What happened to you pond people? Did you all hibernate with the fish? It's weird that I check the water garden section every few days and hardly anyone has been here. I know, I know, there isn't a lot to post with the weather getting cold but what do you all do when pond season is essentially over for us colder weather people?
I am looking into making concrete garden art and containers for next summer. I have been on that section of Daves quite a bit lately. Some of you may recall I hurt my ankle at the end of summer visiting someones garden. I was at another DG'ers house/garden learning about her art of concrete and concrete similar crafts. Greyma is her name. She has occasionally posted here on the Water Garden section. She is very active in the garden art-she has some amazing work!
Anyways, what holiday gifts are on your wish list that pertain to the pond and garden? Snapple-did you put the underwater video camera on your list?
Ohhh it's lonely in the Water Garden section of Dave's . . .
MM, be careful about doing any concrete work indoors - the fine dust can get in your furnace and wreak havoc on respiratory systems! Concrete also generally needs warmer temperatures to cure - 60 degrees or more. I had planned on adding to my hypertufa collection (I have three nice ones and wanted more for hostas and conifers), but it got too cold too quickly! Might be a good project for one of those "thaw" weeks in March.
On my wish list are books, books and more books! Topics are hostas, water gardening and KOI. : )
I had an order from www.pondrx.com arrive on Monday. I thought the "Fabulous Five" might have gill flukes so I got some Prazi Pond Plus to treat them. I did that Monday night, boy that stuff is messy and took FOREVER to disperse in the water. No one is flashing anymore, though!
I lalso emailed a contractor on Monday about giving a price quote for excavating my pond area next year but have not heard from him...grumble, grumble.
Elizabeth
Feel the same way MM, this is the forum I always check first. But with winter coming on in this neck of the woods there is really nothing to report.
I did see a pretty little koi at the wal-mart and brought him home last week. My plan was to have the little guy live in the 55 gallon aquarium with the three shabunkins this winter and go to the big pond in spring. I had visions of him leading the way in trusting the human for the benifit of the pond fish. The shabunkins must be thugs or something when I am not there cause the poor little guy never did adjust and I found him floating this morning. Made a nice snack for one of the kitties. Don't think I will try that experiment again.
Sorry to hear about your Koi, Tet. It's hard isn't it? My husband asked me what I will do if the fish get sick during the winter and I told him that I do nothing. They may get sick and / or die and I can't do too much with the weather.
IC: I didn't know that about the concrete in the house. I have a room on the far end of the basement with doors as far away from the furnace as you can possibly get and both are enclosed with their own walls and doors. I am going to order a few books at Amazon by some experts that I will have my family "gift" to me for my birthday next week. I hate surprises. . . Anyway, I am hoping the books will S-P-E-L-L it all out for me in detail with all the health and safety concerns.
Linda
Oh that's ugly tetley. Sorry that happened. I've had both good luck and bad luck overwintering young koi in an aquarium. I just think it's the individual condition of the koi, not anything you've done or didn't do. It's been about 50-50.
I'm still finishing up putting the pond stuff in good condition to put away. A replacement for a cracked quartze sleeve on the Fishmate UV came today. I went nuts trying to remember how all the bits and pieces screwed back together and I had to go to a specialty plumbing store for replacement o rings. I am NOT mechanically inclined, but with a set of instructions or a diagram I can usually get the job done. Just not in any hurry. It got done, but my language during the job isn't repeatable.
I also did a surprise ( sort of) non pond job today. I had ordered two JM's from RareFind Nursery from their 35% off sale. They were due to be shipped the 24th. I've been down with a bad cold/flue for the last 8 days so moving kinda slow. Anyway I got up the energy to go out to the garden shed and mix up some JM potting mix in preparation before my ingredients froze solid. They ship them with the root ball in a plastic bag so they have to be unwrapped, plopped in a container, watered, the pots plunged in the ground, mulched and fenced off from rabbits for the winter. I got my tub of soil mix done, put it in the garage, sat down to wheeze, blow and cough when FedEx rang the door bell. You guessed it. The JM's came early and there I was containering, plopping, watering, plunging, mulching and fencing before you could say runny nose. I love gardening but when it's cold and your sick and you want to hide the new JM's from your DH until the "right time" well, it wasn't quite as much fun. I wasn't successful hiding them either. Something about my 18 1/2 lb cat and the big box of shredded newspaper they came in gave it away. I can feel my Christmas gift list shrinking.
