I'm sure other people will help you better than me, as I'm a newbie, too... but how many hours of sun do you get there? With most roses you need at least 4 hours, right...? If it gets a small amount of sun, you'll have to go with different varieties that are shade tolerant. What color roses do you like? Do you prefer simple or double blossoms...? (etc...?) Does it need to rebloom? It would also help if you said what zone you live in and what the soil type is perhaps...? :) You might find it fun to search a couple rose sellers that list by type. Like: http://www.roguevalleyroses.com/rose_list.php?search_id=On_Climber_List (though they are west coast.) but it might give you some ideas and you can look at the thumbnail pictures! Here is a link that might be useful: RvR

The PH of my pond is currently 8.5 (as of last week). The pattern last year was that it went up slowly to about 9.2-9.5. So by the time I add this fish, the PH will probably be higher than 8.5. Although I still have floating algae and sludge in my pond, I'm not going to do a total cleanout. I'm just going to do 10% weekly water changes and scoop out some of the sludge and algae with a net. It feels wierd that I'll be putting the fish which is in clear water, perfect conditions, into a pond with a higher PH and all kinds of algae and stuff in it, but I guess thats how it must be when you keep fish indoors and then move them back into the pond. I almost feel bad moving the fish from its sterile environment back into the natural 'dirty' pond, but she will have so much more room to swim and will finally won't be alone anymore. I guess what seems dirty to me, for her is bugs, algae, food, and whatever.

Before you bother to read this long-winded thingy please understand that I toss in barley straw in the head end of my pond not because I particularly believe it will help but - for me - its very cheap and canÂt really do any harm. But I donÂt use any of the so-called barley straw extracts...as to why, well, youÂve got to read the rest of this mess. I guess I have a different take on all of this starting with the difference between a "hypothesis" and a "theory". There are several hypothesis out there as to what barley straw does for removing or suppressing algae growth. The link IÂve provide below sums up a lot of what is believed to be known about how barley straw works...but this is all in the "hypothesis" stage. As best I am able to determine there are no peer-reviewed journal publications where someone has actually measured the hydrogen peroxide supposedly generated by the barley straw and in a situation which constitutes a decent experimental design; such an experiment should contain multiple ponds half of which receive barley straw treatment and the other half not along with in situ measurements for turbidity/chlorophyl or other quantitative measures of algae and measurements for those "things" that are believed to be contributed by the straw for suppression of the algae. Furthermore, if it was in fact hydrogen peroxide being produced from the straw then the continuous addition of small amounts of hydrogen peroxide from a dosing or metering pump should be capable of performing the same process but does not appear to do so. Also, there are some very sensitive assays for measuring hydrogen peroxide at the cellular level and yet I have not seen where anyone has actually measured hydrogen peroxide production. Many companies used to advertise barley straw as an algicide or algistat but no longer do so. Why? To quote Dr. LembiÂs write-up (see link below): "...The EPA defines a pesticide as "any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest." If a claim is made that barley "controls" algae (a pest), it is legally considered to be a pesticide. However, no company has ever registered barley for use as a pesticide. It has not gone through the testing required for registration. Therefore, barley cannot be sold as a pesticide to control algae. This ruling has serious implications for certified commercial applicators (individuals who have been state certified to apply aquatic pesticides for hire) and lake management specialists. These individuals cannot recommend or apply barley for algae control; this application would be the same as distributing an unregistered pesticide. Likewise, garden shops and nurseries cannot legally sell barley straw for the stated or implied purpose of algae control. Registration is required for all pesticides before they are sold or distributed, regardless of whether most applications go into larger bodies of water or into water gardens, even though the latter usually are privately owned, very small, and not likely to have an impact on the natural environment. A homeowner with a "private" pond or lake is in a different situation. For the homeowner who does work on their own pond, barley qualifies as a "home remedy" and does not come under EPA authority. ..." The key being that insufficient testing exists to register barley straw according to EPA. So now back to the main point of this thread: using a product that is derived from barley straw. If it is not known what the active agent(s) is/are in barley straw then how can one be sure that the "extract" really contains the active agents? What tests have they performed? IÂm obviously discounting the typical product endorsements that come without adequate data. IÂd go ahead and add it if I thought it would help. But maybe you might be just as well off taking some dollar bills, carefully shredding them and putting them in the pond instead. At least you could cut back on shipping and handling costs! LOL! As I have mentioned to some folks in other conversations there is a strong "placebo effect" here: having paid money for something, been told by the seller that it will work we really, really want to believe that itÂs doing itÂs job. But maybe not. So I say go for it if you will feel better having bought the product and if you want to believe. However, the hard data doesnÂt seem to currently exist to support the various hypotheses surrounding barley straw and barley straw extracts. Excuse me, IÂve got to go add a bit more barley straw to my waterfalls! ÂDavid

There are a number of things to consider here. My question is......why are you trying to keep it going? Are there fish in it? Plants? If so then you can either try to keep it going the best you can with frequent water changes and mosquito control. Otherwise, if there are not fish, etc. I would drain it. Who knows when someone will move into the place and they may not even want the pond. I don't what what part of the country you are in but depending on the size of the pond, its going to freeze if you live in a cold winter climate. Personally, I would just pump it out. Even if it has fish you could catch them, put them in a holding container and offer them up for free on Craigslist or something like that.