With The Pondlady
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With The Pondlady |
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Pond Maintenance
Jan Goldfield, the pondlady writes articles on every aspect of the pond. These are just a few about pond maintenance Routine Pond Maintenance Now that I have a backyard pond, what routine pond maintenance is needed? I have heard they are practically maintenance free. Find out how maintenance free a pond can be. Cleaning the Garden Pond Step by step instructions for cleaning your garden pond. Pond Disasters Pond disasters can happen to any pond or water garden. They are usually simple to find and easy to repair. Often a pond problem develops quickly when the ecosystem gets out of balance. How you can find your pond problems and solve them yourself with quick and easy solutions. Spring Pond Care Spring pond care is essential and easy. Follow the the tips below to give your plants and fish an easy transition from winter torpor to spring awakening, so your pond, fish and plants can give you pleasure all summer long. Pond Algae: Green Pond Blues You don't have to suffer the pond algae and green pond blues. A green pond is normal and happens easily. Your pond has turned to pea soup overnight. What can you do now? Here are several ways to keep your pond clean and clear. Ponds Under Trees Ponds under trees can offer planting opportunities for us that ponds in the sun cannot. Ponds under trees can demand a bit more maintenance but not enough to stop us from building our ponds under trees. My Pond Is Leaking Learning how to repair your pond liner is the most difficult problem to solve in pond keeping. You must find holes and patch them and very often that is not an easy task. Summertime Pond Care Summertime pond care is only a bit different than spring pond care. When summertime weather hits, we must take a few precautions to ensure fish health. Pond Troubleshooting - a Case Study Pond troubleshooting is much like any other troubleshooting. Eliminate the easy problems first and then start hunting. Fall Pond Care Fall pond care involves a few different approaches to pond care. Winter Pond Care - Plants and Fish Winter pond care requires some special care, not much, but just a few things to watch. If you have not done all the nasty fall care, you must do it now. Trying to remove debris through the ice is impossible. Winter Pond Care - Equipment When temperatures drop, winter pond care is necessary. Algae growth stop, so you can disconnect your filter and UV light if you have one. Remember you only need filters and UV lights if you feed fish. If you make them work for their room and board by eating submerged vegetation and in turn fertilizing it, you have no need for filtration or UV lights. All kinds of ponds you can build Learn more about ponds and what kinds you can have. Have an indoor pond, a swimming pond, a pondless waterfall, a small, self contained pond, an indoor pond and more Where to Build a Backyard Garden Pond When you are considering building a pond in your backyard, learn the major location and design, considerations to be to thinking about before you get out your shovel. Learn where to put the pond and what materials to use for your pond. Should you have a formal pond or informal pond? Find out how to answer these pond questions. Building a Pond in Your Backyard with the Pondlady Now that you have decided to build a pond in your backyard, build your backyard pond with the pondlady. Relax near your new, dramatic, relaxing water garden pond with shimmering goldfish, enticingly aromatic water lilies and tall aquatic plants. Find a few friends to help, promise them visiting privileges and have a good time. Build an Inexpensive Pond You can build an inexpensive pond easily and in a weekend. It can look as beautiful as any that a professional has done and you will not have spent a fortune. Self Contained Small Ponds Small ponds in limited spaces are very difficult to design and install. When confronted with building a small pond, we pond builders tend to call it a design challenge. See some of the ways to overcome the small pond challenge Build a Rain Garden Build a rain garden and conserve water at the same time. Learn a few simple ways to make a rain garden. How to Build a Koi Pond Building a koi pond is different than building a goldfish pond or water garden. Let's talk about how to build a koi pond. How to Build a Pondless Waterfall Pondless waterfalls are another wonderful way to have a water feature in your yard or garden. You can have a waterfall with no pond, no fish, no green water to worry about. A pondless waterfall is also great for a small space. How to Build a Natural Swimming Pond Natural swimming ponds are all the rage. Many people in Europe already do have natural swimming ponds and they are catching on quickly in America. How to Build a Natural Swimming Pond - English Style How to build a swimming pond that uses no chlorine, no chemicals and looks like a natural pond in your landscape. How to Build an Indoor Pond I built two indoor ponds in my pond building career. The first one was an unqualified success. Epoxy Pond Liners Epoxy pond liners were around when I started building ponds back in 1987. There was not a market for the epoxy for the small residential contractor or do-it-yourselfer yet because there was not much of a pond market yet. Faux Rocks - The Real Deal Faux rocks are a great substitute for expensive, heavy and unwieldy rocks for pond and waterfall building How to Build a Bog Garden - Rain Garden Building a bog garden, one of many forms of rain gardens is a great way to conserve water and add another element to your garden. How to Build a Waterfall The pond question I get asked most frequently