Yes mm - I do have the underwater camera on my list and fingers crossed. I think I'll have to be extra, extra good though. I've always been interested in hypertufa but never done it. I have a small collection of dwarf conifers and hypertufa would be great for additions. One thing I'm absolutely going to do this next year is cast a hosta leaf and/or a gunnera leaf in cement. I've had instructions from a magazine and the materials for two years including the cement and have not found the right time to get it done. It's gonna happen in 2009 I swear.
ic - googled these two possible sources of pond contractor references.
There was third, but I couldn't get a working link:
The Norther Iowa Association of Pond & Water Gardeners.
http://www.ciwga.org/
http://www.eips.org/
I have no idea where these may be located inreference to Iowa City.
I did see both of those sites, but upon looking at "member gardens" pictures...there is nothing even close to what I want. Almost everything is really pushed towards "water garden" ponds (shallow, lots of rocks, etc.), instead of koi-specific ponds.
One of my DG friends offered yesterday that if I rent a small digger, she'll send her husband down to show me how to use it. There is a rental store only a few blocks from my house, so that might be a good option. We might have to hand-dig beyond 3 feet, which is about as deep as those diggers can go.
Elizabeth
Ahaa - I should have known you would check every possible resource. We dug our own - by hand - and took the dirt out a side narrow gate one wheelbarrow load at a time. We couldn't get any equipment in the back yard. It was brutal. By all means, take up the offer.
This message was edited Nov 21, 2008 11:47 AM
I'm a hand digger too. Living in a subdivision, there's no room between houses to allow any equipment into the back yard. I love the final results, even though I have to sit motionless on the couch for several days afterward! :)
My arms were several inches longer when it was all over. That wheelbarrow was murder. Plus every rock was brought in by hand in a garden cart through the same gate. After they were unloaded on the driveway and picked through for the best ones. You do get exactly what you want though. It's all your own creation.
I found out that I can rent a backhoe from a local equipment company for $160.00 a day. This is it: http://www.aerorental.com/contractor_tools/detail.php?productID=2317
There is a section of fencing in our yard I can take out, so getting the machinery in there should be no problem (it is only 5' wide). I would love to learn to use one of those. There are so many projects I could use it for!!! I wonder if there is a how-to manual online or something.
That place is close to my house so it can be literally driven from point A to point B. We also have a "handyman type" who helps with some projects - we've been trying for a month to get him to fix a piece of drywall in our ceiling. He is very good and honest, though, so when he finally comes out to fix the ceiling I asked hubby to ask him if he is interested in the excavation project.
I'm sure my arms will be longer, too! I will still have to carry a wheelbarrow full of dirt at a time to the edge of the property, where I will pile it up to make a berm for hostas : ) I will also need to save some to make the waterfall for the pond.
Snapple, I wish I could keep JMs alive. They just don't seem to like me, even though I really like them! Definitely unrequited love there.
I hope you post some pictures of you on that backhoe. We did have some help with the "big dig". We traded six-packs and steaks on the grill in exchange for labor from a couple of friends. We also got some high school kids who worked for money, ( certainly not any six-pack stuff). I couldn't believe how great those kids were. At first just a couple showed up, then they brought friends. ( We posted a note on a community bulletin board. ) Some of our youth is turning out pretty good.
As to the JM's. I have to admit that I have killed my share. They are definitely challenging. What finally turned the tide to more successes than failures was paying strict attention to sighting for the right exposure - per cultivar - which is touchy to say the least, and getting a proper watering routine. By watering routine I mean even well established trees get watered exactly once a week with a deep soak no matter what. If I go away I have my daughter come over and water. No kidding. I'm the queen of soaker hoses. During excessive heat and/or drying winds it may be necessary to water daily. Havn't lost one since.
I incorporated those water holding crystals in the soil for the first time with last fall's additions. They are supposed to last five years I think. I have yet to see what help they will be, if any. http://www.soilmoist.com/products/soil-moist.php
I have been using them for three years in container plants and they work really good. But these are all annual's that I toss at the end of the season.
This message was edited Nov 21, 2008 2:41 PM
Snapple: JM's? -Jap. Maples? Which types did you get?
Wouldn't it be nice if "Santa" already installed the underwater camera in the pond prior to the cold weather and then for Christmas "Santa" gives the the link to look? That's the way I would like Santa to do it for me otherwise I'd have to wait until May to get it into the pond and I'm not the patient!!
How much work is involved to installing the camera in the pond anyway?
