The POND

THE POND We put in a pond 9 years ago, and have enjoyed it more than I could ever explain. Only someone who has one can understand exactly how much pleasure you can get from it. It's 9' x 14' x 30" deep, with a waterfall at one end, it holds 1500 gallons of water, lots of plants, and lots of muliplying fish! There are 4 koi, shabunkins, comets, a few plain goldfish, and frogs too. We've lost a few fish over the years to a blue heron, but none the last 4 years; we get the net up in time now. The koi all have names, there's Roy ("no need to be coy (koi) roy" Paul Simon song), Cecil (Beanie and Cecil-the seasick sea serpent), Lucy (the red head), and Bonny (as in "she's a bonny lass" & "my Bonny lies over the ocean").

the pond in January, 2000

This was 6 or 7 years of planning, and of course we changed everything about it, from size, to location, etc. Now that it's actually in, we still have changed things around it, such as we started out with mulch all around it, and now we replacd that with grass. We're planting a few things around it also, some rug junipers behind the waterfall, and some creeping phlox to spread out over the rocks all around. Next year we have plans to change the waterfall! LOL, we change it around every couple of years :-) Dan dug it all by hand (shovel, actually), in 2 days time. Then laying out the liner, filling it with water (watching the waterbugs appear before it was was even finished filling), took up the 3rd day. After a couple of days for the water to declorinate, and warm up, we put in plants. Eventually, the fish went in. I did know something of what I was doing, since I've always had fish tanks. 2001 - We did change the waterfall this year, instead of the hose coming up and the water just coming down the rocks, the water now goes thru a veggie filter first, then tumbles down the rocks. Plants have totally hidden the 100 gallon stock tank we used to make the filter with, and it looks good! Guess I need to take some new pics of it. The water is "as clear as a bell" now, you can count all the pebbles on the bottom the fish have thrown out of the pots, lol. Of course, we're planning now to add another pond, with a stream to connect the two. Maybe a gazebo behind them, with a bridge going to it, crossing over the stream! This 2nd pond would be mostly in the shade, and we will move the koi into it, so my plants can survive a little better. Sound familar? This is an addicting hobby, it's so much fun to see the results of all this planning turn out so well. This will probably be 2 or 3 (or 5) years in the planning stage, as it took a lot of digging the first time! (summer 2002 we did add another small pond, not as we had originally planned, but it's there. I'll try to get pictures of it this spring/summer, as it is hidden under ice right now, LOL.)

The fish multiplied and now there are more than I'd like to have. It's still at a healthy level, but I want to make sure it stays that way. I'm finding new homes for some of the plain goldfish (slowly), I'd like to get another fantail, maybe another black moor or 2, (that was 1 that a heron got), but not until I get the number of fish down. I don't want to over populate and cause any problems. Which the only one I've had so far is lice. Several years ago I used the dog "PROGRAM" pills, and they really worked well. I read about it on the koivets website. The fish were jumping and flashing, and within 2 days after using the pills (with a correct dosage), they stopped. I've not had a problem since. I try not to add any chemicals that aren't absolutely neccesary, I try to keep the biological aspect at peak working levels. That's why I squish snails instead of throwing something in to kill them!

this is Lucy

this is the fantail- L.C., Bonny, and Cecil

the dragonflies are a lot of fun to watch, buzzing each other around the pond

there are a few frogs who grace us with their presence

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