is, “How do you build a waterfall?” And it is a hard question to answer. The easy answer is that I stack the rocks up until I like they way they look. Wouldn’t it be nice if that is all there was to it? How to Build an Above Ground Pond Occasionally ponds must be built above ground. Either the location is under trees and digging would injure the tree, the pond is to be on concrete, so digging is impossible or the pond builder is a tenant and wants to take the pond along when moving. Pumps, filters, skimmers and other gadgets Ponds need some equipment to run a waterfall or to filter out fish waste. How to choose? What to choose? Find out from the pondlady Pond Filtration Figuring out pond filtration can be a chore. I have tried to explain what pond filtration means and some different ways to do it. And choices if you choose not to use pond filtration. Choosing a Backyard Pond Pump From initial cost to running cost, what pump is best for your pond? There are hundreds of pond pumps to choose from: Be sure you pick what is right for you. Pond Filters and Skimmers, Do I Need Them? Pond filters and skimmers have been sold to the public as necessary equipment for your pond, but are they always? Pond Filters and Skimmers, Do I Need Them? Pond filters and skimmers have been sold to the public as necessary equipment for your pond, but are they always? Pond Gadgets As we begin our pond keeping hobby, we find that we need certain pond gadgets. Pond gadgets are things we don%uFFFDt use often, but when we need them, we need them now, not tomorrow or on Monday. Backyard Pond Pumps Many backyard pond pumps to choose from: Which one is best for me? Pond plants and fish Pond fish and plants: Making the right decisions Choosing Goldfish for Your Pond Choosing goldfish for your pond can be simple if you follow a few tips. When you are choosing goldfish, shop at a pet or fish store, limit your choices, don't buy too many and don't spend much money. Toads and Frogs in Your Backyard Pond Frogs, toads and backyard ponds go together. We build wildlife resorts in our back yard complete with room service, 400 count sheets and chocolates on the pillows and wonder why we get nightly applause from our invited amphibious residents. Water Lillies Water lilies are often the reason we have ponds. Water lilies lend an exotic look to the pond that we treasure, taking little care and offering much enjoyment. Pond Plants Pond plants can be submerged, floating or emergent. The submerged plant, usually anacharis is the key to balancing the pond ecosystem. With enough, your pond will stay crystal clear. Floating Pond Plants Floating pond plants are a necessity for the ecologically balanced pond. Like submerged vegetation, they are workhorses in your pond. Pond Plants: Umbrella and Pitcher Pond plant choices are many and varied. We want early bloomers, late bloomers, hardy or tropical. For every pond and bog there are plants that will thrive. Two are spotlighted here. Pond plants: Duckweed and Water Fern Duckweed and water fern are floating pond plants. They probably the most invasive and noxious of all of the floating plants. Pond Plants: Arrrow-Arum Arrow arum is one of the dozens of marginal or bog plants that do well in the ornamental backyard pond. Pond Book Reviews There are so many great pond books that have appeared in the past years. I read as many as I can and review them for you All About the Pond: Book Review A great book for teachers of small children with many resources in one great book. The Pond Owner's Problem Solver, a Review The Pond Problem Solver by John Dawes, Book review, how to build a pond, where to put a pond, fish, fish diseases, pond maintenance, pond plants Miracle-Gro Water Gardens, a Review MIracle-Gro has produced one fine pond help book. The very best part of it is that it is spiral bound, so it will lie flat, and waterproof so you can take it outside with you, put it on the ground for reference and clean it up later. The Curious Gardener's Almanac, a Review The Curious Gardener's Almanac, centuries of practical garden wisdom, by Niall Edworthy, published by The Penguin Group in New York is not a book about ponds. In fact, it is not a book about gardens either. This book has no pigeon hole in which to be pushed. The Complete Book of The Water Garden The Complete Book of the Water Garden, by Philip Swindells and David Mason is arguably the finest, most comprehensive water gardening book ever written. The Creative Herbal Home The Creative Herbal Home is certainly not a book you would expect to see in the backyard water garden section of Garden and Hearth. So why is it here? A Few Things I've Learned Along The Way Water Conservation and Your Backyard Pond Our water crisis is worsening, but ponds can be a way of water conservation, not waste. Find ways to conserve water by using efficient pumps, statuary and solar power. Starting a Pond and Water Garden Society Pond and water garden societies can be a great educational tool for pond keepers. If you don't have one near you, heres how to start a pond and water garden society. The Pondkeepers’ Glossary Pondkeepers use words that most do it yourself pond builders have never heard before. What are pond builders talking about when they say GPH or dechlor? What is a spitter? What is a UV light and do I need one? Attracting Winter Wildlife to Your Backyard Pond In the winter our ponds lie dormant, or do they? We can keep a water supply open and give our winter garden creatures a drink and something to eat. Decorate Your Pond for the Holidays Decorate your pond when you decorate your house for the holidays Ponds across the Curriculum Over the years, I have been involved with several schools with ponds and several schools wanting the students to build a pond. |