Pond in the foothills

[callingcolleen1]

You have a nice system that works for you! Me I can't seem to have any plants that thrive & grow or flower besides some variated iris. I use no salt.

Thanks Wayne. . I think you have to find what will grow well for you and your conditions. Keep trying other plants, maybe some bull rushes would work good for you as they are natural to your area. If you get lots of sun then you can have lots of rushes.

I got this Yerba Mansa that flowers and smells so wonderful a couple years back and it runs on surface of water and in shallow rocks. Just love it and very hardy. Give this a try https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemopsis

 

[MitchM]

You really have the coldest pond I think of members at this forum.

Yep.

You have a nice system that works for you! Me I can't seem to have any plants that thrive & grow or flower besides some variated iris. I use no salt.

Have you looked at any plants from http://www.bbcreek.ca/ ?

.

 

[MitchM]

First ice over day this year, Nov 6, using aerators.
Not that much difference from previous years using heaters, pond breathers or pumps.

I think the only thing that would really extend my ice free time would be a pond cover, but for a 30 x 30 pond that gets a lot of wind and snow, it's just not practical.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Brrrrr!

 

[addy1]

Pretty! and we were 71f today.............21.8C 15 degrees above normal

My pond climbed back up to 14.4c 58f

 

[Tula]

I can't believe you're iced over already - wow !

 

[MoonShadows]

I was going through this thread looking at the pics you posted since you started your pond. You live in a beautiful place, but I could not take all the cold, snow and ice. We only have about 2 really bad months a year as far as cold, snow and ice, and I hate it!

 

[callingcolleen1]

I have ice cover on top pond because that pond has no cattle pannel cold frame.

 

[Tula]

I have ice cover on top pond because that pond has no cattle pannel cold frame.

@callingcolleen1 are you going to cover the top pond, or leave it open....enquiring minds want to know?!

 

[MitchM]

Today is ice free day this year.

2017 April 12

.

What a brutal winter this was!
April 27 and I still have some ice that extends 3 feet below the surface!
All I see survived are some minnows so far. I doubt that any goldfish survived.
Disaster, right? What fish are able to survive 7 months under the ice?
I'm glad I didn't go too crazy with developing the pond from the start. Mother nature is in charge, not me.
I found a local contractor with better equipment than I have and we're going to remove the liner and go with a soil bottom and plant it with native plants with a dry river bed that collects rain runoff from our metal roof.

Crap. I hate to see wildlife perish while under my care.
The pond aerators though, kept running the whole winter. I credit the thick, weighted airline for that. The air pump only used 75 watts as a bonus.
I wasn't able to have the pond breathers running, but if my ice reached 4 or more feet thick, I don't think even they would have lasted through this past winter.
My pond is currently 5 feet deep, maybe I'll go for 6 or 7 feet deep for next winter. The aerators will work that deep.
The new dimensions will probably be 40 feet by 40 feet. Way too big for a pond cover.
I'll post any construction pics as we go, of course.
Pond picture from today, air temperature 22C/72F but forecast says we may get some snow tomorrow.
I see a plant pot got blown in during one of our storms, or the guy that clears our driveway accidentally caught one and it wound up where it is.

 

[RobAmy]

Wow, Mitch you still have that much ice. Brutal is right. Sorry on your fish but that is some tough conditions. The new plan sound awesome. I would love a natural soil bottom. 40 x 40 is a great size too. Please keep us posted. I will follow this with great interest.

 

[MitchM]

Thanks Rob.
Although, if I think this situation through a bit more, I wonder if the aerators actually caused the ice to thicken more than it would have if I used the breathers only.
The aeration is great for circulation and moving water, but perhaps if I allowed a solid ice cap to form early by using the breathers only, maybe the earth would have retained heat longer and the ice would not have formed so thick.
I welcome any thoughts people may have.
The earth has a lot of heat retained from the summer months, but perhaps the aeration and water movement released that heat from all the water circulation.
Hmmm.

 

[RobAmy]

Well our weather is different for sure but this year I upgraded my air pump and it circulated the water more then what I have used in years past due to the larger size. This was one of the coldest we have had. I did not develop any thinker ice then in the past. I never used breathers so I have no comparison there. But you could be on to something seeing your conditions are that more severe.

 

[cas]

Wow. Ice still 3 feet thick. I am going to stop complaining about my long crappy winter.

Interesting thought about the aerator. My winter gets no where close to yours, but I thought the aerator helped keep the ice thinner on my pond. I know the ice melts much faster in the spring with it.

I am really interested in following your new pond build. When do you think you will start on it?

 

[MitchM]

We have been colder in previous winters, this past winter I think we only got down to -30 something, so that wasn't extreme.
I could be wrong about the aerators, but I do know that open water will lose more heat than having a pond cover or ice cap.
The ice was much thicker this year for some reason. My pond has even been ice free by the end of March in previous years.
Thanks.