Environment | Home Grown

Water Garden Fish Care

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It is important that you take good care of your fish when you are keeping a water garden in your backyard. For example, you need to feed your fish appropriately. As water temperature changes, you need to change how you feed your fish according to their metabolism. For example, when the water temperature begins to drop, the fish metabolism is going to slow down. During the summer you need to be able to feed your fish a high protein food, allowing them to build up a distinct fat reserve that will help them survive through the winter.

After the water temperature begins to drop, you are going to want to decrease how much food you are giving them, and you should go from feeding them several times daily to only feeding them one time per day. You might want to use an easily digestable food with a wheat germ base. Spring and autumn food from Pond Care of the Microbe Lift Cold Weather are two formulas that will work well for this purpose.

When the temperature drops again, you should go to only feeding between twice and three times in a single week. Your fish will be taking longer and longer to digest their food and so they need much less at this point in time. When the temperature hits below 50 degrees, your fish should stop eating at all for as long as the temperature is remaining at 50 degrees or below. Keep in mind that you need to keep the pond very clean when the temperature drops, because frozen pond will trap debris, and debris can release toxins that can cause harm to your fish if left unchecked.

Make sure that you are caring for your fish properly throughout the year in order for your water garden to thrive.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardening, Landscaping, Technique Tagged With: Fahrenheit, Fish, Food, Garden, Home, Temperature, Water, Water garden

Autumn and Winter Pond Care

In the autumn season, one of the most significant events that you are going to run into is the period where the leaves begin to change colors and fall away from the trees. If the leaves fall and end up getting into the pond, they will decay in the water and this is going to throw off the entire ecological balance of your water garden.

One of the options that is available to you during this time is to use a net for skimming leaves away from the surface of your pond whenever they fall. Unfortunately, this is going to be a daily chore for you throughout the autumn months if you decide to pursue this particular maintenance avenue. You could use a skimmer type filter, but this is not likely going to help you get the leaves, because they are only designed to help with occasional leaves and other debris, and are not well-suited for seasons where many leaves are falling, quickly becoming a nuisance.

If the leaves are falling in heavy quantities, your skimmer may become clogged several times daily. You may want to consider installing leaf netting across your pond as this will make the leaf maintenance easier to deal with throughout the season. It is best for you to try and minimize how much sludge accumulates, include debris from plants and leaves. You might consider using a pond vacuum or a siphon to clear the debris as they enter into the pond system. You can also use chemicals to accelerate how quickly organic debris break down in the pond. All of these things combined together will help you get the most out of your maintenance steps for the autumn and winter.

Maintaining your water garden during the fall and winter is important in keeping your water garden operating properly throughout the year.

Filed Under: Environment, Home Improvement, Landscaping, Technique Tagged With: Fish, Garden, Home, Home and Garden, Pond, Shopping, Water, Water garden

Summer Pond Care

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When it comes to your water garden, it is important to consider seasonal pond care and how your water garden’s maintenance requirements are going to change with the season. As the weather changes and the seasons fly by, your maintenance requirements will also be altered. You must consider how your maintenance tasks are going to be changed with time in order to youâ€™re your pond or water garden the best possible care.

First and foremost, during the summer you should be continuing to fertilize your plants just as you were fertilizing them in the spring. Now is also the time for you to remove any dead foliage from your water garden. The leaves on your plants are going to become yellow and then brown as they grow older. As this happens you are going to want to cut them off to get rid of them, reducing the buildup of debris in your pound. This is also going to improve upon the overall appearance of your pound and will also provide additional room for growth of your plants.

Make sure that you are feeding your fish well during the summer months, but that you are not over feeding them in the process. Never feed any more than what your fish can eat in a span of five minutes. Feed between one and three times daily as needed.

Make sure that you are cleaning your filter as is needed. Do not overclean.

Maximize the aeration in your pond. Warmer water can hold less oxygen, and yet the fish will use more oxygen when the water is warm. Make sure that there is aeration running in your pond all the time using an air pump or an additional type of pump in your water garden.

