Pond in the foothills

[callingcolleen1]

Yes, but first I would like to feel some hot hot weather for a change and lay by the pond and work hard on tanning my legs.....
I can complain about the heat later once I have had enough! He he he

 

[CountryEscape]

I need to ask for some steaks and roasts for having the Herefords here in my pasture, too, but my neighbor boy that owns the cows has not yet had a bull calf, and has kept all the heifers. If he has a bull calf this summer (2 are bred, he hopes), then maybe I can request a package of roasts and steaks! I just enjoy them being out there. Avery is going to help me build my "permanent fence" once I finally get the money to buy the corner posts. Also, will have to wait for it to dry up as another neighbor offered to come with his skid steer to dig the holes. He recommends buying 10' posts and burying them 5'! That should stay put, not pull out in the winter. So, it's a share and share alike with each other here in the country. Love it!

 

[MitchM]

We have had a fairly wet and cool summer this year. I have done almost no work on the pond. I'm glad I waited because the berm has settled as much as 3 inches in some spots so I've re-enforced those areas back up. The water level was getting too low for the skimmer pump to work properly.
The fish I almost never see. I feed about 2 tablespoons of koi pellets every morning but have only seen the fish feeding once or twice. The water is not very clear but the parameters are pretty good. PH 8.2, KH 12dkh, GH 14dkh.
Whenever I do see the fish, they are chasing each other around like crazy. Lots of bugs around the pond, no algae problems other than maybe a 1/4" film on the liner. It looks like the fish are happy, other than the last remaining koi I had that I found dead a couple of months ago. I don't know why, it seemed well fed and didn't show any signs lack of oxygen as the cause.
There are 6 goldfish in there now, 3 shubunkins and 3 comets each around 6 -7 inches. The shubunkins overwintered fine and the comets came in as eggs this year on some water hyacinth and lettuce I bought.
I'm probably going to add another 7 comets into the pond, all from eggs on the surface plants.
I would like to add a couple of koi to my greenhouse aquaponics setup.

The moose comes back frequently, and I have caught her standing in the pond, her 2 front legs anyways. No damage so far to the liner, lol.

 

[MitchM]

At this point I'm thinking about what I should do to prepare my pond for this winter. I'm debating whether or not I should buy a pond vacuum and clean the bottom.
Any opinions?

 

[callingcolleen1]

Well if you cannot net the bottom out and remove sludge that way, then maybe a vacumn would be good. I do net the bottom out in the spring, right now there is next to nothing on the bottom of my pond, and I will be putting a big net over top to stop the leaves from all falling inside pond.

I think I may have seen a baby koi in my pond, either that or it was a baby goldfish, but the shape looked like a koi, will have to let it get bigger and see then.

We have been having a very nice August, nice and hot, but not too hot, just right for me. My pond is looking real good, fish are looking big, and everything here growing nice, except some leaves are now starting to fall...

 

[sissy]

gosh a nice big bridge over that pond would be great ,a view of the pond from above and a view of the view . :cheerful:

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes. a bridge over that big pond would sure be nice, and maybe some lights over the bridge too. Then if you could only keep that moose out of the pond all would be well!

 

[MitchM]

I'm kind of torn about the moose visits...I like them coming around.

A bridge would be great. Installing it would be tricky. I'll have to think about that.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Maybe just work on getting that bad moose on the loose away first, That big bad moose can't be helping the pond and may be causing unseen havoc. Would bright spot lights that come on with movement keep the moose away?

 

[MitchM]

I don't know. The dogs barking don't faze her and when I go out, I can get pretty close before she heads back into the forest. If her calf is near I would rather just leave them alone.
She could charge at me.

If I do find some damage, I'll just fix it.

 

[callingcolleen1]

It is tough to garden up north there when you have to battle the wildlife! Good luck.

 

[CountryEscape]

If she ever does any damage to your pond, maybe a shallow area just made for her to wander in to drink would be the best. That way you could set it up with the intention of her going into it to drink or cool herself off, and could enforce it accordingly. I would guess in time her hooves will damage the liner, but you have a great attitude about it ... when damage happens, you will fix it! :blueflower:

 

[MitchM]

Hi CE,
I have plant shelves that are 3' wide, and that's what she's been standing on so far. Their hooves are not as pointed and as sharp as the deer and elk.
I go and inspect the area after she's gone. So far so good.
Maybe I could reinforce that area with a second layer of liner. I imagine flat patio stones wouldn't work because they would only add to the already high KH and GH numbers.

There is so much wildlife that visits the pond! We were going to get a cat, but we've seen fox and weasel at the pond too, so we would rather have local wildlife rather than bring in a foreign species.

 

[CountryEscape]

Oh, I totally agree with you, local wildlife far nicer than domesticated ones. And, if she is standing on your plant shelf, then yes, I would reinforce it with a second or even third layer of liner and let her come! I cannot imagine how excited I would be to have a moose visiting my pond. Oh, wait, I live in IL, there are no moose in IL. LOL Oh well, I have to be happy with the frogs and turtles to come and visit, they sure make me smile!

 

[MitchM]

Release the cows! :lol:
(no, don't, they just damage the berm)