Mi pawnd rebild tew

[sissy]

The ground was probably still to warm and like the stream flowing through the snow .

 

[j.w]

I love those pix shdwdrgn...........it's beeeeeeeeeeeeeeautiful!

 

[Shdwdrgn]

:boldblue: I'm :banana: so :claphands: excited! This evening I was sitting by the pond and saw my surviving weather loach swimming up and down the stream, hiding under a rock, and generally being lazy. I was happy because he knew I was there and didn't immediately go darting for cover! Hopefully this is a good sign that he is getting used to me being around and will come out in the open more often...

But that's not the best news! The best news is that as we were watching him swim around in the small pond, a second weather loach showed himself for a moment!!! So for the first time since they were put in the pond last year, I have confirmation that at least two of the three survived. My only concern for the third loach was that it appeared to be a slightly different breed. As near as I can tell, the two survivors are the European weather loaches, and the third one which I have not seen again may have been an Asian weather loach (slightly different coloration and a more elongated body).

Now I feel even more confident in adding more of these guys to the pond. Just waiting for the water temp to stay in the 60's, then I'll start poking the local fish stores to get in some more for me. I'd love to have 8-10 of these guys swimming around the pond...

 

[j.w]

That's great news Shdwdrgn! Happy for you

 

[addy1]

Yippee! :claphands:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

What's this? No Summertime photos yet?!? Thats sacrilege!!! I shall have to remedy this immediately...

First off, the plants are doing great this year. I just finished up putting in the landscape edging around both sides of the pond this week, so now I have a hard line to keep back the grass and allow the moneywort to grow out to. In case you couldn't tell, I much prefer wide curves over straight lines.

Today I picked up a couple thin sheets of flagstone to finish off the top of my cave. The original slab was cut as a step, so it was all straight lines... very unnatural looking. With these in place, I can dump a bit of dirt behind them, and get some more moneywort and other vines growing. Eventually I will have vines hanging down in front of the cave, giving it the illusion of greater depth.

And of course I have to include a shot of the fish. I would estimate the koi are 15-16 inches this year. My wife was arguing with some guy on her aquarium site this week... apparently he is dead-set on convincing everyone that our koi are abused for keeping them in such conditions. Abused I tell you!

 

[j.w]

Beautiful pix shdwdrgn and love everything about your pond, cave and stream........it is all so cool and I also love the curved look!
Your fish have it made in the shade living in your nice pond! Not summer here yet!

 

[addy1]

We are going to call the fish police, those are definitely abused fish!

In case you couldn't tell, I much prefer wide curves over straight lines.

LMAO we now know you love curves and wide ones!


Love the look of all you have done.

 

[fishin4cars]

Looks really good this year. Wow what a transformation from when the project started! Abused? Why cause he thinks a koi pond has to be a pool? Or because you keep them with plants? LOL abused my ... better not say it but you probably already thought the same thing!

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Is there still a pond back there? The plants are growing like crazy! Irises everywhere, and I have creeping jenny and periwinkle covering the rocks and growing down into the water all around. I don't think the fish are doing their part in keeping these plants trimmed back!

@fishin - The yellow irises on the right are some of what you sent me. They have grown TALL - somewhere around 3.5 to 4 feet in height. There is another group of yellows just to the left of the waterfall that are going to bloom in the next few days. I also have a few small purple ones I got locally which are blooming to the left. I am still waiting on the purple ones from you to bloom - maybe they'll go later in the season, which is always nice because then I have more constant flowers.

Also, check out my strawberries! They are very happy this year, and I've got a ton of berries getting ripe... so many that despite the best efforts of the birds, I still have been finding a lot to eat. And oh so sweet! They are really liking that fish water.

One thing I've noticed is that I am having no luck at all with cattails. I got three of the mini-cats, and they are hanging on, but I've not seen any new growth. They are planted between 2-4 inches deep. I also got two larger variegated cattails and put them in the rocks with the irises. All of their leaves have been blown over, and again I am not seeing any sign of new growth.

Also got some hyacinths and water lettuce last weekend. The hyacinths have been blooming like crazy, so maybe that's a good sign that they will do well in the pond this year. Between the hyacinths and all the new lilies, my fish should be completely covered by the end of Summer

 

[j.w]

Everything has filled in so nicely Shdwdrgn! Looks great and the fish will be nice and safe from view of predators w/ your good coverage!

 

[addy1]

Beautiful. Love all you have done. Give the mini cats a chance, mine sort of putzed along the first year, then took off.

 

[j.w]

Yep same w/ me.........my cat tails are just now starting to grow good in between my rocks around the edge. Don't see any seed heads yet tho but that will come eventually when they are nice and strong.

 

[addy1]

Took a year for the first seed heads to show up jw, at least with mine.

 

[j.w]

I'm waiting patiently cuz sooner or later they will come!