by John Stoner
We have all heard it before – plan before you start any major project. Well a Koi pond design is no different. Building a Koi pond is a big project. Poor planning will certainly cause it to be more expensive than you planned and take a lot longer to get it completed.
Think about the shape of your pond. There will be many factors impacting the ultimate shape that you won’t be able to control. Things like landscaping, structures on the property, grade and slope of the land, etc. will have to be planned around. The result will be when you can visualize the actual layout. Use rope or garden hose to lay out several different patterns. Look at them from all angles. Don’t forget to view them from inside your house, form balconies and porches – anywhere you can see the pond.
Your Koi pond design also needs to careful plan for the depth of the pond. Koi can get to be big fish and will need adequate room to swim not only laterally but also vertically. Plan for a minimum depth of four feet. If you can go deeper so much the better. Ideally abut 6 -8 ft. will be as deep as you need. This deeper pond will also help with keeping the water temperature more stable in the summer and winter.
Certainly the bigger the pond, the more fish you can put in it, but there are always limitations. The smallest practical size for a Koi pond is about 6 feet by 9 feet, and 4 feet deep. This size pond will hold about 1600 gallons of water. In calculating the actual depth of your pond, don’t forget that there is usually about six inches from the water line to the top edge of the pond.
The best Koi pond design concept to keep in mind is “keep it simple.” A very simple design will allow for better water movement and thus better filtration. A very complex design may look spectacular, but cause other problems when it comes to keeping it clean. Keeping your pond chemically balanced is critical to the health of your fish. A simple design will make this much easier.
The best shape for your Koi pond is just a rectangular or oblong pond. This shape is the easiest to keep clean because it can accommodate multiple drains. A pond like this will have no dead areas with poor water circulation.
The location of your pond is everything. Poor location can mean les enjoyment of your pond and your fish. Think about it carefully. Make sure it is the focal point of your garden or backyard.
The perfect location will take into account several points. A pond with no shade will foster rapid algae growth. Don’t let this happen. If it’s located under a tree it will collect plant debris which if not cleared frequently will affect the acidity of the water. This can be harmful to the fish. Tree roots can often crack concrete ponds or pierce pond liners. Don’t let your pond fill with large amounts of rain water runoff. Always make sure the pond is far enough away from any plantings that will require spraying with harmful insecticides.
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March 25 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »
by Colombo Richmond
Whatever else may he said of the ivies there is no lack of choice, and they can he adapted to many uses other than growing in very hot conditions. As far as possible a maximum temperature in the region of 16 C should he the aim, as higher temperatures will almost inevitably result in leaves drying out and in time falling off.
Red spider is often responsible for leaves gradually turning brown and shrivelling from the outer edge; inspection of the undersides should be made when such leaves are noticed. II. canariensis (II. Claire de Marengo), H. maculara and H. Goldleaf are the larger sorts that one is most likely to meet. These are essentially more upright plants and should be grown on canes or against a wall for support.
Of these. Glacier is easily the toughest and is an excellent subject for finishing off the front of borders indoors and out, and in particular for use along the edge of outdoor window boxes.
The rate of growth can be quite phenomenal; less than ten years ago we used H. Glacier to edge a bed of geraniums outside a store shed and, in spite of constant removal of cuttings for propagation, the building has almost disappeared. The best of the grey-foliaged ones are H. .Adam and H. Little Diamond, both of which are very popular and, because of the demand, seem to he forever in short supply. The latter has, as the name suggests, leaves that are vaguely diamond- shaped in appearance, while H. Adam has very small grey and white leaves which are as beautiful in their way as that of any foliage plant. These plants vary considerably and plants with quite large leaves are often sold as being H. Adam, but the discerning purchaser should examine them carefully and make a point of selecting the miniature form.
Almost all ivies offered for sale as. house plants can he acclimatised to outdoor conditions. Plant them out early in the summer to give them a chance to settle before the winter sets in. They may be planted out as ground cover amongst other plants, or planted near a wall to which they will naturally cling; there should be little need to warn that when so used plants will have to be severely pruned periodically to prevent them becoming too invasive.
Another hedera with golden colouring is Goldchild, a much neater plant, but a little inure difficult to care for because of the small amount of chlorophyll in the leaves. Also it is a comparatively new introduction and it will be some time before it can be grown in sufficient quantities to become widely available.
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March 19 2009 | Landscaping | No Comments »