4500 Gallon koi pond in progress (I need some help) :confused:

[Denis S]

Its a housing addition, and it says the name of it. All I seen were small bluegill. I think that the house is the pump room, there is a lock on the back. The pond dosn't have a liner but the falls do and you are.right 3rd.try the charm. :-D.

 

[j.w]

Ah so it's their drainage pond for the development. They all pretty much have to have one of those nowadays but that one is fixed up to look rather nice. Some are just holes in the ground w/ a chain link fence and I think those are ugly, ugly, ugly :dunno:

 

[CometKeith]

Denis S re your question about trees, Japanese maples are beautiful but they are not real hardy in Midwest winters and need to be protected somewhat from the elements. I wouldn't plant one in the open. I have an ornamental pear about 15 feet from my pond, but their branches grow upward and not out like your picture. They are nice trees and have really pretty blossoms in the spring. Most trees keep getting bigger so it is hard to pick a tree to stay a certain size. Some crab apple trees can be pruned to stay a certain size and shape and have branches that stretch out. Also you might look at a lilac tree. They can get the size you are thinking and their branches will also spread out. I have both of these and am happy with them, but they do need pruning almost every year!

 

[taherrmann4]

Denis I am not worried about the roots piercing the liner, under my liner I have pretty thick underlayment. I have two good size trees fairly close to my pond one is a river birch which I really enjoy and are very fast growers it is about 2 feet away from the pond and they have lots of roots and no problems so far. The other tree is a dawn redwood another prolific grower about 3 feet a year (this is my favorite tree) it is within about 8 feet of the pond and has been there before the pond. The japanese maple is right next to the pond and has been there for several years, a very slow grower. I am just south of cincinnati so your weather is similar to ours, and I have never had any problems with the four japanese maples. I have two weeping and two upright ones, can't remember their names but could find them if you wanted. Crab apples are nice and give a nice shape and really enjoy ours but they produce small crabappls in the fall and the birds will eat throughout the winter but they will also drop those crab apples on the ground. You could do a dogwood depending on how much sun you get, two of mine are in sun most of the day and do ok but the one that gets morning sun and afternoon shade looks really good. I also have a type of magnolia tree that produces large creamy yellow flowers in the spirng and it is an average grower, I don't expect it to get any larger than 15 feet wide and 25 feet high. If you go with a pear tree get the one that will handle wind better, I think it is the clevland variety, the other one has a tendancy to lose half the tree during high winds.

My green japanese maple is a gorgeous orange color in the fall have a pic somewhere of it.

 

[taherrmann4]

Here is the green japanese maple in the fall, in the background is my dawn redwood which will get up to100 feet tall, it loses it leaves in the fall also.

Pic one lace leaf japanese maple (green)
Pic two Dawn Redwood / Japanese maple Fall colors
Pic three Crabapple in spring
Pic four has a snall red japanese maple that was put in last year and farther back a river birch that is about 3 years old.

 

[CometKeith]

taherrmann4 those are nice tree pics. My neighbor has a river clump birch that is about 12 years old. It was really nice when it was younger, but now it has about a 8-10 ft diameter of roots that stick out of the ground under it. I wouldn't recommend it for working next to a pond. Maybe the Japannese maples do better by you. By us you usually need at least one or two sides protected otherwise about half the time they die off.