Design advice please

[EricV]

Remember to factor in power outages and emergencies like that .That tree was really not thought out when planted .I see a lot of that here they want shade on the house but never look at damage it could cause .My father was always cutting down trees on peoples property when i was a kid because of that reason .Siding damage roof damage and foundation damage .You can always plant another tree .I live in VA so not the same extreme cold but I keep my pond heater right over the top of my pump .

I've had to remove a couple of bushes planted too close to the house since I moved in 8 years ago, but this tree is a little different. I gather the original owner thought she was getting an ornamental weeping cherry and somehow ended up with a fruit cherry.

I plan to landscape around the falls with some bushes for privacy and I will have to see if there is a logical place for a small tree.

Considering my experiences with the existing landscaping, I really am trying to think 10-20 years out rather than in the moment.

 

[sissy]

She may have got a weeping one that was on regular root stock .Most trees are on root stock to make them hardier .I have 3 weeping cherries and they are all on root stock

 

[EricV]

She may have got a weeping one that was on regular root stock .Most trees are on root stock to make them hardier .I have 3 weeping cherries and they are all on root stock

I've got one of those out front (occasionally have to remove branches from the stock). The one in the back, I suspect, was either mis-labeled or a mis-pick. Anyhow, it's a shame. In the right place it would be a beautiful tree. Where it is, it can't stay.

 

[sissy]

Sometimes even insurance companies will help pay to remove a tree to close to the house .My sisters insurance company paid half to get one removed 8 years ago .They had done an insurance inspection on homes that they had insured for over 5 years and they suggested it be removed since the inside of it was rotting

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group! That will be a very nice looking pond when you are done.

 

[MitchM]

I'm trying. I'm hoping to find a way to keep water circulating, if only through the skimmer, without super-cooling the whole thing. I will have a stock heater standing by in case we get a cold snap like we've had the last two years (-10 F for a few days).

What do you mean by super cooling?
I haven't come across anyone that lost koi or goldfish due to cold water.
The main consideration for ponds during wnter is good gas exchange.

 

[EricV]

What do you mean by super cooling?

I mean cooling the water more because of the exchange bringing water into contact with cold air. I've seen suggestions that one shouldn't bring the water on the bottom of the pond up to the surface. Is that not something to worry about?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I mean cooling the water more because of the exchange bringing water into contact with cold air. I've seen suggestions that one shouldn't bring the water on the bottom of the pond up to the surface. Is that not something to worry about?

This is an example of one of many 'incomplete' statements one finds floating around on the web. The complete statement should be 'depending on the depth of the pond one shouldn't bring the water on the bottom of the pond up to the surface. Of course, this only applies during Winter months. Also it almost exclusively applies to Northern ponds (above 40 Lat.).

 

[MitchM]

I mean cooling the water more because of the exchange bringing water into contact with cold air. I've seen suggestions that one shouldn't bring the water on the bottom of the pond up to the surface. Is that not something to worry about?

My pond is 5 feet deep and I prefer to use a method of having a solid ice cover and use a pond breather to facilitate gas exchange. I also have 2 temperature sensors, one on the bottom and one at 2 foot depth. Any temperature difference was minimal and by the end of the winter both sensors were reading the same temperature. I usually have ice cover for a little over 6 months.
There is another member here, Colleen, in about the same climate zone, that keeps her pond with almost full water circulation during the winter and uses a floating heater to keep the water surface open.
The difference is that open water ponds during the winter will need to be topped up with new water due to evaporation, but you have a window to see your fish with the open water. Both water temperatures are approximately the same because the only heat that keeps the water liquid comes from the earth. Floating heaters do not increase pond temperature to any measurable degree.
It really depends on what you want for your pond during the winter.

 

[EricV]

interesting. I was unaware of a "pond breather". Seems like a low power option.

 

[MitchM]

The low power is what appealed to me, plus I tried the floating heaters before and they froze over, making them ineffective.
Food for thought for you, anyways.

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @EricV ! I'm in your same general location - further north, but it's all "Chicago" to anyone outside of Illinois. We run our falls all winter with no trouble. Our fish do great, everything ices over, but the water still flows under the ice and snow. So that's another winter option to consider. The ice and snow provide a measure of insulation and keep the water from evaporating, so we welcome both.

Our pump is submersible and sits in a 1000 gallon underground rain storage "tank" (really a hole lined with pond liner and filled with blocks and gravel) at one end of the pond.