The Glory of Spring

Oh, the glory!  Spring brings the best time for our pond garden.  The Phlox is in all it's splendor.  The Ajuga is blooming as well--too bad the blight decimated a large portion of the Ajuga bed (left side of photo above).  The Yellow Flag Irises in the water are doing their best, despite that they need re-potting yet again!  I divided them in the fall, but they are floating out of their planters, hence the one in the foreground that is askew.  (I need to find another planting medium.) The bench is waiting to offer some quite contemplation, which it provides to great satisfaction.  I love this time of
year!

See the lovely (not) Mint's habit of spreading into unwanted places.  It is in the middle of this photo, sprouting where I don't want it to grow.  The Phlox and Moneywort are almost equal competitors, making the task of keeping the Mint in check a bit easier.  I pull these babies out asap when they stray.  Sometimes I wonder if my neighbor bearing gifts had something sinister in mind when he said "Every garden needs some mint"!  LOL

This picture gives a foreshadow of the summer months to come. You can almost see how the pond area becomes quite jungle-like.  To come by June are very tall Mint stands, and very, very tall native Daylily blossoms.  Also what I believe is a variety of Purple Loosestrife--an outlaw plant given to me by my sister.  It springs up behind the bench to five feet tall.  I do my best to keep it from spreading by pruning blossoms before they go to seed.

Our Japanese Maple is seeing happy days!  After 10 years of existing in the deep shadow of the north side of our house, my son and I transplanted it to this spot when we built the pond.  At that time it was just a very thick trunk with a few spindly branches.  It is now fulfilling it's destiny, filling out nicely.  Underneath is this year's crop of wild strawberry.  I sometimes don't know what to do with that plant.  I am torn between letting it be or pulling it out.  It has crowded out the Rose Mallow this year.  But neither variety is one of my favorites....so the jury is out.

One of my faves:  Pitcher Plants in the bog!  The progress of their flowering continues onward. These flower shoots will grow to almost two feet high, then blossom into fantastic, prehistoric-looking forms.

I don't believe I have showed you the actual drain yet.  This is how we drain the sludge from the bottom of the pond.

The Daylilies are marching onward!  Very vigorous and never a care.

Sadly, the Japanese Irises seem to be declining.  It has only been three years or so, but possibly they need dividing already.  I am not a good divider.  Don't like to do it, and do not have much experience. The Daylilies will move on in if given the chance.

We love the pond's frogs almost as much as the fish!  Sadly, every year there are also Garter Snakes who eat the frogs.  This year Doug and Foster caught five snakes and re-located them to a nearby creek.  Hopefully the frogs will re-group after the assault from the large amount of snakes and the water freezing in the upper pool last winter.

I hope you have enjoyed a look at this stage of Pond Chronicles!  The garden peaks in May, when the Irises and Pitcher Plants bloom.  Don't miss it!!!

Have a wonderful week.

Spring is Springing!

The ugly duckling is growing into her perennial swan!  What a heart warming sight to see this re-birth every year around Easter time.  Notice how choppy the water looks.  That's because the fishes are so active, they are churning up the water!

This is even after I stupidly left the hose on all night after I was refilling the 15% water volume that we flushed out through the bottom drain last evening.  The best laid plans!  Everything to save the fish from getting stressed--all for naught!  They ended up getting treated to a drastic temp drop from the flood of well water (although being early spring the drop was not as much as it would have been later in the summer).  Also disturbed was probably the ph value and the displacement of beneficial bacteria-laden water.  Well, every time this happens (which is too often, since I must have ADD) I worry for the fish, but they are always resilient.

That's Davis in the foreground.  He loves the pond area as much as we do, and often basks in the sun on the bench.  Today, though, he wouldn't sit still for his photo shoot.  Darned cat!  Our Labrador Retriever, Mattie, generally stays out of the pond area, due to her congenial personality and being scolded a couple times in the beginning, for stepping on baby plants.

Davis sometimes gazes at the fish, but interestingly he never tried to catch them, even when they were very small.  I love how that shadow makes me look really thin. ;-)

"What are you doing, Mama? Are you going to  pounce on me??"  To the right of the stepping stone is Moneywort, to the left Creeping Thyme.

"I like this seat, but since you are moving around, I'm not staying here."

"Yes, I'm the king of the pond area."

