If you spray any chemicals, you will want to keep the area near the pond no-spray. Aquatic life is extremely sensitive to pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.

If you or your neighbors do spray you will also want to keep any run-off from your garden from going into the pond if there are fish in there.

If you were thinking of having the roses hanging over the water, remember that petals and leaves will fall into the pond and may need to be skimmed out.

Mostly green is best around a pond if you have colorful fish. This is because the color around the pond can interfere with or distract from the color in the pond. At least try to make sure the flower colors around the pond look good with the colors of the fish.

Most Japanese gardens are all green almost all the time. Apart from cherry blossoms & azaleas in spring, the dominant color is green. The non-green color in Japanese gardens comes from the fish.

The #1 advice about ponds is to plan it all out and then double the size. The larger the pond is, the easier it is to take care of. Counter-intuitive, but true. Don't be in a rush. Take your time and plan, plan, plan.

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Hoov is absolutely correct...especially about the size. Create your pond as large as your space and budget can allow. A larger pond (with an appropriately sized "bog" to serve as the filtration system) will be able to regulate fluctuations in pH, temperature, etc. I have a couple of koi ponds in my yard, and I love them very much. I've also helped three people design/install them, and each is very satisfied. Personally, I think the "bog" is the most critical factor.

Robert

Hoov, your pool is so Zen; very calm and relaxing. It would be a wonderful place to sit with my kitties and a book and a nice pitcher of sweet tea. Just awesome! Thank you for sharing your garden and advice with me. I appreciate it very much.

Robert, can you expand on the "bog" filtration? I should mention that the pond we will be building will be in-ground and also one of the biggest challenges I believe will be the "raccoon factor". We are also not constrained by space, so that is not a problem.

I have so much to learn and research this coming winter. Hoov & Robert, thanks again for helping me on my first steps and for the great advice.
-terry

The Raccoon Factor: you build the pond with straight sides (no gradual slope into the water) and NO plant shelves. Raccoons like to wade into the water. With straight sides, they can't do that.

Planting tallish plants completely around the edges of the pond also helps to keep predators at bay. Adequate depth (at least 3'--4' is better) also protects the fish (somewhat) from Herons. With depth you must also factor in safety for pets and children.

As to bog filtration, that is best for a water garden with goldfish (unless the pond is very large, say over 10K gallons). This is because Koi are, honestly, poop machines. They are high-metabolism creatures that grow large and eat a lot to get there. They are dirty fish that produce a LOT of waste.

Serious filtration is needed if you want to have more than 1 or 2 koi healthy for the long term. On the good side, I wash all my koi poop out of my filters onto my roses, and the roses are very, very happy about it. Free organic fertilizer.

As I said before, plan, plan, research, and plan again. If there is a local koi club go to some meetings and see what is involved before doing anything. A water garden with goldies is just as restful and peaceful and beautiful as a koi pond with a lot less worry and work. Goldies are much, much less work.

Lastly plan at least one if not more sitting areas right from the start in your pond planning and design. Many people leave that as an afterthought--and it's the most important thing! Why have a pond if you can't luxuriate there in comfort and enjoy it?

Thanks, Hoov. I found there is a local Koi club in my town and I think I'll call and attend a few meetings.

Most likely I'll be better off with goldfish; I have a 55-gallon tank filled with 6 monstrous orandas, lion heads, and black goldfish whom I'm sure would be delighted to swim outside. But they're so tame I'm afraid they'd swim right up to the top if raccoons showed up; thinking it was feeding time! I've raised them from fry and one is now about the size of my hand.

You've given me sound advice and lots to think about; thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions.
-terry

Beautiful patio and pond.
Terry, I would worry about predators here. There was a fox wandering around for weeks not too long ago.
One of the neighbors has a small pond with goldfish and they are so cute, they have babies too.

Carla

The bog is simply a separate "pond" filled with pebble gravel (pea gravel). I have a PVC pipe that draws water from my koi pond into the bottom of the bog (beneath the gravel). I have loads of bog plants planted in the gravel. The water flows through the bog and waterfalls into the pond, so, obviously the bog is slightly elevated from the pond. I hope you can visualize it.

Robert

It sounds idyllic. Are your koi tame? I have heard they can become extremely so.