What a great idea never thought about that be neat to see some sparklers for wooden fences too they so pretty.I saw this post so long ago and have used this idea for many years its very easy and cheap way to decorate your wood fences.The link must be too old so the pic are gone. Angie Here is a link that might be useful: Dont throw that away 1#

I use a net. I just feel safer after numerous heron attacks. It's not that bad - virtually invisible until you get close. I don't like the idea of fishing line because we have a dog who would run right into it and I don't want to hurt him. Also, we like to get into the pond periodically to fertilize and maintain the plants. All we have to do it take off the net. I don't want to mess with fishing line. We've come up with a pretty good system I think. We drive 4 foot stakes in the pond (3 feet when done) and secure the net to the tops and sides of the stakes keeping it about 6 inches from the bottom so the frogs and birds still have access. But I think the line would probably work if that's the way you want to go. I fence our pond over winter so no one accidentally steps into it - we can get many feet of snow in a season and the fence gives me a guideline since it's right off our patio. Also keeps the dog off it. By the time I can get the net on in the spring, no herons have figured out how to cross the fence - however that hasn't stopped them from visiting. I'm sure they're taking notes! Our fencing is 2-1/2 feet tall. Be sure you string the line as close to the edges of your pond as you can. If the heron can fly into your pond and land on something, the line will be useless.

Thank you so much for your compliments. I tried to figure out in my mind exactly what I wanted for 3 years, and am very happy with it. Aesthetics are really important to me, now more than ever. I have 3 kids who are just past the 18 yr mark and for years aesthetics could not be a priority. You'll go out of your mind trying to keep things looking lovely with 2 boys, 18 months apart. I was lucky just to keep things intact. LOL! We spent years renovating our house and finally could do the backyard, which was one big asphalt pad. You can't do something like that a little at a time. Now I spend a great deal of time out there and have discovered gardening with a passion. I am really enjoying this new stage of my life. I already have a big ugly pool alarm, the white box you can see in the photo. I have french bulldogs and they can't swim, so we had it built 2' high. That was more than tall enough and probably still is, but I have a very exuberant younger dog now, so that keeps me from being paranoid all the time. I seriously doubt he could get up there, but I would lose him in a matter of minutes if he did. Someone who lives a couple of blocks away was consistently losing fish from a small ground-level pond a couple of years ago. He finally caught a heron snacking, so I know there's one around here somewhere. I can't believe I've been this lucky for so long, but I did have some fish disappear last year, which I just thought was the raccoons. When I had it netted in the fall I found some water hyacinth fished out and left on the side, which looked like raccoon evidence to me. I would think if the heron had found them he would have cleaned them all out. Maybe not since they were really skiddish for so long. Thank you babalu aye for your description. That makes me believe that I can possibly get away with just stretching some line across the top a couple of times. I'll try that before I get all crazy with the whole thing. I hated to net it the first year, but was surprised at how it disappeared from a few feet away. And I really couldn't see it from the window which is how I view it for the most part in the winter anyway. Angela

I have been using fishing line for years and have only had to replace a couple pieces and that was because the screws pulled out of the fence or I've cut it by mistake. I screw small C-hooks (whatever they are called) into the fence and run the line between them. I've used it for MG's, thunbergias, clematis, Malabar spinach, passifloras, Mexican Flame and canary vine. There's probably others I've forgotten. As long as it's not a heavy woody vine the line holds up well. Just make sure that you buy a strong fishing line. Fluorocarbon lines don't degrade in sunlight or water. Mine has been up for at least 4 years and it's not brittle yet. The only real drawback I've found is that it's a PITA to remove dead vines. It's hard to cut them away without cutting the line.