Not so pretty at this stage, but so much potential. I had had it as a still pond for a few years, but it was quite green and I couldn't see the fish, and I knew I needed to add circulation and filtration for the health of the fish, as well as appearance. Here it is filled, and moving plants into position in the bog.
And here, all filled up, a month or so after planting the bog. The bog is the primary filtration - rocks over a grating, and bare root plants in the rocks, with water coming up from beneath and flowing over the roots. This was taken about 10 months before the pond tour. If you look back to that picture, the first one I put in the blog, you can see how much the plants like it.
Some of the denizens of my deep:
The big pale yellow one is Buttermilk; and the white (platinum) butterfly at the front was Ariel (aka Fu Manchu). He was a favorite of mine, but I lost him to dropsy in November. Very distressing. He rests in the flowerbed near my dear little dog, Sadie.
Most of the smaller orange fish are descendants of the original feeder goldfish I threw in to eat the mosquitoes when it stopped being a pool and became a pond. (When the pool pump died for the last time and I got fed up!) The tiny fish are mosquito fish (gambusia).
This time of year they are sort of hibernating, they don't get fed, and mostly hang out near the bottom. If they do feel peckish, there is plenty of algae for them to graze on - here is a shot of them last summer, taken underwater near the steps, cruising around and grazing. That's Ariel in the front.
That is plenty for now, a glimpse into the water-gardening part of my garden - really a very large part of my garden. Ciao for now.
Hi Mary--I didn't know there was such a thing as a "pond society" but I'm not surprised. Your pond is outstanding. Your fish look healthy and happy. Thanks for sharing the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI think it's cool that you made a pond from a pool. The pic's tell an interesting story;)
ReplyDeleteHi, thank you for your comments - I do enjoy the pond and can sit for way too long watching the fish. It is very relaxing. There are pond societies all over the country, both for water gardening and koi. Some consider the two somewhat seperate, but since my koi don't seem bad about eating my lilies and other plants, I guess I keep the two aspects together. (They do dig around a bit - I have to keep big rocks in the top of the pots, and have learned to avoid pea gravel.) I am looking forward to the weather getting warm enough to swim with the fishes again.
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