Hi from Montana!

[CountryEscape]

Placing them well is the name of the game. I have some I placed in the waterfall that were not very sturdy, but moved them and stuck them in there better the second time. Can't wait to see the finished project. Hoping you get some good weather this weekend to complete it!

 

[Big Lou]

You said it CE. Good planning and rock selection sure saves your back, time and frustration.

 

[callingcolleen1]

MY Pond, you said all your fish lay on their side in the winter? When do you quit feeding them?

 

[mtpond]

No they don't lay on their sides they lay on the right side of the pond and lately they have been laying in front of the pond.

 

[rebelangel_3733]

Am going on a rock hunt later today witha coworker...I only need another oh 200 or so! Hopefully the rain we had last night wont hamper some of the area's we plan on going!

 

[callingcolleen1]

The wind here today is just howling and wicked! Thank goodness I am down in the valley and the wind is mostly high up in the trees. Hows the wind today where you are MY Pond? We seem to have pretty much the same weather half the time.

 

[mtpond]

Colleen, Its been windy here too. For the last couple of days the wind blows all the time and we are getting some pretty big gusts. I've been getting some leaves and pine needles in my pond because of the wind. I'm thinking I should cover the pond but I keep thinking the wind is going to stop. The tree thats above my pond, the leaves are still mostly green so I don't want to net my pond quit yet. In the next week or two I will start cleaning out the bottom of the pond and taking out the plants that I'm not going to keep in the pond over the winter. Most of my lilies are on the bottom of the pond already so I need to find some kind of tool that I can stand by the pond and cut the rest of the leaves off. My waterfall is still running so monitoring the pond temp closely. Tonight it had dropped down to 47.5, the fish are still fairly active.

 

[rebelangel_3733]

I had to get into my pond a couple days ago to get a ball out that the neighbor kids must have gotten over our fence and clean out some stuff that blew in...and it was chilly for sure in there...no wonder my fish are starting to "slow down" abit. Am not feeding as much either. I still have to take out my lotus and a couple other plants in the pond and I guess they are all going into buckets in the basement for the winter...along with alot of other plants like my elephant ears and taro and banana trees will have to come inside. Going to be fun finding new winter homes for all of these as we moved back into my lil house (daughter moved into the 2 story) that and I have to clean out and drain the old pond there and get the babies out into their winter 70 gallon tank over there yet...womans work is never done...lol

 

[CountryEscape]

I was in my ponds last weekend, too, Rebel, but I just bet the water in my ponds was far warmer than your Nebraska ponds! My ponds are hovering at 60-64 degrees lately. Today the high was almost 80 again/still. Hoping for a good chance of rain tomorrow and Thurs. The 1/2" I got last weekend was not enough to get down and soften up the dirt even in the newly mulched flower bed. So, I'm guessing it's going to take 1-2" minimum before I'm able to plant the spring bulbs in there. Lows only getting down to 60's at night, so pond temps will remain in the 60's as well. Maybe my thermometer is broken ... come to think of it, as it has been reading right at 62 for a while now ... Did get some cool weather food for the fish, though. Tried it out this evening and they loved it!

 

[callingcolleen1]

I have not fed my fish for at least 10 days now, my water too cold and I want them to eat their pond greens (hornwort and algae) cause it's better diet for cold water temperatures. I covered my ponds with nets last week, after our first frost, cause I get tons of leaves and seeds. After the first frost the leaves really start to fall, even the green leaves too!

Thank goodness the big winds gusts are gone, but now I hear that snow may be coming soon....

 

[CountryEscape]

Snow? But it's only first week of October... is that normal for you, Colleen? We don't typically see snow until well into December here, and then most often not much to worry about anyhow.

 

[rebelangel_3733]

We've been in the lower to mid 80's with a couple upper 40's and mostly lower 50's at night and a couple upper 70's, but the water felt chilly to me standing in it and noticed while I was in there that I have baby fish in this pond too! Prolific group of kids I have ic as I have babies in the other pond I have at the other house. Still trying to figure out how I'm going to catch those lil boogers over there before I drain it for the winter. At least this pond now I would hope they will do like the big kids and just dive for winter. I only saw 4 here but am betting there are more. There is a fine algea growth on the liner on the new pond and am betting thats where they hide so they dont get eaten.
I heard out west and north of us they may be getting snow this weekend as were suppose to drop in temps here to the mid 50's for saturdays high then back in the 70's by monday. Not looking forward to cold weather, but tis the season. We've had mild winters here the past few years so were due for a crummy one.

 

[callingcolleen1]

We have had snow before many times in September! I even remember once we had snow at the end of August! This is now October, snow very normal here in October!

 

[CountryEscape]

• Spring and fall are my favorite seasons of the year. I love the cool crisp nights, and the warm days. IMO, 70's for daytime temp and 50's for night time temps are perfect! I would never want to give up spring and fall temps. Last year (2012), I swear we went from winter to summer. Quickly went from 50's for a high to 80, and then 90's for 3 months in a row. Very unusual, and then no rain to make it hotter and dryer. This year, pretty good weather, only normal days in the 90's and beautiful spring and now fall. Bring it on! Winter can wait IMO ... until about January. :blueflower:

 

[Big Lou]

We also love four seasons but we are definately in the wrong region for such. Our seasons are basically whatever comes our way.