confidence in my building abilities.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Two level pond


We had a small space to work in, very small. In order to add interest to our small space, we built a two level pond. But look closely. It is not two levels, it is two separate ponds, each with its own pump and tiny waterfall. Two level ponds are difficult to build as each pond must hold water at exactly the same level. When you lower one spot, even a little, you may be able to see liner. If the two level pond is not done exactly right, the bottom can pump the top dry, water will spill over the bottom and you can have a real mess on your hands. If you are inexperienced in pond building, do two separate ponds and no one will ever know.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Pond in a Sugar Kettle

Here in Louisiana we grow sugar cane. In long ago days, the sugar was extracted by hand and the resulting liquid was put into kettles, sometimes as large as 8 feet across. Horses or people then walked round and round the kettle pulling or pulling a large mixer to turn the sugar into syrup. Since this method is no longer used, we have many huge cast iron kettles around. Some people have turned them into ponds. Gotta be one of the great recycling ideas. It is so popular that you can now buy fiberglass 'sugar kettles' and have a pond that you can move and care for easily.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Pond letters


Dear Jan,

I just started digging out a spot for my water garden.
I got it about a foot deep before it started to rain.
It has since filled with rain water, about 10 in deep.
it's been almost two days and it still has 4 in of water in it. I was planning on using an epdm liner, Do i need to put a drainage system under my pond, so the rain water doesn't lift it out of the ground?

ps can goldfish live in a mud hole?

Pondlady sez:
Goldfish can probably live in most any water. I know that there were goldfish in my abandoned pond post Katrina that lived there for over a year with hardly any water in the pond, no pump, but much anacharis. But I would not recommend keeping goldfish in a mudhole or in an abandoned pond.

It sounds like you are near sea level, so I would not put a drain in because ground water will come up through the drain.
Be sure to make your pond at least 4" above grade so the ground water will be pushed down and stay where it belongs.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Dechlor

Please, please keep a bottle of dechlor on hand. If you never need it, that's wonderful, but here's why you need it. 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 you need 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?

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Pond Pump Killers

The pond pump uses an impeller, a small reverse propeller, to take in water. If a pump burns out, most of the time, it is the impeller that gets clogged, makes the pump work too hard and burns it up. Most pumps have a safety mechanism built into them that shuts the pump off when it gets too hot and lets it run again when it cools off. So if you notice your pump working intemittently, know you have a problem. UNPLUG the pump and check your impeller immediately. It is usually on the bottom behind a screen that you can easily detach. Chances are you will find gunk in there. It may be too late to save the pump, but it is worth a try. Wash the pump with a strong hose stream from the outgo end. That will help get the junk loose. If you can't get to the impeller with your hand, use a screwdriver to start it moving again, much like you use a broom handle in your garbage disposal.

To keep junk out of the impeller, protect it with a pump prefilter and clean it often.
Most pumps come with a prefilter, often a small cylinder filled with foam rubber that screws on the impeller end of the pump, other times, the pump will arrive already in a box of foam rubber. Pondmaster pumps, a favorite of mine, arrive complete with a black box and layers of prefilter material.


Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Pond pumps




We rarely consider utility pumps as pond hobbyists, but I think it is useful to know they exist and wen to use them. When I was actually doing field work, I used to clean 200+ ponds yearly. To get this done quickly and efficiently, I used a bright blue, squatty Little Giant pump




These pumps have a cast iron housing and will suck up solids up to 2" in diameter and at 4000 or so gph, they can empty a pond in short order. You must be careful or they will suck in fish. I would never use them as a regular pond pump because they use much electricity, but for pond cleanouts. Nothing can beat them. They are tough, and reliable but really heavy.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Around the pond


My pond is built, now what? Until we landscape around the pond we have nothing but a rock pile. I try to use soft plants, plants that mound up and trail over, often into the water.

There certainly are no set-in-stone rules about what to plant around the pond. For low maintenance and to keep the raccoons out, use asparagus fern. For a tropical feel, use Russellia, variegated ginger, giant bird of paradise. For an Asian feel, use juniper prostrata and an ornamental grass like purple fountain grass. If you are in the shade use ferns. If you love the ferny look but are in sun, use dill, yarrow, and other herbs. Ornamental potato vine works well in sun or shade, so does bleeding heart vine. Let it trail over the waterfall.

Cannas can work in the water and out for a great broadleaf look. Louisiana Iris can also work in and out for a strap leaf addition.

The picture above shows how many plants work around the pond. This was my pond in New Orleans after a very long time of no maintenance. Somewhere back in there, a water flows.