I thought my two koi had died; then one showed up a few weeks ago. Now the other is there too. My mud bottom natural pond has a 72,000 gallon capacity. I have never fed them until today. I have gold fish too, but the man at the pet store said that the little slides along the bank which go from the top of the bank to the water and which no longer have vegetation, are caused by snapping turtles. My resident gold fish population seems to be dwindling. He said I could get someone to come out and trap them. I think it could be other predators too and maybe deer coming in for a drink as well. I will go out early in the am and study the surface for little snouts showing above the water.
The pond goes from being full in the winter to being about half full in the summer drought. This causes a problem. I planted seedling Japanese iris when the pond was low; now they are too deep under the water to survive. If I plant things high on the edge, they don't get enough water. I suppose I could use those water gel things to assure that they can stay damp. It is very frustrating.
I planted a striped canna when the pond was low; I may never see it again.
The perimeter of the pond is about a three foot band of old fashioned orange daylilies and poison ivy. It's something of a nightmare trying to get to the water in the summer.
Will impatiens grow right in the water? Do any ferns like wet feet? Can cardinal flowers grow in the water too? What about skunk cabbage? Is that something I should plant?
Toads mated in the pond for a few days singing their hearts out. Now bull frogs plant themselves about every ten feet along the watery edge (territorial, I guess.)
Two cats hunt the edge of the pond. I probably have raccoons too.
Any advice or suggestions? I do have 3 water lilies which do well. I don't want native iris because they spread so fast. I have lots of J & S iris which I will plant in every spot I can get to. In the background behind the pond, I am going to plant Zanzibar, New Zealand and regular red and pink castor beans. I thought about giant rhubarb and artichokes for their foliage too. At one part of the pond I planted quite a few bulbs of crocosimia too. Banana plants would be nice too.
We had temps of minus three and four this winter though.
Sorry for just rambling on and on. The pond is the elephant in the middle of my room.
This is my second spring/summer with the pond.
They are here, they are not here, KOI and snapping turtles
My b-i-l had a pond similar to yours, and his fish started disappearing. He set up a camera and observed a Heron coming each day for his lunch and dinner! He covered the pond with clear bird netting and had no further issues with disappearing fish.
I'd agree that birds are often a problem with fish but they're usually easily observable. We have ferns which grow in water and/or boggy situations but I doubt they'd survive anything anywhere near freezing point. For us the summer is the high water level time, winter the water levels are right down.
well do you have rocks or anything in the pond for the fish to hide in? That would give them somewhere to go if a turtle gets after them.
You might try a milk crate with holes cut in it, or an old tire turned up or something for them to hide. You could have the turtles trapped, but more will just come I think. have you thought about lining the edge with fairly large rocks to detour the turtles some?
You might try planting cannas or elephant ears, I think they like water. They won't over winter though, you will have to pot them or dig them up.
Since you have a natural bottom pond, you might try planting some type of willow tree near the pond to add interest. Do not do that if the pond is close to your house however.
If it were me, I would wait until the water level dried up good, and then I would spray the poison ivy with brush killer or similar. Do that every year, and maybe you can get it killed out. That is especially bad stuff if you are allergic to it.
Watch out if you have pets. They can get the oil on their fur and then when you handle them, you can get the oil on your skin and break out from that.
Impatients will grow in water. But they do not generally like full hot sun. I have heard that hostas will grow in water, not sure about that, but they too like shade. There are a few varieties that take more sun than others. I think cat tails can take wet or drier type soils.
You could trap raccoons. Other than that, I don't know how you would get rid of those.
I'm not sure if raccoons can actually get very far into the water to catch fish or not.
A raccoon will stand in the shallow area and slap/stir the water to attract the fish to come to them. They're clever critters. They will not wade into deep water. Once a fish understands the danger, a deep spot with a straight side(s) is a safe haven. Between the raccoons and the herons I've lost my share of fish. Cattails are highly, highly invasive. I'd avoid those in an earth bottom pond. Once they get established there's no getting rid of them. FrillyLily's suggestion of a willow is a great one. There are some smaller varieties available that won't get 100 X 100 and would be beautiful in that setting. You could try some of the taller grasses for the pond edge. My pick would be Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light'. It would handle the fluctuating water with no problem as it does well either way, with wet or dry feet. It's a truly beautiful grass, especially when back lit by the sun. Another plant I'd try is Petasites. This one would have to be planted on the low side to keep the roots as moist as possible. The foliage, when grown in a shady damp to wet place is a show stopper with big, big round leaves like parasols. It divides and transplants easily. One plant can give you a very good start.
http://www.forestfarm.com/product.php?id=4111
http://www.forestfarm.com/product.php?id=4112
http://www.hostas.com/grasses/gallery/grass-44.html
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2758/
Thank you so much for all the information. I don't know why I didn't have sense to leave well enough alone. Of course, I had to have koi (poor things!) and add 40 feeder fish just before I truly realized about the turtles.
The willow would be lovely, but there is an earth dam and the only other place is close to my well and lines running to the house.
I planted a willow down the ditch below the dam and off to the side. A highway runs on the other side of the ditch, and the ditch itself is steep (I keep falling into the blackberry and dew berry bushes reaching out over it for the most tempting berries.) The tall weeds, about three old boxwood, and various weed-trees obscure the pond from the road.
Last year even though I was scooting down the bank many times to get water for plants or planting iris, I never caught poison ivy because I always came inside within 20 minutes and washed off. I added a little grease-busting dish detergent to the laundry too to break up the oil as well. I would love to use the brush killer, but I have been told it is dangerous for the wild life living in the pond.
I know this sounds like a lot of "yeah but........s." My inclination is to forget about the fish and let the pond go where it wants to go. I can plant at the edge where the plants would be standing in water a couple of inches for a while in the early spring.