Here is the bog, newly uncovered from the pile of oak leaves I bedded it down with last fall.  With the harsh winter we had, I'm glad they had the insulation.  In the bog, are Pitcher Plants, Sundews, and Venus Flytraps.  All are carnivorous perennials and treat us to much entertainment every year.  The plants above the bog are Chocolate Ajuga, the plant that was so devastated by blight last year.  I had to keep pulling out wilted sections all the way up until frost.  I hope the blight does not return.  I am going to try dividing and replanting to fill in the spaces, and at the same time aerate within the bed to discourage the fungus.  In between the stepping stones are Phlox and Creeping Thyme (which is growing around the stepping stones all over the area).

I cut off  the old pitchers last year, and you can just see some new flowers starting to sprout.  Wait till you see what they end up looking like!  Check back around Mother's Day for that.  The red spots you see are also a type of fungus. Unfortunately, the pitchers are inflicted by this spot every year.

You've probably noticed a lot of this plant in the photos so far.  It is Phlox that is planted around the perimeter of the pond., and is so lovely in full bloom.

The mound-type plants in the foreground are Catmint. They are very vigorous and get big, but it's nice because they are clumpy in their spreading habit, unlike the regular mint on the other side of the pond.  You can see the irises starting to grow as well.  There is still a good amount of ground space I need to fill in with sun-loving plants.  However, this area is near the birdfeeder, which results in the ground getting littered with sunflower hulls, which then inhibits plant growth.

Here are the Day Lilies, and a Japanese Maple just starting to leaf out.  Hope you enjoyed this latest saga in Pond Chronicles!

First Feeding

Thunder was ringing out as I approached the pond a few moments ago to attempt the first feeding.  I still need to take the heater out and there are leaves on top of the water, which is a no-no!

The fish were up and nibbling at the rocks, which is why I knew it was time. Also, the water temp has been above 50 for a few days now.  In this picture here, they have not seen me yet.  Rain was starting to come down, but here you see all five of my lovely Koi (plus one leaf).

When I approached, they dove below the surface, but I threw a few Cherrios in anyway, confident that they would reconsider, as they were appearing hungry. Water temp was 55 degrees.

"Stripes", who I deem to be the matriarch, soon came to lunch, followed by the whole hungry bunch!  Thus resumed the feeding ritual we will enjoy almost every day until winter.  They will only get Cherrios for the first few feedings, or until the water temps reach a stable moderate temp.  Then I will switch to Immune Boosting Spring Koi Food, then to Summer Staple when it is really hot.  By the time I took the last picture it was really starting to pour, so I  ran away without scooping out the leaves.  I'm a bad girl.  (But I will do it soon.)

 Enjoy!

Sinister Tree Frog

For those of you who love frogs, or ever went through the amphibian/reptile phase with a child, you will love this!  (Slightly related to Ponds....)  ;-)

Mystery Solved!

Say hello to my babies!  The water is very clear now, and you can see all the way to the bottom.  The fish are probably not too happy about this, but usually there is no one to bother them.  You can see that my plants are still submerged.  Soon I will pull them up, and drain about 10 percent of the water from the bottom drain, to try to get debris and any sludge off the bottom.  That combined with beneficial bacteria that I add will keep things healthy.

Here are some more pics of my babies. (well, they're not babies, but you know...)

Guess what?  I already had my first mystery, and yes, it was"Why is the water level falling so fast?"  The water level had dropped about five inches since I started up the pump.  I filled it way up, actually till it was overflowing because I forgot to turn off the hose (Happens more than I like to admit).  The next day, water level has dropped another two inches.

 Interestingly, an employee at Blue Ribbon Koi said to think about the possibility of the liner getting punctured by the weight of all the heavy snow and ice over the winter.  This is not a happy prospect.  But I was hoping it was just the usual--the sides of the upper pool and waterfall sinking. I spent the last couple days poking around the edges, trying to find an obvious breach but to no avail.  Was going to enlist the help of my husband Doug to move some of the bigger rocks.

Well, you know how when you just go about other tasks that also need to be done, you sometimes solve the previous problem?  That's what happened.  The large ornamental grass, I think Maiden Hair, needed her haircut badly, so this afternoon I gave it to her.  This brought me closer to my filter and there it was---the water is leaking out between the fitting from the hose to the filter. Mystery solved!  But Hubby still has to help me repair the leak.  Probably just use teflon tape, or silicone gel, but sometimes I just like to have company.  You can see the water leaking out pretty fast.

