Garden ponds are in constant change through the seasons. Here is my Turtle pond now. Things grow like crazy there with no help.
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Garden ponds are in constant change through the seasons. Here is my Turtle pond now. Things grow like crazy there with no help.
Attachment 399
Some of plants around, not in the pond in just this photo, kinda from left around:
- Yellow Roses
- Leather leaf Mahonia
- Nadina (Domestica and Burning Bush)
- Purple Shamrock
- Daffodils (blooms gone)
- Hosta
- Jap Maple (Bloodgood)
- Carmelia
- Huechra
- Confederate Jasmine
- English Ivy
- Variegated Privet
- Antiqum
- Gardenias
- Buford Holly
- Monkey Grass
- Mondo Grass
-
DANG !!!
I put up a photo of my Turtle Pond as I thought here on the deck and tried to decide what Summer plants to add this year. I like to experiment. I find many annuals do quite well with wet feet as long as they can deal with the shade.
Before I can start on the Turtle Pond, see the pump in my Frog pond has given up. It has been going for ten years, so I cannot complain. Still, I hate that. In the Big pond I have a lot of fat fish. They do great there. The Gold Fish are from stock bought 15 years ago and while the KOI are only about 5 years old, they are huge.
In the Frog pond I have no fish as I don't want anyone nibbling on my tadpoles. Plus, it needs little filtration beyond the plants. It is only 220 gallons as opposed to 4000 in the Turtle Pond. Frogs are in both, but this is the favorite for birds. The Frog pond has been in since 2001 and is great fun. The only maintenance is every Spring I wade in and use my hands to dip out the accumulated leaves on the bottom -> takes maybe 15 minutes. I have a small free filter that lays in there whose job is mostly just to keep the pump from clogging. The old pump was a Mag Drive 1200 gal/hr and I just ordered the same one from Amazon to replace it as I know a good thing when I see it.
I could actually run this pond with just a good air pump, but I have a small waterfall in the back left corner that the water pump feeds to. Standing water needs O2 or it can go anaerobic. You can add oxygen with an air pump or splashing water (waterfall).
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Pond today; Gone tomorrow....
Funny but true as many put in a mud hole using no advice or advice from idiots. Soon they fill it in with dirt.Originally Posted by elgrau
Pond today; Gone tomorrow....
Reading a little as to how nature works is more than most can do. It takes more than $$ and the latest gear to make a garden pond work.
On the plus side, it is very easy if you learn the basics. The same is true for aquariums.
I've always envied your pond, but I'm too busy (lazy) to make one of my own that involved. So, I made my little pond last year. A frog took up residence before autumn; I expect him back soon. I emptied it & cleaned the 6,000 leaves out of it that had accumulated over the fall/winter. There was a PUMP in there!!
Pics from last year here:
We have a corner of our yard that I've thought many times of putting a waterfall/small pond into. The birdbath is in there now, and it's surrounded by miniature nandina. If I decide to do this, it's very apparent there are two members here who can help me figure it all out. :)
"two" ?
Bill you will be the "Senior Engineer" on the team for sure. Gary has a waterfall also, so included him.
There's three Doug.:)
All Right!! All three of you plan a road trip to Austin. I'll just sit on the back deck, and watch as y'all build me a waterfall/pond. :excitement:
Above was 2012 on a 6 year old pond.
Now it is 2017.
The many Gold fish still thrive, have bought not a one since 1997.
There are 4 Turtles.
The 6 small KOI are now giants. All 6 I bought in 2006 have prospered. They are all over ten pounds.
I need to up my "care level". Maybe I don't, but I want to and will this Winter before Spring. It is a responsibility I eagerly took on. Few things in my life has given the fun returns of this pond.
The biological load on the pond has increased - a lot! Fish only live around 20 years, so ???
As temps drop, Winter is easy, but demands will kick up in Spring.
The pond is 4000 gallons dug with a pick and shovel when I was a young man. I would never attempt that again as it was more work than one might think. I lined it with 2" lumber and lined the exterior walls with tons of concrete (one bag at a time) to ensure the weight of the water could not blow out the bottom. Water is heavy.
I had a plan and had experience in critter keeping.
It takes 4 people to lay a pond liner that size, but me and Rosey did it.
It was a foolish "beer-induced" idea. It took weeks to dig that hole.
As most know, don't get along with folks, but do love my critters.
More filtration is needed not just on crap you see, but more on crap only instruments measure. I have no instruments but have experience since I was 8.
I am thinking adding another water fall filter, but a bigger one. They are expensive, but I already have pumps.
It looks nothing like this many years later, more like the photo in the first post - but better.
I am a plant guy. Most who visit don't see that. My crap may not be to your liking, but to me, trying to grow different plants is interesting, maybe why I don't have a large space occupied by a lawn.
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