New Mexico Wildlife Pond

[rubyduby]

Hi everyone, just wanted to put out a pond update. Everything is going well. A couple weeks ago the string algae pretty much cleared up on its own, so I think the bog and other plants just needed to reach critical mass. Happy to answer any questions. Fish are doing well, added some mosquito fish just to have some smaller fish to go with the goldfish. Bog really took off in year 2, and I'm almost at the point where I'll need to start pulling stuff I think. The Most Valuable Plant is still Yerba Mansa, and I'll give a 2nd place finish to the water clover which I brought in this spring. Spreads well, fills in gaps, is pretty, but doesn't choke out other stuff or anything.

Edit: Not sure why I committed the cardinal sin of a vertical video. Will redo it at some point...

Edit 2: Forgot to mention one little lesson. I planted a few swamp milkweed around the pond. The ones in the bog are doing great. The ones at the margin of the pond both grew tall and then fell over. Apparently swamp milkweed has a pretty deep root system, so only plant them somewhere where they'll have deep enough substrate to anchor securely.

What a beautiful wildlife pond you have created Rashad....It must be so much fun to see all of the different inhabitants

 

[combatwombat]

Wow, plants really filled in. Looks amazing, @Rashad. Like it’s been there forever. Glad you’re stopping by regularly to give updates. Love seeing them.

Will have to watch the video again later. Sitting by our pond right now and can’t hear the audio on my phone over the sound of the waterfall.

 

[Laaf]

Beautiful! Your water clarity is amazing. And the plants have filled in and your pond ecosystem looks healthy and happy!

My string algae was bad, then it disappeared as well.

 

[cas]

Very pretty! Thanks for posting an update.

 

[YShahar]

Looks beautiful! I just now discovered your pond build thread and was especially intrigued because I'm in a similar climatic zone (I think). I'm in Israel, which has a Mediterranean climate, though rather desert-like as you move away from the ocean. I had never thought about planting green onions in the bog, but now I'm going to try it!

 

[Rashad]

Looks beautiful! I just now discovered your pond build thread and was especially intrigued because I'm in a similar climatic zone (I think). I'm in Israel, which has a Mediterranean climate, though rather desert-like as you move away from the ocean. I had never thought about planting green onions in the bog, but now I'm going to try it!

I was pleasantly surprised how well they did. Theoretically I could pull them out and divide them to eat some and then replant, but I've just let them grow. I did snip off the greens for a salad once, but figured I'd just let them do their work in the bog.

 

[combatwombat]

I was pleasantly surprised how well they did. Theoretically I could pull them out and divide them to eat some and then replant, but I've just let them grow. I did snip off the greens for a salad once, but figured I'd just let them do their work in the bog.

The more you cut them, the more they’ll take up nutrients to regrow, no?

 

[Rashad]

The more you cut them, the more they’ll take up nutrients to regrow, no?

Theoretically? I mean plants are also growing their root systems. Plus flowers and seeds are pretty resource intensive, so maybe you want to leave them alone so they make lots of those? I would love to see some research on all this. Maybe you cut back the foliage during early to mid-summer, then let things flower?

 

[GBBUDD]

Pond looks great! I am thinking about adding a similar intake bay like yours over a skimmer. Are you happy with it? You mentioned that a lot of debris get stuck in the plants but I would think you would have the same issue with a skimmer, right?

skimmers usualy have a strainer basket and a mat pad intakes have nothing