The other task I did today was clear away some more dead plant material, especially from the irises.  I found that their rhizomes were indeed damp from leaves and dead plants, so I think it was a good thing to do, even though we are likely to get some frost still.  I hope I made the right decision.

I have a new theory about clearing debris.  If it comes off from the base of the plant easily, then it is definitely time to remove it.  For my native Daylilies, I am feeling like I need to leave the dead leaves on a little longer.  They will act as a naturally occurring mulch to protect from frost, as they are already sprouting too.  But they bloom later than the irises, AND their dead leaves are still firmly attached to the base.  I do a lot of cleaning up in the fall, so it's a little confusing to know what to do, especially since I did not want the Irish Potato Blight to overwinter in the debris.

These irises will grow into healthy, purple-blossomed beauties by Mother's Day.  And here you can see their rhizomes that like air and sun.

Hope Springs Eternal!

Water is flowing!  Here is the result of the work I described in my first post.   I went out with my camera because first sign of life was spotted!  A spring bull frog moved in and took up residence in the large pool.  He sits beside the red floating heater. It is there to keep a breathing hole in the ice in winter, so the fish can get oxygen and an exchange of gases can occur.  I should probably take the heater out now, but the fish are enjoying the warm the water near it, but soon it will have to go.

Too bad I did not have a more powerful zoom lens, as the frog jumped in the water when I got too close. Hopefully I will capture him before he moves on, which he will most likely do soon.  A bull frog appeared last spring also (same one?) but he moved on after a couple weeks.  Bull frogs must be a harbinger of spring.

The other signs of life are the koi and goldfish that are now swimming at the surface and hanging out near the heater. This is the reason the bullfrog hangs out there also. He is probably eating the small fry (baby fish) which is fine with me! If they all grew up they would quickly overwhelm the pond with waste. You can not see the fish in these photos because it is early spring, and they are still very shy. They drive to the bottom whenever a figure approaches.

There are probably 50 or more fish in the pond, believe it or not.  But only five Koi.  The pond can only support these five Koi by the time they are full grown. The rest of the fish are Shubumkins and Goldfish (probably Comets), all except two have spawned in the pond from eggs that arrived with pond plants. You can just make out a couple koi on the bottom edge of the pond pics.

The water level is a bit low but I thought it was going to rain a lot this weekend, and wanted rain water to fill it up.  Since it didn't, I will use the hose.  The waterfall is running a bit slow as well.  I have not figured out why yet.

With a pond, there is always a mystery to solve. Usually it is, "Why is the water level dropping so fast?" The answer will be found on the edges of the waterfall or top pool where the water level is very close to the top of the liner. The soil under it will occasionally sink. Every year, I will search for these areas and easily fix them.  The waterfall may be running slow because of something clogging the pump that is submerged in the bottom of the pond, or there may be a leak in the hose fittings at the filter.  I have not double checked these things yet.  Hopefully it is not that my pump is wearing out!  However, the pump did stop a few times last year because of calcium deposits were built up on the impeller.  The nice man at Harper's Lawn Ornaments took it apart and cleaned it for me last year. I may have to pull it up and take the pump apart to inspect this again and soak it in vinegar.

You can see the thyme plants are already starting to grow back in between the stepping stones.  On the  bottom right of the photo above is lovely pink Phlox, which will bloom very early in spring.  Across the pond you can just make out where the bog garden lies.  The bog is filled with carnivorous plants. As spring progresses, beautiful Pitcher Plants will spring up - first their prehistoric looking flowers, then the pitchers themselves.  Also Venues Flytraps and Sundews.

Next the many Irises will take over--beautiful, two-toned, purple Bearded Irises and also Yellow and Blue Flag pond irises, which thrive both in the water and also in a wetland area. They take over very quickly, so if anyone wants some, please let me know!  I also have Japenese Irises.

Towards summer the Catmint and regular Mint will flourish, and many summer bulbs.  I will cut the regular Mint back severely by July.  Water Lilies will sprout from their pans in the bottom of the pond by summer.  I have a little trouble getting my pond plants to thrive because the PH of the pond is a bit too high--about 8.4ppm.  There seems to be no way to get the PH to come down into the 7's range.  But the fish are happy.  There is also a bit too much shade.  But the fish are happy!

