Beautiful!

You've done an excellent job! Your hard work has definitely paid off. Where are you located? My pond is similar to yours and I would love to get in there and do some work but the temps. have been 100 deg. for the past month and will be for the next few months.

Good job!

Nice .... love the gargoyle.

Thanks all, it's been a learning experience I can tell ya!

bradley787 - I'm in N. KY, closest city being Cincinnati. Today is actually the first 90+ deg. day we've had, but I'd be throwing on some swim trunks and some sunscreen and head out there - that water sure does feel good at times like this, although the fish do like to be in the way when I'm doing work in there - almost as bad as cats they are. Heh, I actually just bought my first house as well - and like you doing more work on the pond than the house, lol.

missa7 - Apparently it is (or was - didn't see it on their website) made by Laguna, but the gargoyle didn't work originally - the statue part was cracked and wouldn't hold water, and the pump was so damaged it was un-salvageable. I was originally gonna make it a "fishing gargoyle", by replacing the original staff with a home-made fishing rod and a mini bottle of beer to cover the hole in the base, but then I stumbled upon the valve by the stone that controlled an auxiliary output (it was hidden underneath the liner). Once I found that I re-did the gargoyle by adding tubing inside the statue and making a new staff so that it would be useable again and could be run off of the main pump.

I was thinking about putting a koi or 2 in there (there was one when I took ownership, but lost it in the beginning of spring), but I think I'll wait until the current population dwindles somewhat. Though the previous owner did stop by some time ago and he said that they had 4 koi in there at one point in time . . . and the local Petsmart did have one koi that was completely silver except that it's back was a solid black - really neat looking and I figured the black would work good as camouflage against aerial predators. Luckily for me they sold it - which removed that bit of temptation. Oh well, I've got enough on my hands with the goldfish, for now.

You've done a ton of work and it is gorgeous but I would not add koi to that small of a pond. Unlike goldfish, they won't stop growing to fit the size of the pond and a two foot fish will be much too large for that pond. It is hard to give them away when you become attached to them.

Perhaps by next year you'll be interested in enlarging it or digging a whole new pond!

Awesome job. Thanks for the pics as it will help me figure out how to go about finishing mine.

Job well done! Beautiful work of art.

Here is a link that might be useful: my rustic bajan garden

Hi Mike,

I like it so much better now. You have made it more of a haven for your fish and it looks so pretty. Please do not put any Koi in there like buyorsell8888 suggests. My old neighbor had a pond like yours and he had a Koi that grew large very fast. On a very hot summer day the Koi died and he felt terrible. Your pond looks like it would be great to dangle your toes in. You might put a little bread between those toes and get your feet tickled by the nibbling fish. lol

Regards,
Lisa

That is the work of a true pond addict! I hate correcting the mistakes someone else made. That gunk of mud, weeds and gravel would have made continuous problems for you and the effort you put out will repay you with healthy fish and plants and good water for a long time. I have been looking for rock slabs such as the one you used for the fish shelter. Here, if you can find such things, they cost a fortune and I suspect you could go 'rocking' almost anywhere near where you live and find something similar. It looks great and makes me think I should make one last trip back to that area even if it is just to collect a few slabs of shale.
There are some beautiful comets that won't crowd the pond the way koi will. Shubunkins remind me of Klingons when they spread their fins to show who is boss. I have some lovely long finned comets. They are so graceful. They were among the survivors of feeder fish that outgrew a small pond I built at the Extension gardens. You would never know they cost $0.12 each. Have you had a chance to do any work inside the house? Sandy

Heh, yea I know better than to put koi in this pond. Besides I've got enough fish as is right now (just verified that the two fry that managed to get into the lotus bog are still alive - one that is over an inch long and turning white, and the other is about 3/4" long - so that puts the known count at 53).

Course, in the "can't leave anything alone" frame of mind, I had stopped by a local store that was advertising pond equipment on sale. Well, found out they had a nice selection of plants on closeout (Calla lilies, Cannas, and rushes mainly. Most growing extremely well, but some partially or fully dead), so picked up an actively growing Taro and more water celery. So now I've modified the left side of the stream and put the plants there since it's the most shaded area. Also found a slight leak in the process so took care of that while I was at it. I would love to get the grasses away from the skimmer box, but that'll have to wait until next spring - the tall one with the white-ish bands is Miscanthus Strictus aka Porcupine Grass and it is extremely sharp. Let's just say that knife-like grasses next to something that needs to be checked often is not a good idea (planning on planting it along the back for some natural predator defense). I also noticed that my stream is full of these little black worms, which look awfully similar to black fly larvae pics I've found online, so oughta find a way to keep them in check (I've been knocking them off the rocks to fall into the pond as a natural fish treat).

Yea the house is coming along. Fortunately it's in extremely good condition and not a lot of repairs need to be done, just upkeep and smallish stuff. I have started some demo work in the kitchen so that I can replace the mid-sized fridge with a full-sized one, but that's the biggest upgrade/fix (aside from a new shed), and I was planning on doing this when I bought it.

It really is a beautiful pond. Love to see such heavily planted ponds.

Take the cannas out of the water for winter, they usually rot if left in water during winter.

Fish do love those worms. They likely are fly larvae.

Yes, Miscanthus strictus is sharp, I've got two smaller versions 'Gold Bar' and another I can't remember and they aren't nearly as sharp nor as big. Wish I had room for some of the big ones.

Updated pics. First one shows the changes made for the Taro, second pic shows a different angle of the whole works. *Now* I'm done making changes for the year (famous last words, right?). The Taro is in the middle of the first pic - midway between the lotus (which put up its first aerial leaf recently), and the biofalls. It's only got 3 stalks on it right now with smallish leaves so it's still got a ways to go.

I might have to fix the liner-to-biofalls seal cause it seems that some roots have managed to make their way through and are enjoying the constant water supply, but I'll hold off on that until I feel like doing some mini-excavating. For now I just have to wait and let the plants do their thing and fill in a bit. Oh yea, also recently found out that what I thought was some species of Saggitaria is in fact Pickerel Rush - the clubs of blue flowers kinda tipped me off to the mis-identification.

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