Garden Pond Spring Clean

[GeoffandWendy]

Gardening is one of mine and Wendy's  prime hobbies and with the lovely weather we have been having all  this week, I thought it was an ideal time to get the garden pond cleaned out and refreshed again, before we go on our holiday to the Broads in a weeks time.

 

First I netted all the fish and placed them in a holding tank using some of the pond water. They remained in there for a couple of days, whilst I removed all the marginal plants, lilies and weed. Then it was time to get the pond vac out and remove all the silt from the bottom and get rid of all the blanket weed that had attached itself to the sides of the pond. I then ran the pump though the pressure filter for the rest of the day and the following day (cleaning the filter medium every hour) until clean water was being pumped back to the pond. 

 

Monday was spent, trimming all the marginal plants and lilies, these were placed back in the pond, with the addition of a new small dark red lily, to compliment the larger deep yellow lily, which produce seven lovely flowers throughout last summer. Then I topped up with some clean water and let it settle in ready for reintroducing the fish.

 

Tuesday, was another settling day with the addition of a few chemicals to help get rid of the chlorine from fresh added tap water and to get the balance right.

 

Wednesday, it was time to reintroduce the fish, mostly Koi with a few goldfish and golden orfe (18 fish in all). I then gave some of the garden ornaments a fresh lick of paint and replaced them back into their prospective places around the pond, these consist of a large pagoda, ornamental bridge (I built myself) and a few lanterns. 

 

With a few new plants from the garden centre, our garden pond feature is looking better than ever. I have just taken a few photos this morning, although work in the garden is still progressing. I need to relay the patio area this summer and replace all the garden fencing panels, as they have been in for over fifteen years and have come to the end of their life, after the strong winds early lest week.

 

The Dutch windmill is a new addition to the garden, it was a birthday present from Wendy. It came from Germany and has a revolving top dome and sails, all running on ball bearings. It stands just over three feet all from the base and I have anchored it down to stop it blowing over in strong winds.

 

There is still quite a lot to do in our garden yet, with the relaying of the patio area, new fencing along the back and one side of the garden and a new stumpery/rockery to add to the top shaded part of the garden, where we can grow ferns and othe moisture loving plants. This will keep us busy throughout the summer, when we are not away on holiday. Not everyone is keen on gardening, but for those that are, we hope to bring you some more photos as the season progresses.

 

[BroadScot]

Excellent Geoff  I admire keen gardeners, coz I aint one of them!  I leave ALL the gardening to SWMBO. Well it would interfere with my TV sport viewing!

 

Nah only kidding, I do like a wee go at the lawn mower, and I did put power out to the garden. Must say the tulips are looking braw just now in the sunshine.

 

Iain.

 

N.B to Alan (JO) we require a lawn mower emot now!

[GeoffandWendy]

The fish are actively chasing each other all round the pond, which is a sign of spawning has started. Any eggs produced will more than likely get eaten, until the plants have got more established. Whilst they are out in view, I decided to take a few more photos and turned on the fountain pump with bell attachment. There is another larger pump hidden beneath the bridge, this pushes water through the pressure filter hidden in the rockery, before it enters the top pond of the waterfall, where the pagoda is situated.

 

     

[deebee29]

Great looking garden Geoff.

I'm sure it will keep you busy.

This just reminds me that i have to get out & give ours a tidy although it's still covered in a carpet of spring flowers so don't want to disturb them yet

[GeoffandWendy]

Thank you David, and all those who have ticked the box on this topic   . This is the time of year when gardening becomes a weekly chore, keeping the grass cut, weeding the borders and making sure the garden is well watered during any warm spells.

 

Before I met Wendy two years ago, my garden was looking rather neglected after I lost my wife due to illness five years ago. I lost all interest due to a bout of depression. The pond was only half the size it is now, with no fish, more like a wildlife pond, full of duckweed, newts and frogs, it was looking very very sorry for itself.

 

Once I met Wendy, it felt like a breath of fresh air had come over me again and it gave me more of a purpose for life once more. Wendy lived in Leicester, about 30 miles from me and it just so happened that her youngest daughter, lives only four miles from me. It was Wendy's intention to move closer to her daughter, before we even met . So it was decided that Wendy sold her house and moved in with me.

 

We were both keen gardeners, so it was decided to get my (now our) garden up to scratch again. The first job was to make the old pond much bigger and build a decent sized water feature that would incorporate a waterfall and large enough to have some fish. Last year was spent digging out the new pond area (16ft x 7ft x 30 inches deep) and buying a butyl rubber liner. It meant giving up some of the patio area, so we decided to build a second patio area beyond the pond, by reducing the lawn. This was build in the shape of a cart wheel, using block paving for the perimeter and the spokes, then between the spokes, filled in with a light coloured gravel. We bought a self assembly cart wheel bench to sit on this, which has enabled us to have two sitting areas in the garden. The existing patio needs relaying, as it is looking rather sad at the moment. This is a job for this summer, together with new garden fencing and to use a shaded top corner of the garden for a stumperry/rockery, so we can have a fern garden.