Here is the retaining wall that my husband Doug built. If you look at the hillside and imagine the line of the slope you will begin to understand how many loads of dirt we brought in.  Probably 15-20 regular-sized pickup beds worth.  Can't quite remember, but it was a lot.

The whole back side of the garden area near the retaining wall is planted with native, orange Day Lilies. I still need to rake out the old vegetation. It is also past time to cut back the ornamental grass, but not too late. There are many other plants that I have not mentioned yet--mainly because I can't remember everything that is in there!

I think by now you have a good understanding of the bones of our pond, and will know what to look forward to in my posts as spring and summer go on!  I am open to answering any questions you may have.  Ask away, and I will do my best to answer with the knowledge I have accumulated over these four years.  Looking forward to hearing your comments. You can also sign up to follow this blog using Google Reader, which is very handy if you like to follow several blogs at once.  I am starting to do this myself and it is very enjoyable to check in and see what people have posted.  :-)

See you next time!
Sally

Slumbering Still

What was once piled high with fluffy white snow and thick ice (just a couple weeks ago) is now an ugly mix of brown and gray.  It is hard to believe that this ugly duckling transforms into a beautiful swan of a koi pond and garden every year.  It brings me such joy to watch this rebirth every year, that I decided to start a blog to share it with the rest of humanity.  (Isn't the internet wonderful?)

I believe this will be the fourth year of owning our pond.  My husband and I created it on the side of a hill  outside our back door. We can see it from the kitchen window were we sit to eat breakfast and lunch.  There is a birdfeeder and birdbath also nearby.  It is a joy to watch our birds, frogs, goldfish, and koi come to life every year.

As all projects go, it became larger and more complicated than we had imagined.  So it took about a year to complete it.  But the rewards have been immense.  We located it on a hillside with the thought that it would require less digging.  That was true--there was less digging, but it ended up requiring multiple truck loads of fill dirt and top soil, and eventually a retaining wall.  We hired a landscape contractor to bring in about half the fill and begin to form and compact the down-hill side of the pond.  After that (which became too expensive) we took over, using our pickup truck and the generosity of nearby housing contractors who gave us soil from the many new housing developments that were springing up in our town back then.  Doug was my hero and built the retaining wall out of landscaping timbers.  I wish I had photos documenting the construction, but suffice it to say, it was a very difficult job, but an enjoyable one because of the challenge and creativity it offered.  I was stronger than I am now, and did a lot of the digging, shaping, and placing of rocks myself.  I employed a small amount of help from my kids.  I wanted it to be a fun and rewarding family project, but they remember it as a distasteful time when they had to work on the pond only when they couldn't escape it.  Of course, I did all of the planting.  I bought about 80 bulbs, and neighbors were very generous with their donations of their divided perennials and even water lilies!

The project was not without it's aches and pains. But I am so thankful we did it.  The water turned 50 degrees a few days ago and the fish were starting to come to the surface.  That's when I knew it was time to re-install the above ground filter and submersed pump.  But before doing that I removed the netting that was there to catch leaves from the fall. This was the first year I had left the netting on all year, and I sorely regret doing that. It was left on because winter came so early last year--first snow storm Dec. 19th.  The snow covered the netting, and everything froze to it, so I just left it there.  But yesterday when we went to start up the pond again, we found four dead frogs in the upper pool.  This has never happened before.  I guess the net trapped them in the five inches of frozen water.  Every other year, they must have found suitable places to hibernate.

For the first time I completely emptied and cleaned out part of the pond. It was the upper pool, and being so small it was not that big of a deal.  The water was oil black as I was scooping it, and there was a good amount of sludge accumulated on the bottom.  It felt good to get all that rotten egg stuff out of there.  Installed the filter and pump--no problems.  And now the waterfall is running.

The fish are up, and hopefully in a few days the water will be clear.  No feeding for a while yet though.  Next I will continue to clean up dead plant material from last year.  Did most of it in the fall but there is more.  I do not want a return of the Irish Potato Blight that attacked many of my plants last year.  I hope the summer to come is not so wet.

Soon irises will be sprouting and our beautiful bog plants also.  Whenever there is new life in the pond area, I will make a new post so you can follow along in the Pond Chronicles!  Look forward to seeing you then!

-Sally