I 'might' have too many plants

[Shdwdrgn]

First chance I've had to grab some new pictures this month. I desperately need to thin out what's in the water... If only I could find the water?

I'm sure its there somewhere...

Keep going...

Wait -- maybe?
This is what I have to deal with when trying to feed them every day. I think most of the food gets in the water though.

It's not any better from the other side. There is a waterfall back there by the fence...

At least the fish seem to be enjoying their seclusion. For reference, the irises to the left have some leaves standing nearly 7 feet above the ground -- and their bulbs are all down under water.

The bench was a great idea last month. Now I can't see the main pond at all while sitting.

So if anyone is in the area North of Denver and wants some irises or hardy umbrella, send me a private message. Sorry I don't have time to try and figure out shipping this year. I'll probably be listing on freecycle as well, this is just getting crazy...

Sorry fishies, but I want to be able to see you again!

 

[j.w]

Aye Carumba, I see what you mean! You have your work cut out for you and lots of nice plants for lots of people!

 

[fishin4cars]

Wow, I guess I thought you were exaggerating you when you said some of the Iris's were over 7' tall. I thought to myself when you sent the pm that they must have grown a lot since I sent them and wish I could see a picture, LOT more growth than I expected. That looks like a jungle, Water looks crystal clear. Guess asking how the weather loaches have faired is out of the question. LOL BTW, I still like how it has turned out. Looks so different from winter to summer doesn't it? .

 

[JohnHuff]

Aye Carumba again! That looks like a garden, not a pond! Fish look happy though!

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Yeah, a HUGE difference between Summer and Winter pics! Having so many plants, they are definitely doing a good job of keeping the water clean. I rely on simple tests to judge my water -- if the water feels clean in my hand (not slimy), and if it smells clean (not stagnant), then I'm happy. Also because of the rearranging I did this Spring, the fish still have easy access from one end to the other, and I've been seeing them cruising up and down the stream every night.

My judgement on the height of the irises is based on standing right beside them. I'm just shy of 6' tall, and I'm looking up at the tops of those ones in the back. The clumps of yellow irises I believe are now approching a full 6' tall. They completely dwarf everything I've bought locally.

I'm not sure if any of the weather loaches are still surviving. I have not yet seen any this year. We made the decision to catch any that I find and move them in to our larger aquiariums, but so far nothing, although I also have not found any bodies. I'll keep an eye out for them though. There could be as many as 10 in there, but I'm starting to think the Winter temperatures are just too close to their tolerance.

 

[JohnHuff]

Um, believe it or not, I can tell how clean the water is by the ripples it makes. Just experience and observation though, not magic.

I rely on simple tests to judge my water -- if the water feels clean in my hand (not slimy), and if it smells clean (not stagnant), then I'm happy.

 

[addy1]

Wow, I thought mine was over grown! I cut way back on plants in the pond, hardly any floaters, just floating lilies. About 40% open water plus minus.

Great filtration you have going there! Those iris are unreal!

 

[sissy]

hide and seek pond but bet the water is clean ,what choice does it have to get dirty :cheerful:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I finally got a chance to do a little "pond gardening" today. Cleaned the pumps, flushed the filters, and dredged up some stuff from the bottom. The water is going to be in bad shape until things settle out tomorrow, but at least I got rid of a lot of gunk. I also made my first major change to the plant arrangments...

This shot is from the same view as my second picture above. What I did was remove one huge clump of irises from the left side of the waterfall, then moved the umbrella plant that was in front of everything to fill the spot where the irises were at. Of course everything is kinda droopy right now, but in a few weeks the umbrella will be getting its roots into the new rocks and standing up straight again.

My poor little blue grass has nearly died from lack of sunlight... hopefully now it will perk back up. But the main thing is I can actually see the waterfall again! I'm considering either removing or thinning back the lizard tail just behind the nearly-dead grass... I have another (larger) lizard-tail straight across on the other side of the pond, and this one is just blocking my view of half the large pond. I also plan on thinning or removing the clump of umbrella that is on the far right of the picture. Once all that is complete, I will be able to see most of the pond from this side, but it still leaves all the taller plants on the far side giving the fish shade from the afternoon sun.

Here's the clump of umbrella I moved (just to the left of center). The waterfall and filter barrel are completely hidden by the plant. Once they get rooted again, they will be as tall as the remaining irises, but the ledge they are sitting on drops straight to the bottom of the pond, so there will be very little room for the plant to try to spread out.

Here's the clump of irises I took out. They are in a 6-gallon tub, and stand over 4 feet tall.