 

As you can see in the photos I posted, the pond area is looking more mature now and we are looking forward to the water lilies coming into bloom again. Anyway, we will be on the Broads a week today, for our first ever Broads holiday, which we are really looking forward to. So a break from gardening until we return, will be welcome, then we can get back to making a start on getting the rest of the garden, looking the way we want it.

Who said retirement is relaxing? We never seem to have time to relax.   

[Gracie]

Hi Geoff

 

The first part of your post above brought a lump to my throat, bless you, it's truly lovely that you and Wendy found each other

 

Your garden is lovely and seeing your fish makes me want to get my rod out Lol, I see you mention your first Broads holiday, that wouldn't be on Star Gem by any chance would it? 

 

Grace 

[riyadhcrew]

Love it Grace - just love it........

[BroadScot]

Wow a Telepathic shoe wearer!!! Watever next!  Agree though, Geoff's garden is stunning!

 

Err are you sure its on Star Gem, Grace

 

 

Iain

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Geoff & Wendy,

You say that you have some orfe in your pond.

Be careful if you use any medication in the water, orfe are very prone to the effects of fish medication, if you see any with bent tails or backbones this is the reason why.

We used to have some large blue orfe that we rescued from someone elses pond, sadly one by one they died over a few years.

So its just carp and some green tench (that we never see).

Are you using some of the holiday food while you are away, I guess you will have just started feeding the fish again after the winter.

Regards

Alan

[Baitrunner]

Geoff,

    Feel free to stop by after your boating holiday to have a go at my pond. Needs a bit of TLC at the moment. You have done a grand job with that.

 

Hope you also have good Heron deterents? My pond has been emptied 3 times by them and the only cure has been an ugly net over the top. We made a decision to keep ours as natural as possible for the wildlife so no filters and just a pump to put air in and make the water feature. Last year the dreaded blanket weed took over though and I am struggling to keep it down. Even the ducks cant eat it all!!! Just waiting for the plants to get a spurt on.

 

Cant do much cleaning now though as we have the frog spawn all hatched so don't like to disturb them.

 

Had a bizarre problem a couple weeks ago though, the pump was not working properly and had to get the waders on to get to it - found it had been colonised by over 20 newts!! Never had this in the 10 years we have had the pond, but knew we had a good colony of newts in the garden. Sadly a lot of them could not be saved.

 

So plenty of wildlife for us, but at the mo no fish until I think of plan D to deter the Herons. 

 

Alan,

    I bought some golden Rudd which looked great in the garden centre. Once in the pond the only thing that can see them is a Heron though - like your green tench

[GeoffandWendy]

Actually Grace, it is Star Gem 6, according to Clive. We had a letter from them the other day, warning us of the road works The Booking Ref No stated, Star Gem 6. 

 

Alan, we have had the Golden Orfe four of them at 3" since last year, when we first built the new pond, and they are almost twice the size now. They seem quite active and healthy, but we haven't used any fish medication, only to treat fresh tap water and blanket weed treatment. Our largest fish is a 9" Koi (we call Moby) and five various coloured Ghost Koi at around 4". Three Goldfish, the largest 6", Three Shubunkins, 3" and Two small Blue Orfe, 3" making 18 fish in all. There is plenty of room for them all and the pump runs 24/7 providing plenty of ariation.

[Baitrunner]

Geoff,

    The blue and golden Orfe grow quite quick - we started with the smallest we could get about 2" and within about 3yrs they had grown to 9" specimens - then they turned into Heron poo  

 

You are getting me back into thinking of doing some re-stocking now - this forum always makes you spend money.

 

Still, fish are cheaper than boats     

[GeoffandWendy]

We have been pretty lucky regarding heron's Mark. There is a large heronry at a local bird reserve not far from where we live, which is surrounded with about twenty disused gravel pits, so there are plenty fishing places for the herons.

 

I have a heron decoy and move it around the pond every day and so far we have not lost any fish in almost two years. I just put a net over the pond in the Autumn, to catch any leaves.

[webntweb]

Actually Grace, it is Star Gem 6, according to Clive. We had a letter from them the other day, warning us of the road works The Booking Ref No stated, Star Gem 6. 

 

Alan, we have had the Golden Orfe four of them at 3" since last year, when we first built the new pond, and they are almost twice the size now. They seem quite active and healthy, but we haven't used any fish medication, only to treat fresh tap water and blanket weed treatment. Our largest fish is a 9" Koi (we call Moby) and five various coloured Ghost Koi at around 4". Three Goldfish, the largest 6", Three Shubunkins, 3" and Two small Blue Orfe, 3" making 18 fish in all. There is plenty of room for them all and the pump runs 24/7 providing plenty of ariation.

Hi Geoff & Wendy,

 

If you google "history of hearts cruisers" there is a pic of Star Gem 6 in 2005 at the bottom of the first page. It also mentions the boat having a complete back to bare bones refit about that time. I think that was when Richardson's refitted various Alpha 32s to make the Star Gem class.

 

Roy