That's a great pond. Should be easy and fun to "dress it up". If it were mine, I'd plant the background to look like a forest or bushy wild area - tall plants. Then I'd have the height of the plants decrease down the sides of the pond to a viewing area. First suggestion for your situation is to get some pond books out of the library and give them to your wife and ask her to tag the ponds she likes. That will give you an idea of the direction to go. Incorporating items that she already likes will go a long way to winning her over. Here are some ideas that I would use if it were me: Creeping thyme is nice around rocks and Irish or Scottish moss would also add some interesting color (The Scottish is yellower than the Irish) Placing matching rocks around the skippy filter with water hyacynth or any potted bog plant in it would help disguise it. A bench with appropriate setting to watch the pond is called for also!! Since you are in Zone 9, there are lots of great sub-tropical type plants that would give height in the background: ginger, banana, canna lily, bamboo (with roots contained or it is big-time invasive). Good luck. Please show after pictures so we can see what you have done. Anne

I've had turtles in my pond for several years. My turtles are Eastern Painted which is very similar to a Red-Eared Slider. I've never had any problems with the liner. The turtles will eat plants like lilies. They never destroyed my lilies, but many of the leaves have bites missing. They will also occasionally eat fish that are less than two inches. I feed my turtles reptile pellets from the pet store and various fruits and vegetables. They love watermelon and cherries. The turtles will leave your pond if they can and it is difficult to keep them in a pond since they are excellent climbers. I have my pond surrounded with plastic fencing supported by rocks. They will need an area to climb out of the water and bask in the sun. I would suggest keeping the turtles in the aquarium during the winter and in the pond during the summer. Wild turtles dig into the mud at the bottom of a lake or pond to survive the winter. Your turtles will not be able to do this and may die if the water temperature gets too cold.

Besides the hardy vines others will tell you about-you might try the new Sun Parasol Mandevilla's. In pink,red,white.Some are dwarf in leaf and flower,growing habit others-and you can tell by the more robust pot growth,will cover more area,but are never big vines. Planted all around that palm they like the part shade. Not expensive.You can find them at very low cost at the home improvement stores. I have had them bloom near all year...and if they do stop they are among the first to bloom in early spring. Buy ten and impress the neighbors. Hardy to 20f. Much better where it doesn't go below 32f but a very few nights a year.

blumz: Thanks for commiserating! Get it now; don't wait 12 years. I have a hard time imagining how to attack those roots mechanically and still get them all so they don't lie dormant for a while and pop up later. That's what led me to posting this in the first place. So far, I've put down THREE applications of RoundUp, each one week apart, and the little boogers,as you politely name them, still show signs of some life. Comatose maybe, but I cannot yet pronounce them dead. Everything else was totally dead after the second application. I've found a product called Ortho Poison Ivy and Tough Brush Killer that contains 8% Triclopyr. Haven't tried it yet, but I understand that it would be comparable to killing a gnat with a sledge hammer. Also I would need to wait a month or two before planting the grass, as opposed to several days for RoundUp, but I'd be willing to wait. As for what has already encroached into your "good plants", I don't have much to offer. One approach, however, might be to zap them all in order to get the BSC, then start anew. I think the military calls it "collateral damage". Hopefully, someone else can offer some useful suggestions.