Welcome to the Pond!

The pond was started in April of 2002, with plants and fish added in May. Volume is approximately 900 gallons, as determined by fill rate. Filtration and aeration are provided by a 900 gph Diamond pump and 32 gallon DIY biofilter. The biofilter is an upflow construction in a Rubbermaid trashcan, with a 6" settling area at the bottom, lava rock, and one box of Spring Flo filter media. Two layers of polyester quilt batting are placed above the Spring Flo at the start of the ponding season to remove the sediment and sludge that accumulates until the pond is shaded enough to slow algae growth. This year, all the water hyacinths have been moved to the top of the biofilter. Last year, we used begonia and coleus in the top of the filter, with moderate success. The water is returned to the pond via a 3' falls.
Current inhabitants include two 7-8" koi, five 7-8" shubunkins, two calico fantails (ranging in size from 3-4"), a gold fantail, a black moor, two sarassa comets, and more than 20 common goldfish and goldfish/shubunkin mixes (newly hatched fry to 6" adults).
We've introduced a variety of plants, with emphasis on those that are winter hardy in zone 6. The current flora includes lizard tail, chameleon plant, miniature and standard cat tails, miniature horsetails, Queen Victoria lobelia, blue flag, Longwood hybrid canna, blue pickerel rush, pennywort, creeping jenny, Burgundy Princess hardy lily, an unnamed yellow lily and arrowhead plant. A few of the plants require replacement each season, or overwintering indoors: water hyacinths, water lettuce, Texas Shell Pink tropical lily, Black Magic Taro, parrot's feather and water poppy. The trickle tower was added during mid-summer of 2002, and it works, even though it's ugly.

As you can see from the photos, the landscaping around the pond isn't finished. We've yet to put in a permanent GFI outlet for the pump(s) and a rock garden to the right of the lotus bog, which was added following the waterfall reconstruction in summer 2003. Always a work in progress!

Ponding 2002

Fall of 1998--There was a lawn of sorts, which blended into what once must have been a gravelled parking area right up to the side of the house. Nothing grows there. We built a watergarden out of a cultured marble tub that was left in the garage by the previous owner, and liked it so much that we added a bench surround. It didn't survive the winter. It served as a planter in front of the deck that hubby built for Angel for Mother's Day 2002, and was removed during the addition of the deck railing and steps in 2003.

August 2002--The pond is in! Still lots of work to do on the exterior landscaping!! Tons of rocks to find, concrete chunks to haul, dirt to be levelled, lotus bog to dig! Not nearly as much fun as watching the fish, admiring the lily flowers, messing with the filter and tweaking the planting.

South end of the pond. That's the Burgundy Princess in the foreground. It's bloomed several times this summer, during the hottest days. We've seen that the red blossoms are much less heat tolerant than the unnamed hardy white lily we had growing in our tub garden last year, as the upper petals scorched within hours of opening.

Head on view of the falls, with hubby running the BBQ in the background

North end of the pond. That's tropical lily "Texas Shell Pink" in the forground. Its first bloom is shown below..

This was the first decent bloom we had on Burgundy Princess, photographed 8/12/2002 by hubby, who was kind enough to snap a pic, since Angel was at work every time the darn thing bloomed!

The water poppy was the first bloom in the pond. It's bloomed dependably ever since mid-June, usually 2 or 3 blooms at a time..

The chameleon plant adds a nice touch of varigated foliage with some pink/red coloration.

The blue pickerel seemed to suffer from potash deficiency as much as the water hyacinths did, in spite of being fertilized. Since dosing the pond with muriate of potash, the foliage is growing nicely and is no longer burning. Bloom spikes are larger and last longer.

This is our first bloom on Texas Shell Pink, a tropical lily, day two. Quite a striking difference between this lily and the hardies that we know.

This trickle tower was added in July or August of 2002. It's constructed of coated welded wire, lined with tulle. 5/8" tubing is fed up through 1" PVC, surrounded by lava rock. The tubing is topped with a bell fountain and fed by a 400 gph pump. The tower sits on top of stacked brick. The tower will eventually be moved out of the pond, immediately to the left of the falls, and screened with cattails.

Ponding 2003

This is a complete view of the pond in July 2003. The first major project of 2003 was doing a permanent construction of the waterfall, using concrete blocks salvaged from our porch demolition/reconstruction project. Ivy from the house foundation will be transplanted to cover the outside of the block wall. A lotus bog has been added to the right of the falls, behind the pond. The rock garden will go to the right of the bog, with a gravelled pathway/drainage channel between the bog and pond.

The pond filled in a bit more slowly this year, due to an extended cold period in early spring, followed by 100+ temps by the end of June. The left end of the newly filled lotus bog is visible in this picture.

Here's another view of the reconstructed falls.

This unnamed yellow hardy lily was an addition from Jeff Shupe (moderator/owner of the MSN group "Jeff's Ohio Watergarden").

My Favorite Ponding Links

MSN Group "Jeff's Ohio Watergarden"

Watergardening Magazine's "Pond Talk" Discussion Group

MSN Group "The Old Garden Pond"

Ponds & Aquatic Plants Forum at GardenWeb.com

rec.ponds Newsgroup on Google.com

Tom's Pond Chat