Enjoy your pond as it flourishes throughout the summer months.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardening, Home Improvement, Landscaping, Technique Tagged With: Fish, Garden, Home, Plant, Pond, Pump, Water, Water garden

Spring Pond Plant Care

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There are certain elements of spring water garden care that relate specifically to the plants in your pond or water garden. You are going to want to think about plants, fertilizers and other details when it comes to your aquatic plants because the spring time is when your plants are going to flourish at their greatest. Consider the following things when you are preparing for the spring season with your water garden.

First and foremost, you are going to want to fertilize each of your plants and make sure that they are firmly planted at the right depths. If you have lotus flowers or lilies, then you are going to want to fertilize them every 3 or 4 weeks throughout the spring. If you have marginals, you are going to want to fertilize them every 5 or 7 weeks throughout the spring.

Now is also a good time for you to add any new plants as you need to, making sure that the weather has become appropriate for each of the plants. You can add floating floats like water lettuce and water hyacinth in the latter half of the spring, because you need to make sure that all danger of the frost has gone before you begin to plant these aquatic plants.

You can reduce algae growth by adding anacharis plants to your water garden. You should aim for approximately one bunch for each square foot of surface area that you have if your pond is under 50 square feet. If your pond is between 51 square feet and 200 square feet, you can add one punch for every two to three square feet. If your pond is greater than 200 square feet, then one bunch for each three or four square feet is generally ideal, though it is really up to you how much you add.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardening, Home Improvement, Landscaping, Technique Tagged With: Aquatic plant, Garden, Home, Plant, Pond, Shopping, Water, Water garden

Spring Pond Care pt 2

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One way that you can remove leaves, sludge and debris from your water garden is with a pond vacuum. You may be able to use a shop vac as well, but this will remove water during the process as well, and as such may not be the best option for you to pursue. If there are a lot of leaves and a lot of sludge that have accumulated in your pond, then you may need to do a complete pond cleaning. Unfortunately, this is going to upset the natural balance of your pond, and may interfere with your pond’s natural control of algae. If you do need to go this route, though, just make sure that you do it right.

You can pump water out of your pond into a large container or tub. Determine the size of your container based on how many fish you have and how large your fish are. Cover the container using leaf netting so the fish won’t jump out, this is especially important if you have koi. If it is warm out, put your container in the shade. Pump out as much water as you can, then use a net to catch your fish and transfer them into the container with the freshly pumped water. The pants can also be removed if you need to repot them, or you can leave them alone in the pond. If you move underwater plants, keep them submerged.

Pump out as much water as humanly possible, then use a shop vacuum to clean out the rest of the pond. You can use a broom, dust pan and bucket to complete the sludge removal. You should avoid scrubbing any of the velvet algae from your pond liner as this is a beneficial type of algae. Avoid using any chemicals while cleaning your pond.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardening, Home Improvement, Landscaping, Technique Tagged With: Algae, Fish, Garden, Home, Pond, Pump, Water, Water garden

Spring Pond Care pt 1

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Seasonal pond care is an important consideration when you set up a water garden. As the seasons change, so will your maintenance requirements for waterfalls, streams, ponds, plants and fish. You must consider how your seasonal pond care is going to change in each season so that you can be prepared.

In the spring, the water is going to begin to warm and the water garden will slowly be coming back to life. This is an essential time for you to get things going in the proper direction if you want to enjoy a truly rewarding water garden season.

First of all, you are going to want to un-winterize your water garden. Anything that you did in order to prepare for the winter can then be undone as soon as the freezing weather has come and gone. For example, if you have turned off your water pump, turn it back on at this point.

As the water temperature rises, test it daily until it reaches a steady level of 50 degrees. At this point you can begin to feed your fish again, though you should feed them a food intended for cold weather until the water temperature has climbed to a minimum of 60 degrees and has remained there steadily. At this point you can transition to your regular full-season program for feeding.

