The pond comes to life
Posted on April 24th, 2008 – 9:27 AMBy Robyn Dochterman
Late last fall we added a water feature to our back yard. Okay, we asked Mom’s Landscaping in Shakopee to design it, heft boulders and connect fittings while we hung out inside. I’ve coveted a water garden for at least decade, and what I got was definitely worth waiting for!
There’s wonderful balance between strength and flow, focal points and hidden nooks, invigoration and relaxation. I was even able to integrate some great lighting from one of my favorite artisans, Grant Massey. A wonderful world unto itself, we got to enjoy the water garden for about two weeks before it was buried beneath snow.
“The watergarden looked nice with a dusting of snow this winter.”
This week, even though the pump that powers the waterfall hasn’t been turned on yet, everyone is discovering the pond. With binoculars, I can sit in my home office and see the frog (hmm, is it a wood frog or leopard frog?) sitting with its eyes just above the surface. Song sparrows have come to visit. And a cowbird. And I’m pretty sure we have the cleanest robins around, as they bathe with abandon at least a couple times a day.
Since it was the last project before fall rolled up the welcome mat, we didn’t have a chance to get fish or plants to complete the project.
I know at least some of you have watergardens or ponds. What suggestions do you have for me? Things you’d like to include in your own garden (real, or still in the dreaming stage)? Things you know I should avoid (besides algae)?
10 Responses to "The pond comes to life"
Looks awesome! Especially would be cool with some type of koi or other finned creature.
We’re still at the dreaming stage for a pond - the husband has threatened to borrow his brother’s trencher and start digging. I’ve nixed the idea for now as it would just turn into a St. Bernard swimming/mud hole - they would be happy, but I would not. Other water features would be fun as well, though most would just turn into a doggie drinking faucet.
Good luck!
We actually had a big mud pit in this site for a couple of years. The dog loved it and so did the raccoons. But you’re right, I didn’t like it so much!
I feel it fair to warn you that koi eat EVERYTHING within their reach and will jump out to get a bite of overhanging foilage ( some of my koi were not space appropriate and jumped out of the pond, dried koi=yuck). they grow faster than you think they will and require hiding ledges so the herons and racoons do not visit and snack. Plants can be grown of they are planted in planters that have pot edges above the water line as they will not beach themselves to eat stuff.
Maybe some nice perimeter plantings to soften the edges and give visual interest. I have a Harry Launders Walking Stick that gives winter interest with its twisty branches that I am fond of.
Wow! It looks fantastic! Now you just need a rain barell! I commented several months ago about getting a rain barell (for myself) and I’m LOVING IT. The guys from CFC Rain Barell(952-475-3234) have been featured in several eco-fairs and home shows this spring. They are great! They have a similar (barrel and enclousure as the one I purchased) at Tonkadale Nursery. I highly reccommend these guys!
Hi Deb, How big is your water garden? How do I know what size “space appropriate” is? From where did you get your koi? (Koi Acres is actually near me in Scandia)
The folks at Koi acres will be able to help you. I have a farly small set up, nothing as big as yours. The first order of business will be to clear any chunky stuff(leaves, twigs, etc.) that always seems to show up over the down season. Then test your water. There are several teast kits available at better and run of the mill aquarium supply places (got mine at Petsmart.) to test for ammonia, ph, salts, etc.
You probably have access to well water so your water will be harder than treated city water but you don’t need to remove chlorine.
I had 5 koi that I grew for 5 years from the cheap $3 ones sold at the local chain petstore. The were 13″ to 15″ long when I took them in in the fall but alas, I put them in a non-approved stock tank and they bit the dust in November (think Silent Spring) and I started over with ones that I liked the color of.
I have one all white butterfly koi, one all black butterfly koi, two calico colored one (shimbunkin?) one white one with a red patch over its eye like a Phantom of the Opera mask, a leopard yellow and black one. This will be all my 275 gallon pond should hold if I want big, old fish. The fish came from a variety of sources, Bachmans for the black one, the toughest to find. World of Fish for the leopard, the white one from PetSmart, others from Petco and Aqualand. I look for ones that I like the looks of. From experience I know that the all white ones must be pearly white or they get a yellow tinge that looks jaundiced, and the black ones are a bear to find in the water, but I like to watch the surprise of the peanut gallery on the fence when “nothing” splashes.
Wow, that pond is beautiful. Can I ask how much it cost to get put in? I would love one.
I put in a pond a few years ago, and use a bio-filter, and I buy healthy feeder goldfish from a good quality pet store…they start out smaller, but will grow to the size of a koi, within a couple of years.
The small fish need a sinking gold fish food for awhile, the flakes don’t work in a large area…Use to bring the in the house for the winter, but found that a tank heater for horse’s works, to keep a spot of ice open, and only feed them a couple times a week.
Plants help hide the fish, and like the gal said, they will soften the look of the pond setting.
A start would be to plant moss in-between the rocks…
Good Luck, and post some photo’s from later this summer…sw
I love your pond. It looks like it belongs in that spot, not like the rock necklaces I see in magazine illustrations. Having seen that, my 2 little pre-formed 55 gal “tubs” seem pretty lame. I don’t have access to electricity outdoors so I set my ponds up as mini eco-systems. 2 med sized goldfish per tub with a combination of plants that provide food, shelter, oxygenation and filtration. It’s a bit of a science project until it “settles”, usually by Memorial Day weekend. I go with goldfish for 3 reasons: cheaper to replace if the critters do have sushi lunch on my dime, less picky about water quality than koi, and smaller so more in scale with my ponds.
Robyn,I am so inviting myself over to see this garden wonderland the two of you have created! I’ve always wanted a water feature myself–just waiting until I get a house!
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
Need more Greengirls? Follow along on Twitter:
Subscribe to Greengirls
Learn more about RSS
Garden resources
Categories
- Apples, Plums + Tree fruits (18)
- Asparagus (3)
- Beans + Peas (9)
- Bees (12)
- Beets, Carrots + Root veggies (7)
- Berries (10)
- Books + Resources (13)
- Chickens (13)
- Compost (7)
- Container gardening (7)
- Corn (2)
- Critters + vermin (27)
- Cucumbers + Melons (15)
- Farmer's Markets (1)
- Flowers + Grasses (27)
- Garlic (5)
- Greens + Lettuces (10)
- Herbs (6)
- Lawn care (12)
- Mulch (7)
- Mystery plants (9)
- Potatoes (9)
- Preserving (7)
- Rain gardens (2)
- Seed starting (16)
- Soil care (4)
- Squashes + gourds (1)
- Succulents (2)
- Tomatoes, Peppers + Eggplant (38)
- Tools, gloves, rain barrels + more (17)
- Transplanting (1)
- Tree + shrub care (4)
- Uncategorized (164)
- Water gardens (3)
- Weather woes (25)
- Weeds (13)
- Weekend to-dos (11)