It's a small pond, between 150-200 gallons. There's a ~1' deep marginal shelf and then a deep section that's around 2.5',. The rocks overlap the edge a bit as well. Not really anywhere to move the plants. :/ My deep section has my water lilies in it. I don't think they can get any of the fish unless the pond floods over after a downpour (I lost one goldfish when this happened while I was out of town, I'm thinking he was rooting around in the new found shallows buffet and something snatched him. No sign of him anywhere, he's just gone). I was looking at the scarecrow, but I don't want anyone walking into my yard (like my mom or grandma) to get sprayed.

Right off the bat I'd say your filtration is inadequate, and you may have a lot of dead plant material rotting in there, which is bad for water quality. Generally your turnover (amount of water going through filtration system) for 9K gallons should be at least 4500 g/hr. More is better. You need bottom drains and serious filtration for Koi. Koi are very dirty fish and even with no koi your pond doesn't sound very good right now. They are a big step up from goldies so get your pond right first and talk to koi people before getting even one koi. Filtration consists of: --mechanical (for fish poop, leaves, etc) --biological (a place for a large number of ammonia andnitrite eating microorganisms to grow and remove impurities from the water) --fines (a bead or sand/gravel--one for ponds, not a pool type--filter for removing tiny particles that the mechanical filter doesn't get, such as dead algae) --UV (to kill off floating algae that green up the water) Although some filters can provide more than one type of filtration, they are all best at one particular job. A separate mechanism for each phase is a good idea. In addition to filtration, plenty of aeration, especially in warm weather. Warm water holds less oxygen then cold. A foam fractionator is a plus, but if the mechanical filter is highly effective, a foam fractionator can be necessary. Start reading and researching. There's a lot of information out there, much of it contradictory! You have to keep reading and learning to know what is going to work for you. Joining a koi or pond club is also a great way to learn. You can meet some very experienced people who will not agree with each other on how to do things. But learning from them why they do what they do and what their knowledge is based on is enlightening. The more you know, the more satisfaction you'll get from your pond and the healthier it will be.

Well, both look absolutely lovely. Shady - Is that a real dog?? If so, he looks very, very content. Well, it looks like the electric fence may be working. No damage last night. Hope it lasts. Count yourself lucky if you've never had to deal with racoons. The first time this season I realized I had a problem was the evening I left the pump running all night. I should have know better because these critters love moving water. The pump is just a small recirculating pump with an intake valve on the side and an outflow valve on the top where the water shoots out. I attached a small piece of tubing to the outflow valve so the water would bubble up closer to the surface and cause that nice sound of moving water. Well, one morning when I woke up, I opened my bedroom blinds to take a look at the garden as I always do. The pond was empty of water. The 'coons had managed to move the pump so the outflow valve shot the water out of the pond and drained it. Luckily, there was still about 6 inches of water in the bottom so the fish survived at least. After refilling it, the next night the critters ate all the water hyacinth. These were the water hyacinths I'd over wintered inside the house for the last 6 months. It's funny, but they don't bother anything else in the yard or garden. Just the pond. Once the water lily starts blooming, they eat the flowers and buds. For now, at least this summer, I'll keep the pond, but I have a feeling it's going to go at some point. Kevin

You could plant them in the ground now but there's no reason to. The ones you buy in bud in the spring have been forced for indoor display s you might as well use them for that. I don't really understand your sentence "I let the green leaves die off at frost time but cut the flower stalk once it's spent." The green leaves die off naturally as Spring progresses and Summer starts, so I don't really get what you mean by "frost time." I think that maybe the big difference is that in my garden there is never any drought. The bulb foliage dies down over a period of weeks naturally, not through lack of water. I never feed them or amend the planting holes. If you want hyacinths in the garden and planting out forced ones isn't working for you just plant bulbs outdoors in the Autumn.