Lotus and Lilly pond

[Ronfire]

I am planning on building 3 ponds cascading into each other.
This area is on the west side of the house and gets full sun from around 10-11 am on.
The lower pond I hope to make 8' round and 4' deep. with the other 2 upper ponds each having a larger surface area than the pond.

The top one will be a pea gravel bog with 2-3" of water above and 2" pipes feeding from the bottom with assorted plants ( not sure yet what )

The next pond I plan to have Lillys and Lotus ( could put the lotus in the top ).This pond will have aound 12"-16 " of water with gravel bottom. Should I feed the 2nd pond with undergravel like the top? Can I plant the lotus and Lillys into the gravel or will they do best in a pot with clay? If I plant them into the 2nd pond in the gravel I may not have to remove them for winter.
The lower pond will be mainly for the goldfish with a couple of Lilly plants for shade.

 

[sissy]

addy has lotus pond but this will be interesting to see built

 

[addy1]

I have a separate pond filled with lotus. They just grow free, no pots. The main thing you need to think of , i.e. depth is how deep does your ice go? The tubers need to be lower than the ice layer. The same for the lilies.

My lotus are in kitty litter, same with the lilies. They might do ok in pea gravel the dirt will collect and help feed them.
They are heavy feeders, my lotus tub is never cleaned, stinks full of debris muck etc but the lotus grow without adding any fertilizer. Dirty water from the big pond flows into it.

My lilies are in the ponds with fish, they are all in oil pans, with kitty litter, during winter I push them in deeper water, at least 18 inches over the tuber.

 

[Jhn]

Lotus and lilies do fine grown loose or in gravel beds in the pond, really even better than when in pots. Especially, once a fish population is established providing a steady load of nutrients to it. The problem is usually keeping them under control. If planted together in planting beds the lotus will eventually choke out the lilies if left alone.

 

[sissy]

If you are considering koi do not put them in with them until you know they will not eat them but another pond just for the lotus would be good .I have seen some huge plants

 

[Ronfire]

The plan is to have goldfish the first year them maybe some Koi. I was at first excited about the Koi but now am looking forward to the bog filter plants as well. Waiting on a friend in the movie industry that can get me some pond liners for free, they throw them away after a water scene. Might get tired of waiting and buy a 100' roll. got a quote for 20x100 roof epdm 45mil for $1300 and $2000 for 30x100. I am sure 100' would disappear in a hurry

 

[Ronfire]

Sissy, I will take photos of the build when I do it. Probably wont be until next spring.
The more I read on the forums the more my plans change. At first I was going to have just a koi pond and diy filters. Now I will build the ponds with some large bog areas for filtration with Lilly, Lotus and other plants that will hopefully survive the winter. Just reading the frost line can be 30-36". Might have to cover the bogs with hay in the winter.

 

[Lisak1]

Just reading the frost line can be 30-36"

Frostline in the ground is different than how deep a pond will freeze. Our frostline is 40" but our pond only freezes 8-10 inches deep.

 

[sissy]

Not hay as it carries seeds .You could get insulation sheets

 

[Ronfire]

Thanks Sissy, forgot about the seed in our hay. I will try to winter the goldfish this year but the pond is maybe 24". I was on a site that indicates water freeze depth and in Kamloops they say to have a water pickup in a pond deeper than 28" so as not to freeze. We are colder than Kamloops, guess I will cover the pond with a couple of sheets of plywood and a pond breather. Surprised how bug the 20 cent feeder fish got.

 

[sissy]

Build the hoop house like colleen did .Texas prepper on you tube shows what you need and how to build it .It does not have to be high