Hostas: I sw a few of you were into hostas and I wanted to tell you about an amazing version I saw fully grown (and then hunted down and bought for myself) called Empress Wu. I saw a fully grown one this summer on a garden tour and it was 5 feet tall- maybe larger and it looked sort of tropical. I am not into collecting hostas but this one was sooooooooo incredible looking that I had to have it. I ordered one @ $35.00 (ouch-the most I paid for a perrenial in my life) and recvd a generous piece that I split up into two pieces). Very slow growing but should be very neat in a few years.
I also bought two "saw blade" (or jagged edge-the name escapes me at the moment) and it is a sharp edgy hosta that can be in the sun and looks kinda tropical and is a bright yellow/green. I put the two of them stream side and they looked good (and happy) to be there.
I did a search for a picture of it with a person so you can get an idea of it's size. This is a smaller version of the plant I saw this summer but impressive. I noticed prices went down since I bought mine this summer. Only 1 place carried this hosta in July and now I found 4 right off the bat. $22.00 for one is the best price.
http://www.naylorcreek.com/main/h_images/empresswu.jpg
I hope this picture turns out okay.
L
I received my 2009 Naylor Creek catalog in the mail last week...I'm trying REALLY HARD not to cut into my pond savings to place an order!!! 'Empress Wu' definitely is a big one. I wish that there was a hosta that size with variegation - that would be very cool! I plan on moving about a dozen of my hostas near the pond after it is complete.
Acer palmatum - 'Shirazz', 'Ukigumo', 'Sekimori' (high graft), 'Purple Ghost', 'Omure Yama' (low gaft), 'Beni Himi', 'Koto Himi', 'Viridis', 'Butterfly' and 'Inaba Shidare'. Acer shirasawanum 'Autumn Moon'. That's the whole lot. The 'Beni Himi' and the 'Koto Himi' are the new arrivals. 'Shirazz' is proving to be one tough JM. It can handle full sun, wind and heat without any crisping if kept to a watering schedule. No imformation on winter problems, if any. Hardy to zone 5.
That 'Empress Wu' is one humdinger of a hosta. Have you seen 'Sum and Substance'? That's my last aquisition. I'm too leary of hosta virus X to add any more, for now anyway. Don't tell the good folk on the hosta forum. They think I'm absolutely nuts to stop collecting. http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/features/perenplantsofyear/hosta04/sumsub04.htm
Wow! That is some hosta! Right now I am really enjoying things that have big leaves and will have to get this in the spring. Did you know that you could grow a lot of the hosta varieties directly in shallow water?
That surprises me. I'm thinking of trying that. Do you anchor them in pebbles?
I saw in some of the water gardening books I've acquired that you can grow them in water, too. I think most books consider them marginals. They still need soil, cannot be grown just in pebbles.
Snapple, I don't have 'Sum and Substance' (that is one that HVX is rampant through) but I have a few of its sports, including two 'Gunther's Prize.' I only buy from half a dozen long-time hosta breeders.
How could you say that you don't want to add this sun-tolerant beauty to your collection? It should get to be about three feet tall and four feet wide. This baby is going to be one of the stars near the new pond...along with my 2009 Conifers of the Year from the ACS.
Oh! Oh! Oh! What are you getting? I've got to have Pinus strobus 'Niagra Falls'. I haven't shopped for a source yet.
Hi everyone, just popping in to say “hi” and see what you are all doing, and how your ponds are faring. Now don’t hate the zone 9b lady, but things are still going around here in my little ponds ;-).
I've grown my hostas in vases of water for several years now. Water and a fewe tadpoles keeps them happy all year long. Because hostas don't grow this far south, it's been the only way I can get them to grow. I just put one in the corner of my pond, again bare rooted, and just anchored it with a few stones. We'll see if it works the same way as the vases.
In vases? Wow! That sounds pretty neat. I've never tried growing hostas before here...
Pinus strobus 'Niagara Falls' is one of them...the other I can't remember...gotta run downstairs and get my ACS bulletin...Pinus heldreichii 'Schmidtii'. The Schmidtii might go in a hypertufa, I have not yet decided. I am extremely excited! I will probably move my potted Picea omorika 'Bruns Pendula' back there too.
I am REALLY excited about the 'Niagara Falls', though! This is my first year as an ACS member so it is my first shot at buying in the advance sale. I sent back my order form the day it arrived in the mail! I thought the plants were a fair price, considering shipping is included and they are guaranteed for a full year. Most mail order companies only guarantee there stuff to arrive alive but nothing beyond that. I lost about $500 worth of conifers from one company this year and that stunk. Not one could be replaced. They arrived about a month before they should have and were all pushing new growth, some of them just never recovered from that. Luckily two parvifloras from that batch are doing well as is a mini sylvestris.
