| Author |
Message |
    
Roys
| | Posted on Thursday, February 07, 2008 - 05:28 am EST : |   
 |
Hi Moira,
In late on this post...Foolishly I've decided to get a job...in a Garden Centre...Didn't realise it was "manual" work...Thought I'd be potting plants all day... Nothing as simple as that, I'm lifting specimen plants from Dutch wagons!!! I sat at a desk for 15 years plus, the manual work and fresh air has put me to sleep for 2 days so missed the post: think I might have to retire again!!!
I have had problems with cats/herons etc. in my pond...
Firstly, Koi carp love pond plants. They dont study them to understand what species they are..They just pluck them out of the pots/soil and eat and play with them...It will make a mess of your pond.
Taller marginal plants are good. they deter cats and provide shelter. Some Restios can be good...Elegia juncea, will put up with very moist soils and water. Its fairly hardy. Also Juncus effusus including "spiralis" look good in ponds. All will provide shade.
As mentioned grasses do offer shade and protection. Dont forget some of the Cyperus species. Hardier than first thought. Again a tallish plant for the pond. Cyperus alternifolius is becoming popular in the UK for ponds.
They can also deter cats by being at the edge of the pond preventing them getting a hit at the fish. Also effective are water features. Is it possible to get a pump in the pond? Fountain effects will deter cats and herons.
Dont give up with bamboos. As long as they are planted in biggish pots, their spreading nature can be curtailed. The rustling from the bamboos deter cats. In the bog area, Sasa veitchii could look stunning. There are dwarfer bamboos as well.
Dee mentioned Water Soldier...This is a very good native plant which floats on the surface...It will be ok with fish, and provide surface shade.
http://www.iowas.co.uk/Soldier.html
Anyway good luck, and hope you've got plenty of ideas to work on.
Roys
- West midlands,
Zone "8a"
|
Growit
 Supporting Member
My Favorite Photo
My Weather
My Time
| | Posted on Thursday, February 07, 2008 - 02:48 pm EST : |
|
Hi Roy. Welcome to my world. I worked in a nursery before becoming self employed as a garden landscape/designer. I think it is actually easier digging and planting gardens! The worst day at the nursery was the day the lorry with 17 pallets of compost on it had to be hand unloaded because our forklift decided to break down on that day. Just me and 3 other women did it in a few hours!!!
I am sure after a few months working outside you will have muscles just like me and it will be a doddle lol!
Anyway back to my pond....
I know nothing about koi but is it possible to have a part koi fish? All my fish came from the large pond we had at the nursery. It had all sorts of fish in it as previously the nursery had sold fish and all the left overs went in the pond.
I netted them and brought them home. The white one I have is quite large and could possibly be a koi/part koi. I have seen it nibble some of the plants in the pond but because they are on shelves with large pebbles holding them steady the fish has a job getting to them. Only the Aponogeton got totally eaten as it was a deep water plant like a waterlily.
It is possible but I don't really want one. I was trying to get the pond to be as natural as possible. I just need to block the sun more so it won't green up. The fish have always been healthy so I don't think they mind the colour, just me!
I am definitely going to pot one. I really like that idea and I do already have a bamboo in the garden so it will tie in nicely.
I won't prattle on for ages but I have taken note of all your other plant suggestions. Restios, in particular, I love after seeing them growing at the Eden Project.
Thanks a lot Roy. 
Growit
- Hampshire,
Zone "8/9"
|
Roys
| | Posted on Thursday, February 07, 2008 - 04:09 pm EST : |
|
Hi Moira,
Koi being carp could interbreed with Goldfish, especially if there are no other Koi in the pond...so your fish may well be hybrids...
Sounds like your plants are well anchored in, so that's good.
Back to resting my muscles...Another day of toil tomorrow...It will get easier wont it???
Good luck with the pond and plantings.
Roys
- West midlands,
Zone "8a"
|
Growit
Supporting Member
My Favorite Photo
My Weather
My Time
| | Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 04:07 pm EST : |
|
Thanks for that info Roy. I always wondered if they interbred. How can you tell if it is all Koi? Is it just size or some other distinguishing features?
Lets put it this way. You will either have a six pack or a heart attack!
Growit
- Hampshire,
Zone "8/9"
|
Gardenbug
Supporting Member
| | Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 04:47 pm EST : |
|
It seems herons do not like competition and are fairly territorial. A heron statue seems to deter them I am told. I just happen to have one, given to me as a gift. Just say the word and I'll mail it to you! ;) It is parked in our front hall....
Gardenbug
- Ontario,
Zone "4/5"
|
Growit
Supporting Member
My Favorite Photo
My Weather
My Time
| | Posted on Friday, February 08, 2008 - 05:48 pm EST : |
|
My friend had one and she said a real heron took quite a fancy to it!
LOL! Not too much for postage then?!
I have a mental image now of my pond area (tiny pond!) with all the accessories that have been suggested. Not a pretty picture. 
Growit
- Hampshire,
Zone "8/9"
|
Greth
| | Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 01:13 am EST : |
|
We have to go with metal mesh on ours. Being an old bathtub, it is steep sided, and likely to drown any visiting birds/lizards. Herons are rarish, but kookaburras LOVE pondfish. Being the only open water I know of for a mile or two (bar a few stock troughs), it is very attractive to everything. Bees are particularly a problem in the hot weather.
I am growing water hyacinth in mine, as well as some water buttercup. I hope to get water lilies when finances permit. Water Hyacinth is a pest and a weed, I wouldn't plant it here except that there are no local watercourses it could possibly invade. The only advantage of it is that it has covered the surface quickly and helps shade the fish and hopefully reduces evaporation. Come the cooler weather and most of it will be quickly mulched!
