The Ponds Again
Sep. 11th, 2011 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marina_bonomiThis is going down in family memory as 'the summer of the ponds' or 'the fish summer', fact is that we enjoy quite a lot our remodeling of the garden ponds.
Up to now I posted only about the works in the main pond, just mentioning the second one, well, that one, the 'waterlilies pond' was completely choked.
The waterlilies ad taken over and spread like weeds, the rock garden made it difficult to maintain the pond and take out fallen leaves and excess soil. The overflow of water from the main pond arrives here so we weren't sure how much soil and how much water were actually inside.
For starters we cleared a path, taking away some of the rocks, then we dug the pond again, removing most of the old waterlilies (we kept the Hibiscus Moscheutos growing half in and half out, it is a great natural filter for pond water and has lovely flowers as you can see here).
The waterlilies had formed a crazy tangle of roots, spading forks proved to be the most effective tools for the job.
When we reached the concrete we realized that this pond is actually the deeper of the two. We put in a few vases of lotus flowers (lesson learned, all water flora in vases now, but for oxigen-giving waterweeds) and again a 'tiles condo' as an hiding place for fish.
Then we went fish shopping and came home with a yellow Comet, a Shubunkin (at long last), and a stunning Sarasa (who sadly died suddenly a few days ago, we think it might have been something it has eaten).
I have been watching the other two like an hawk, but they behave normally and seem to be well, here they are in the renewed pond.
They are still a bit shy, while the school of goldfish in the other pond is growing bolder and bolder, here is what happens at feeding time
Jin and Mei more or less climb over my hand, and the others are learning too (even the three wild-colored ones)
As soon as they see a human approaching, they all swim full force to the rim, hubby was worried that they would do the same for any creature, thus being possibly easy prey for cats or herons, but today Shadow (our husky) drank from the pond and all the fish swam immediately to the bottom.
Goldfish are smarter than people give them credit for, it seems. We all enjoy their company and the ponds are quickly becoming our favorite spot when we want to relax outside.
Up to now I posted only about the works in the main pond, just mentioning the second one, well, that one, the 'waterlilies pond' was completely choked.
The waterlilies ad taken over and spread like weeds, the rock garden made it difficult to maintain the pond and take out fallen leaves and excess soil. The overflow of water from the main pond arrives here so we weren't sure how much soil and how much water were actually inside.
For starters we cleared a path, taking away some of the rocks, then we dug the pond again, removing most of the old waterlilies (we kept the Hibiscus Moscheutos growing half in and half out, it is a great natural filter for pond water and has lovely flowers as you can see here).
The waterlilies had formed a crazy tangle of roots, spading forks proved to be the most effective tools for the job.
When we reached the concrete we realized that this pond is actually the deeper of the two. We put in a few vases of lotus flowers (lesson learned, all water flora in vases now, but for oxigen-giving waterweeds) and again a 'tiles condo' as an hiding place for fish.
Then we went fish shopping and came home with a yellow Comet, a Shubunkin (at long last), and a stunning Sarasa (who sadly died suddenly a few days ago, we think it might have been something it has eaten).
I have been watching the other two like an hawk, but they behave normally and seem to be well, here they are in the renewed pond.
They are still a bit shy, while the school of goldfish in the other pond is growing bolder and bolder, here is what happens at feeding time
Jin and Mei more or less climb over my hand, and the others are learning too (even the three wild-colored ones)
As soon as they see a human approaching, they all swim full force to the rim, hubby was worried that they would do the same for any creature, thus being possibly easy prey for cats or herons, but today Shadow (our husky) drank from the pond and all the fish swam immediately to the bottom.
Goldfish are smarter than people give them credit for, it seems. We all enjoy their company and the ponds are quickly becoming our favorite spot when we want to relax outside.
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-11 08:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-11 08:42 pm (UTC)I can't wait to see it next spring, hopefully both the waterlilies and the lotus will bloom.