I have not really thought about what plants I'm going to put around the pond (there will be only 1 or 2 waterlilies actually in the pond and some water lettuce, maybe some dwarf red parrot's feather but that is it) - just so far a few hostas and a few conifers. I would like to get a Japanese lantern. I would really like a JM for back there...but I get so queasy thinking about killing another one of those. My 'Emerald Lace' is doing well and the 'Pixie' I ordered from Dave grew like gangbusters over the summer. I guess if those two make it through the winter I might work up the guts to try one by the pond. I love JMs almost as much as conifers but I went horribly wrong with the half dozen I ordered last fall (all but one, the EL, died).
From all the retailers I ordered from this year, Dave's Nursery was by far the best. I ordered a bunch of stuff from him and lost only one plant, which was entirely my fault because I had it in part shade and then trimmed the hedge near it and it was then in full sun and it burned to a crisp in a week (it was in July). I don't know if he will have 'Niagara Falls', though.
I have not heard about growing hostas in vases either! That sounds really neat.
Sunny, looks like you have quite a few good koi dealers in the San Jose area. Do you have a favorite place or few to recommend? Quite a few dealers that sell online and look to have really nice nishikigoi, but of course looks can be deceiving.
Nuts! I don't have an order form from ACS. I just joined this quarter. I did get the fall Quarterly though. I'm going to contact them and see if it's still available. I'm sure glad you posted that ic. Otherwise I'll just have to keep an eye out for it, 'Niagara Falls'. $500??? Lost??? OUCH! But I've totaled JM's that probably equal that. Just not all at once. LOL Really, with JM's it's just getting the afternoon sun exposure right and ultra consistent water. I learned that the real hard way. That's also why I hide some of the new arrivals from DH. I think he's secretely keeping a running tab on the fatalities. The last ones I lost were not my fault. The horrible Easter freeze of 2007 split the bark on a couple and you can't do much about that.
Planning the plantings around the pond will be such fun. A word of caution. If the pond will be in an area that can get any type of a stiff breeze choose a mulch which binds tight and stays put. I spent an entire season netting mini pine bark chunks from the pond that blew in from the adjacent plantings. In the area around our pond I use finely chopped oak leaves. Once they're watered in or rained on they mat together and stay put.
It's OK sunnyg. I've learned to just admire all the great stuff and the long season growing you have. Do you grow Clivia? That's a plant I just love.
What is ACS? Did I miss that info in the postings? My prize plant this summer (and I pray it lives through our Chicagoland winter) is an Japanese Umbrella Pine. I bought a little one in August at around $80 but wish I had the guts to buy a fully grown one but it was about $1200-1500 dollars (can't remember) and I didn't have that spare cash (who does?). It grows so slow and needs shade so I put some burlap around it. I planted it near a new Yellow Bird Magnolia that is also small (all my foundation plants are small because everything is new in the yard with the new pond and it's so costly to start). The magnolia should start shading the Jap. Pine in two years (I'm hoping). I plan to add some larger evergreens around it in the spring but they will be bigger as I am saving my money for them and asking family for gift cards to my favorite garden centers.
Is Dave's Nursery part of the Co-Op or this site?
Linda
There is no trouble finding a gift for a garden/ponder is there? The list of wants is always expanding, at least it is here. The ACS is the American Conifer Society.
http://www.conifersociety.org/
Enter at your own risk! You think you want stuff now? Well just wait until you check this out. I just joined this last quarter but already I'm glad I did. A Japanese Umbrella Pine? Very very, nice aquisition. Which I could figure out where to squeeze one in.
I really want a Japanese Umbrella Pine, too. There were a few nice ones about 4' each at my favorite local garden center, but they were all sold before the nursery went to 50% off. They were something like $350 each. Ouch is right! That is almost one that I would want to buy at full price, though, because that garden center has a really good one full year no-questions guarantee, but it is only on full priced items. I think it is Gee's Farm in Michigan that has a variegated version that is just gorgeous. That is another one that might be good near the pond...and I will have an area of part-shade available for it!
Linda, Dave's Nursery is a garden center based out of New Jersey (but they do mail order!) - they have a very high ranking on the Garden Watchdog.