Now I am feeling that I will settle for the pond being "eye candy" with various flowers and plants and small trees maybe like the red bark Siberian dogwood. I do have the varigated yellow and white bearded iris starts too.
How very clever of raccoons to splash the water to draw fish. One particular big black cat patrols the waters' edge several times a day.
I think he may have had some success there too. Also, I believe deer might be able to get to the water too. Just where I live not much water is available. I guess the snappers are just my snakes in what I hoped to be an Eden with koi roiling the waters at feeding time.
Now I am going to look up the plants you suggested and see if there is any way I can accommodate them.
Oh I did not realize cat tails were invasive. I just suggested them because they appear hardy, and I thought they might do ok with the water drying out around them for part of the year. Grasses would be nice, but if they stay wettish will they rot?
It all depends on the grass genus and species. Miscanthus is adaptable to drier conditions but they really thrive in wet soil. Mine is planted in a bog. Feather Reed grass ( Calamagrostis X acutiflora ) and Switch Grass ( Panicum virgatum ) are two very beautiful grasses that like wet soil. Many of the Carex species are also happiest with moist soil. There are so many different species of Carex that they're too numerous to list here. Most are native to New Zeland and are readily available in garden centers. Just google 'Carex for wet soil' and you'll see what I mean.
I called the Reptile Remover; he saw one small turtle, not a snapping. He said my pond is just invaded by groundhogs, raccoons, muskrats ?, and other animals.
I have noticed that the banks are being undermined by dens near the top. The number of paths and cleared soil is increasing rapidly. I think I have some bigger green frogs which are eating the smaller goldfish.
Right now, I don't just have a pond, I have a huge pond eco system.
I think I will get a couple of cannas, plant hostas, seedling Star of Texas on a spot tough to get to, callas, ferns (?) NZ impatiens which I over wintered, mimulus, monarda, possibly nasturtiums, and anything else I can think of.
Today I edged my way around the steep side and planted Japanese iris and LA iris.
try filling in the dens and maybe they will leave, also you could try spraying the area with coyote or bobcat scent... I think you can buy a urine or something similar to spray. Maybe that will cause your critters to move out.
If you have bull frogs I guess you could catch them and have frog legs :)
Gloria, I cannot imagine the dimensions of a 72,000 gallon pond, but I wish it were mine. You've got quite an eco system. My pond is much, much smaller, but as we're both in zone 6b, maybe you'd like the same kind of plants as in my pond. The water iris is in a container and winters well. Cyperus/papyrus grows extremely well, but I think you'd need to take clippings (which root very easily) over the winter. You might enjoy water hyacinth and taro, which are very pretty. My fish love 4 leaf water clover. We put 6-inch pipes made for plumbing/sewage around to give the fish a place to hide. The ones we have are white pvc, but I wish I could get some clear plastic or glass. A plastic carton, such as 1 that holds 4 gallon containers of juice or milk has very open sides with a grid that would let the fish and plants in when turned upside down. Anything bigger that 1.5 inches in diameter could not get through the holes.
We've lost our share of fish to blue herons and raccoons. The raccoons kill them and leave them in the area. They do not eat the fish after they've bitten off the heads (ugh). The netting won't help with the raccoon problem, but we're trying it this year for the herons. We're using deer netting which is about 6 feet wide, so I'm hoping it works. I just put in more fish. It's 55 degrees and raining, and seldom goes below zero.
If you have a water landscaper or nursery nearby, it would be worth your while to take a look. Speak with them to find out when they open and what winters well in your area. Good luck.
Cathy,
Thank you so much! This is my second summer, and I am trying not to get too hysterical (that's an effort for me!) about the pond. Apparently it is just fine. I have muskrats, painted turtles, no snappers, lots and lots of frogs (green headed(?) and peepers, koi, gold fish, and newts (probably other things I can't see.) I have a resident kingfisher and more than likely a heron, but I have never seen one.
Right now I am landscaping with Japanese iris and Siberian iris at the current pond margin (it does way down in our summer droughts.) I am growing Texas Star hibiscus which will get to be about 15+ tall: I am going to add cardinal flowers and blue lobelia, hosta,
maybe some canna lilies, physostegia, primrose,
and a number of other things I grew from seed last year from winter sowing. I am very excited about the background of the pond because I am growing castor beans from Zambia and NZ. They get very, very tall and are supposed to be quite colorful. Then I am trying to grow regular red and pink castor beans too.
I love the look of cypress/papyrus and I think I will try that. I have five kinds of water lilies (I added four to the current white ones) I want to put mallows or shorter hardy hibiscus near the pond (which is mostly in full sun.) etc., etc. I am obsessive and greedy so I am so excited with the plans I have. However, I fear the water hyacinths because they might spread.
By the way, I will have a huge collection of www.ensata.com J. and S. iris: I have LA iris which should bloom this summer too. Also, I am starting some purple J. iris. I can send you some when they get a little bigger if you like. They should bloom in 2011.
I am thinking about trying NZ impatiens close to the water, mimulus, ferns. You can't imagine the books I have on water garden because I buy them from www.betterworld.com
for from $3.48 to about $6.00 (which includes postage!!) Some are just gorgeous. You should check it out for gardening books. You could have a huge library very quickly.
Tonight I went to a water quality meeting at the county extension office and discovered that my little mountain micro climate is probably 6a or 5b. I am at an altitude of about 2600' near the bottom of a mountain so the cold air rushes down and it froze all my roses and azaleas because I did not take that into account. The cold air piles up against my house.
Well, as you see, I am a garrulous old lady.
Thanks for responding. I hope to hear from you again.
This is my second summer with the pond. I am trying to do almost everything all at once.
I am 67 and want to work quickly so that I can enjoy it for a long time.