Finally finished building up this bed, but can't plant much until autumn rains.
Greth
- South Australia,
Zone "?"
|
Lilybeetle
Supporting Member
| | Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 06:41 am EST : |
|
I also am jumping in late. We live on a street with a river so herons are a problem - but not for our pond. I think the secret is not to give them a landing strip. They are big birds and need space to swoop in for lunch. Planting a tree to block their flight and landing path should do. It doesn't have to be a big one and it doesn't have to be right near the pond. I am thinking you may even be able to get an ornamental tree and keep it in a pot and move it around (but I haven't tried that). As for the cat fishing - Plant a thorny plant (I have a berberis (barberry)shrub which is thorny, with glossy leaves and lovely red berries) cascading over the edge of the rocks - it might work for you.
Lilybeetle
- Ontario,
Zone "4B"
|
Greth
| | Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 05:11 pm EST : |
|
Not sure on the landing strip idea. My dad has his pond in a little forest of 10m high gum trees and the herons have no problems. He has the matching mesh cover! They are white faced herons, he calls em black hearted herons.
Greth
- South Australia,
Zone "?"
|
Growit
Supporting Member
My Favorite Photo
My Weather
My Time
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 09:48 am EST : |
|
Thankyou for your input Greth and Kim. All suggestions duly noted (I just keep printing off this thread!)
Greth you are the last person I thought would have had a pond! So little water there and such hard graft for you and yet, there it is. Amazing!
Growit
- Hampshire,
Zone "8/9"
|
Stephie
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 03:47 pm EST : |
|
I've watched my herons walk aways before investigating the pond...also have a driftwood garden around mine...very little deters a smart heron..I still use black netting..styled like a big spider web (with artificial spider..but Greth probaby can get REAL ones. Koi will interbreed with goldfish and produce sterile offspring. They might still get their "wiskers" but their growth rate will be faster than regular goldfish. They are also terrible on certain pond plants..usually the expensive ones. Marsh marigolds are lovely and in the right climate, so are dwarf bananas...I bring mind in during winter. Bullrushes keep water clean too and you can them dwarfed. Lilybeetle is correct about plants near the pond...I have thorny roses...I also have a big tree hanging over but you may want to think about this because the leaves fall into the water...too much nitrogenous material unless you have a skimmer (that's me with a net) My pond is a 1000 gallon above-ground cement one so alot of problems are solved right away by the steep sides and the acid level NEVER gets anywhere near a problem with my fish (goldfish can tolerate high alkalinity but if the water turns acidic it can kill them within 24 hours...cement prevents this from ever happening). One thing I recommend for fish is a conditioner...put it in whenever it rains..keeps the water clean and gives the fish their needed slime coat). Oh and about water colour....bothersome only to us...very good for fish on the whole but one must always be concerned about oxygen as algae will steal it, especially at night, stressing fish and opening them up to disease....I would put some little aerator in for that purpose alone. I have 3 pumps in mine..a fountain, a filter pump and a spitter as I was losing baby fish at night...not now. Most "natural" ponds have an intake and an outake...water is constantly oxygenated..which is why swamps can smell bad and so can ponds that don't have much water exchange. To have a natural pond well balanced is a real skill...I haven't mastered that one so have the filters, fountains, plants etc. Call me lazy!!!!
Stephie |
Greth
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 03:47 pm EST : |
|
It isn't near full at the moment Growit. Got my fingers crossed for rain. Due to a bad decision by DH on which tank to use for house water, we have less than a quarter of a tank for pond, shadehouse plants, chicken house and toilet. Needless to say, I am economizing on toilet flushing...
May have to bucket bath water to the pond yet. Still trying to avoid that - at 8 months pregnant, I don't like carrying full buckets of water.
Greth
- South Australia,
Zone "?"
|
Growit
Supporting Member
My Favorite Photo
My Weather
My Time
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 04:28 pm EST : |
|
That sounds pretty.
LOL!
Thats a very big pond Stephie, got any pictures?
Ok. Will do.
I have. A little air stone one.
Oh, how sad. I have had two fish born in mine. Both were fine but the cat ate one of them.
or a climate like ours where it rains regularly lol! Seriously, I do think I have the balance right just not the positioning. All my fish have been healthy just not fast enough to avoid my cat.
Growit
- Hampshire,
Zone "8/9"
|
Growit
Supporting Member
My Favorite Photo
My Weather
My Time
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 04:32 pm EST : |
|
No not a good idea unless you want to go into labour early. I wish I could send you some of our rain Greth. It is something we take very much for granted.
Growit
- Hampshire,
Zone "8/9"
|
Stephie
| | Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008 - 08:17 pm EST : |
|
All I could find are pond-in-progress pictures. Oh well, gives you an idea.
Stephie |
Stephie
| | Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008 - 08:24 pm EST : |
|
And found another.
Stephie |
Stephie
| | Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008 - 08:27 pm EST : |
|
Resident fish.
Stephie |
Stephie
| | Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008 - 08:31 pm EST : |
|
I have to add that my husband and I built this pond with a friend...gee..it was alot of hard physical work!. Went to bed at 7:00 pm and slept right through...my muscles were on strike! But, glad we did it and we don't have raccoon/cat problems because of the straight sides (and netting too). The outside has relief pictures of pacific coast ocean sea creatures, including on Native redition of a salmin. We just love it!!!
Stephie |
Growit
Supporting Member
My Favorite Photo
My Weather
My Time
| | |