Elizabeth
Ic_conifers, I’m sorry I can’t help you on the Bay Area koi dealers. We could very well have some great ones in this area though. I try my best not to look into things like that, as I live in a townhouse which doesn’t have much of a yard or room for a “real” pond. I have two tiny ponds with several shubunkin goldfish, one koi that somehow followed me home ;-), and one funny-looking fish we got out of the cheapo goldfish tank. Snapple, you may not have zone envy, but I have big yard/big pond envy ;-). Here you all are talking about conifers…sigh. I’ve drooled over clivias at local nurseries, but haven’t gotten one….yet.
So called "tiny ponds" are every bit as challenging as big honking koi ponds and I've seen some on DG that are just exquisite. I started with and still have a small goldfish/shubunkin pond. I enjoy it every bit as much the big one. Koi are like that. They will make eye contact and say "Adopt me!" "Adopt me!" Right after I flatly said that the pond could not hold any more I brought one home last August. I'm going to have to eventually figure out how to accomodate them all at full size.
The local botanical garden is always looking for fish to add to their pond, but I'm sorry to say it isn't well managed due to budgetary constraints. It was built in the 70's and needs a complete overhaul. It's concrete lined, mostly too shallow for fish to survive the winter, has a leak in the stream that runs through it, has no meaningful filtration and parts of it completely fill with leaves over the winter. Add to those woes a bottom drain that no longer functions and what you really have is a large algae choked green water basin that grows nice water lillys in the sunny end. This botanical garden just announced a huge expansion with many new additions, but in the plans I've seen so far they didn't address the pond. I'm just a lowley Master Gardener volunteer who does gardening chores there. I work mostly in the Asian Garden and the Shade Garden where the pond is located and it drives me NUTS! They do have a professional pond management firm managing the pond but there's only so much they can do given the current conditions. Before I learned the pond's limitations I had planned on donating one of my biggest koi. I happened to be working in the area when one of the pond pros was there and she explained the situation. So, either I get on the Junior League Board and change some minds, ;>) or I just keep my head down and keep pulling weeds and pruning. Most of all my koi are staying home.
Wow, sorry about that rant. It's been on my mind for some time.
hhmm.... this post has me thinking, and that's a very good thing.
I'm planning on digging a small pond/water feature in my garden. Fiddled around last year with a pump, hose, ceramic pots and some grave and made up a fountain. I had a plain ole barrel as a water garden/fish pond last year and decided that I NEED a pond. That all started out with trying to find a way to prevent mosquitoes breeding in the water storage barrels.... son was supposed to catch a few minnows.... well he did, bass fry....
The 5 baby bass that lived in the barrel are now overwintering in a fish bowl on my kitchen counter, and at the rate they're growing, they will need a larger home come next spring. They are very entertaining!
The current plan for a pond/water feature will be 4 feet by 4 feet by however deep I can dig. I can raise the edge up one or two feet high above ground level......
I've got a couple of elephant ears overwintering in bulb form in the basement, and some papyrus hanging on in the kitchen..... siberian iris in the garden needs dividing......
hmmmm. may have to have the pond feature take up another garden block, and expand the space to 4feet by 10 feet by however deep I can dig....
may decide to take up hubby's suggestion to rent a mini backhoe......
so important considerations: filtration, way to drain the pond completely, prevent leaf debris from landing in the pond, and adequate filtration.....
wandering away to PONDer some more...... THANKS!
Welcome bonkers! Get a pond and you really will go bonkers!!!! LOL! Take your time this winter and really study ponds/design. Remember to include a bottom drain or two (I wish I did and the pond clean up is killing me -as well as the fish when I don't clean it out).
Mothermole
"Fiddled around last year with a pump, hose, ceramic pots and some grave and made up a fountain"
That sounds scary, did you raid the local cemetary?? LOL
You will really enjoy you new pond. I am with MM take your time designing this winter and try to incorporate a bottom drain if you can. Mine are galvanized stock tanks so I could not do that. I do not have any stones in the bottom so the clean up for me is minimal and very easy. One thing that I do find indespensible is the UV filter to rid the water of the algea that will turn your water green and make it impossible to see your fish or plants. Many filter systems have that incorporated but they are also available as stand alone units. As far as depth is concerned a lot of people make them three to four feet deep. Mine are two feet deep and have not presented a problem. We are in the same zone so two or three feet should be good.
I would take up the suggestion of the backhoe. Dug the first pond by hand. We have heavy clay and it took me a while. One shovelful at a time and a small garden cart. This starter pond was roughly circular and 18" to 2' deep depending on where you stood and has since been replaced with a 6' stock tank buried in the ground. A backhoe was used for the second and took about an hour and is also a circular stock tank buried in the ground with a lip so that leaves and other debris are not washed in when it rains.
lol, gravel..... fingers are rebelling this morning...
oops, on second thought, that intended area IS the 'unofficial' backyard cemetary..... deceased tropical fish, an unfortunate chipmunk and squirrel...... hamster and gerbil......
