My pond

Always something ongoing in the garden Edie, not just the ponds, be good to see your photo`s.
I helped my daughter do one in her garden only a couple of weeks back, hard work but we enjoyed it, no fish going in yet though but she does have frogs in her garden already so I guess they`ll soon find i...

Oops-sorry for the garbled message and my inability to clean it up at this time-my apologies.

W

such as minature cattail and the beautiful water iris provide shade and cooler water temperatures in the
middle of the year and the fish like to munch on the roots.

of these plants which brings me to the larequirement- a good steady food source. You proProtection, comfort, and food-If the fish can find all three together- that is what a fly fisherman calls a Prime Lie and that's where we know fish are and like to be. Your pond should be a place where fish like to be and providing these things will also make the pond interesting and beautiful to look at. You may provide bottom dwelling oxygenating plants also such as Anacharis but be sure to remove these at the end of the growing season for they will not overwinter. I have no bottom dwelling plants in my ponds for I try to keep the bottom as free of obstructions as possible for net cleaning. In the late fall, I remove all free floating plants and place in a few weighted plastic garden pots lying them on their side so the fish can congregate around and in them during their long winter sleep. During winter for oxygenating and to prevent complete ice over of the pond to allow for exchange of gasses I place a bubble diffusor.
I think the above will make your pond fish much happier than a branch over or in the pond.

I'm back(had to take the dogs for their walk) to place a beginning to the end of my partially garbled message.
I like the sport of fly fishing and I like to fish over fish. In order to find the ideal habitats for fish I have to know what they require in that ideal environ and this can be applied very successfully to the pond. Fish require three things; protection, comfort and food. The latter two I mentioned in my first message so I will now relate how I provide protection in my ponds. Fish are always finding ways to protect themselves from predators and they will feel more comfortable if they have some type of cover in the pond. The best way to do this is by placing floating plants in the pond and the best plant for that is the water iris. It is an umbrella with roots. Fish hide under it and nestle amonst the roots when they are resting. My fantail koi reproduce so it provides a place for the deposit of
eggs and good protection for the fry from the adults. The
water iris blooms beautifully several times during the
season providing color to the pond. It is a very fast growing plant so the purchase of just three of them will supply you with thirty within a few months so remove as many plants as needed so two third of your pond is open water. The second requirement is comfort an marginal plants such as minature cattail and water iris provide shed and cooler water temperature in the heat of summer. Now if you return to my previous message

I look forward to seeing photo of your pond. I am sure it is going to be a million times nicer than mine which appears in my today's blog.