And last, one of my calla lilies bloomed! This is the first time every a calla has bloomed in my yard, so I'm very excited!

 

[addy1]

very pretty calla, I have not tried them. Pond plants do grow darn well once they start.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I picked up several calla bulbs from Walmart as they went on clearance. About 1/3 of the bulbs survived, so I think I have 6 or 7 that are growing now. The ones I planted around the yard in previous years failed miserably, I barely even got leaves to appear from them. These I started sitting about half way in the water, and let them grow for a few weeks before putting them in the dirt beside the pond. Seems to have done the trick!

 

[j.w]

Now we can see your lovely pond and love the color of that Calla! I just have the solid yellow and white ones. They grow great here in our mild temps. Mine love lots of water.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I got an Easter-egg mix of bulbs, so I'll probably have a lot of pastel colors... No clue what is going to come up, but I hope to at least see white ones too!

 

[addy1]

I have planted day lilies along one length of fencing, around 50 feet, just from purging day lilies from the bog. They grew so well there.

 

[Dave's pond Indiana]

Those plants and your entire landscape looks great. You just have to enlarge your pond. LOL Beautiful

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Ha! If it were that easy, I would have just built it bigger to begin with. Unfortunately I just don't have any more room in the yard, so I have to live with what I have now. I'm definitely making some plans for rearranging and thinning out next Spring. I'll put all the larger plants on the back side, keep the smaller plants up front, and maybe next Summer I'll actually be able to see the fish! I'm sure they loved their seclusion this year, but what's the point of having a pond you can't see?

 

[Priscilla]

I'm a little late to this post, but new to the pond world. LOVING your pictures!!!!! What are you growing all these gorgeous plants in? Pots? Or just the rocks on the sides? Are the calla lilies in the pond? Hoping that one day I will have that look of not knowing where the pond begins, just everything flowing looking natural.

Your iris's blew my mind! I have a little patch of African yellow and the purple, I get so excited for a flower!

I have some water hyacinths, but the fish are eating them up, so I netted them, hoping that helps.

Any tips you have on planting or ideas for plants that will live in the water I would love to hear them. I live on a small island in the Caribbean and my plant store does not have any clue about ponds.

Thanks!

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Considering your location, you should have a much easier time getting plants to grow for you! Everything I plant has to be able to withstand a hard freeze, so it limits the flower choices I have. All of my plants are directly in the rocks -- there are no pots anywhere.

There are a lot of plants that grow well in marsh-like conditions. Anything you see that grows near the water's edge can be planted in or beside your pond. Something like an iris likes to get its roots down into the water. The trick is to see what conditions the plant grows in naturally. Some will grow in shallow water, while others cannot have their crown (the ball where the roots come together at the base of the plant) submerged. Put plants along the edge of the water if they need to be up higher, or you can use a small pile of rocks to hold them in place. Once they get going, they'll adjust themselves to where they want to be, but you have to keep them alive long enough to do that.

The thing about plants is, once they get their roots in the water, they will start sucking up all those free-floating nutrients (what we call fish-poo) and thrive on them. Just start with some native freshwater plants that you find in the area. Last year I went on a search for snake-grass. I knew it grew around here, so I went driving for an afternoon. I ended up finding the stuff growing in ditches where they got water runoff from the fields. I dug up a couple buckets full and brought them home. They only had about a month to get established before the cold weather hit, but this Spring I expect to see them popping up all around the pond. These are one of the plants that don't like their crown wet, so I tucked them all around the edge of the pond, some propped up in the rocks in the water, and others tucked just on the outside of the liner.

Another thing to consider is methods to change your environment. I practically live in the desert. We have to water our yards to let the grass grow, so you can imagine how hard it is to grow something that needs a lot of water. However in my pictures you'll notice I have a lot of strawberries growing! While trying out different plants, I discovered one of the groundcovers holds the water close to the ground. Any time you reach into the plant, it is always wet underneath. So I grow these and the strawberries together, and they both thrive. Normally cala lilies cannot survive here because of the cold (although if I lived another 200 miles further South they would grow just fine)... So I'm testing an idea to see if I can get them to grow by my pond. Considering we've had an extremely cold Winter this year, if any of the bulbs survived I will consider it a huge success. (It will probably be another couple months before it warms up enough for them to start growing.)

Anyway, the point of all this is to work with what you can find. If you can put the plants into a similar position to where they grow naturally, then the nutrients from your pond will make them thrive, and in return the plants will help filter your water and keep your fish healthy (the fish love nibbling on roots!) If you have troubles, report back and everyone here will be happy to try and help.