This message was edited Nov 27, 2008 2:01 PM
Bonkers, I'm in the planning stage - I've changed my mind several times on how deep, outline, etc. There is so much to think about! One of my DG friends volunteered her hubby to dig the hole for us - I'm going to rent a mini backhoe. It is actually really inexpensive, compared to what hand-digging would physically take on me. I also have no completely ruled out hiring a contractor. The depth for overwintering fish outside in your zone, which is the same as mine, is at least four feet, which is a lot to hand-dig!
Elizabeth
I will disagree on depth. The goldfish pond that was dug by hand varied from 18" to 2' deep and now is a stock tank that is 2'. Never used a heater and never lost a fish. These were goldfish from the bait shop and several of them have grown fairly large and I have not had a problem. I did put a heater in the koi pond last year though. It is also a stock tank that is 2' feet deep. I have plans to build a "real" pond in the near future to accomodate the koi but that has not happened yet. Last year was my first year to overwinter the koi and the tank heater failed in midwinter. The koi were doing great in the spring and even presented me with my first ever koi babies.
Tetley, there seems to be lots of opinions on what depth is needed. On koivet.com, everyone seemed to say 4' is a good starting point. Both of those depths are for koi, with the idea that would work for full grown fish. I think there are folks on here that overwinter goldfish in eighteen inches of water and their fish do well, even in zone 5.
I can't believe how expensive pond heaters are. Just to get a little one for my basement quarantine pond that can heat 270 gallons was $150. The units large enough for a 4,000 gallon pond are well over a thousand bucks! Then there are the operating costs....yikes.
You can get a stock tank heater at a farm supply store like Farm & Fleet for under $35.00 and that comes with the wire cage. Now the cost of operating it....that's another story.
I've seen 'backyard' solar panels advertised and plan on investigating those further. I really HATE to increase my hydro bill.
I would seriously consider investing in a small scale solar panel, in order to have a water feature in my 'paradise'.......... who knows, what it may lead to...
I would like a pond to be deep enough to keep water temps relatively constant...... I know that warm water supports much less oxygen. More than a few years ago my Mom and Dad had a stocked spring fed trout pond. Three weeks of unseasonably dry, blazing-hot weather proved catastrophic for the pond.
Bass are a warm-water fish, though, and goldfish live in a bowl......
As for depth, I think for me, as deep as practical (digging, liner size etc) is the way to go.
I'm still wrestling with the mini-back hoe, I know my DH. It would SAVE the hand digging, BUT would create more problems for me...... the location for the pond is tight. It would sit between a row of cedar trees/hosta and daffodil/tulip bed, a patio/path and the rest of garden block-beds. Factor in access via my 3 grapevine vineyard and rugosa rose hedge........ well, all I can see is carnage and ruin of my beloved.
The beloved being the rose hedge, grapevines, spring bulbs AND spouse. The plants because what would happen with DH at the controls of the digger, and DH when I got done with him for being at the controls.........
it's a good thing it's not spring, yet.
I appreciate your thoughts and ideas.
This message was edited Nov 28, 2008 10:12 AM
On depth - my pond is 3-1/2 ft., 2500 gal. Winter here gets to -10 for short periods. I use a 1500 watt API floating deicer. The water temp never dips below 38, even in the coldest weather. The average winter water temp with the deicer is 40. ( I have a remote thermometer that I can monitor from inside.) Right now the air temp is 36, it was 28 last night and the water temp is 45. The deicer/heater is expensive to run. In a severe winter it can add $65.00 month to the electric bill - a fact the my DH was only too happy to point out!
Don't let this scare you off. It isn't necessary to try to maintain 40 degrees. All you really need is a hole in the ice that NEVER freezes over. There are smaller wattage heaters that will do the job just fine and be much less expensive to operate. ALWAYS have a backup deicer on hand.
If I had it to do over again I would go to 4'. Dig once, regret forever.
Luckily for us, the area where the mini-backhoe will go through to get to the area to dig is already an "area in progress" - ditch lilies and a few remaining blades of grass (not many). The machine is only like 4 1/2 feet wide, so I only need to take out one panel of fencing for it to get there. I'm cringing more about hauling away the dirt (which will be shovel by shovel in a wheelbarrow) than the digging part. The hauling will be by hand...