If your water garden has amassed an accumulation of debris and leaves during the winter months, then you are going to want to remove them now. You can remove the leaves using a skimmer net with a square end, this will let you push it along the pond bottom to scoop up all the fallen leaves, both floating and sinking types. There are also products that you can buy that will allow you to accelerate the breaking down and decomposition of these leaves, such as EcoFix and Microbe Lift Sludge Away.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardening, Home Improvement, Landscaping, Technique Tagged With: Fish, Garden, Home, Home and Garden, Pond, Pump, Water, Water garden

Aquatic Plants in your Water Garden

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After you construct your water garden or pond, one of your primary concerns should be the installation of your aquatic plants. Aquatic plants generally need to be installed as soon as you possibly can do so after the basic construction is completed. Many types of aquatic plants are really good at using up all of the nutrients that would otherwise be responsible for feeding the growth of algae. If you want to keep algae growth at bay, then you want your aquatic plants to be working to keep the algae away as soon as you have water running in your water garden or pond.

Some of the best plants for this purpose are Bacopa, Anacharis, Parrot’s Feather and Water Hyacinth. Some plants, like water lilies and other varieties that have surface leaves can provide a significant amount of shade, covering as much as 66 percent of your pond surface area in the full sun. This much coverage will also help to keep algae growth at bay. If your pond does not receive full sun, then you can use less of these shade plants in an effort to keep the algae away. Experiment with different plants until you find a combination that suits you well.

To keep your pond clean and healthy you arguing to want to seed the pond filter using a packaged bacteria product on a regular basis. From this point you should ideally begin to introduce your fish with only a few going in at a time over a span of several weeks. This is going to allow for the growth and establishment of bacteria in your water garden over time, preparing it to optimum health and well being. There are no hard and fast rules about how you introduce plants or fish to your water garden, but planting quickly and introducing your fish slowly is generally the best course of action.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardening, Landscaping, Technique Tagged With: Algae, Aquatic plant, Bacopa, Elodea, Plant, Pond, Water, Water garden

Edging your Water Garden

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For most water garden installations, wrapping stone around your pond like a necklace is not going to give it a natural appearance. If you are trying to create a pond that blends in well with your landscape in the most natural way possible, then you are going to want to find unique and interesting ways to edge your pond simply creating a boring border around the pond.

In addition to the traditional methods of edging your pond using thin stones to wrap around the edges overlapping your pond, what you can also do is use a layer or two of stone that you build up from the shelf where you installed your plants. This is going to provide your water garden with an appearance that is more natural, and it will also allow the water level of your water garden to fluctuate without the liner becoming visually apparent.

You can also consider creating a beach of cobblestones as an edging simply by placing a larger stone on the inside of a large and shallow shelf, and then filling the area with cobbles and gravels as you see fit. You can do a lot to naturalize your area simply by installing shallow-water plants in the cobblestone beach area. This is going to create an edge that appears much more natural as the plants will be partially in and partially outside of the water. You can also plant plants with their roots bare right into your gravel, or you can plant the plants with some of their soil still attached, which is going to allow for quicker establishment.

The real consideration you need to make is that your pond liner is covered, hiding the “man made” aspects of your water garden so that you can focus on the natural elements instead. There are a variety of ways to do this, just try to be creative and produce something that appears natural rather than creating a uniform look all the way around your pond.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardening, Landscaping Tagged With: Garden, Home, Home and Garden, Plant, Pond, Shopping, Water, Water garden

Creating a Koi Pond

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If you are interested in creating a water garden, one of the ideas that may come to mind is to create a koi pound. Something that you want to consider when it comes to creating a water garden featuring koi is that koi fish can severely limit the plant options that you have available to you. The reason for this is because koi fish are going to eat certain plants, and if you install these specific plants in your pond, then you are going to have difficulty getting them to survive and thrive with the fish nibbling on them. Even well fed koi fish are likely to chew on plants, this is simply the nature of keeping fish in your water garden.

If you want to install a koi pond, then one of your biggest considerations should be the size of your water garden. Koi fish can get relatively large, even when the pound is small. The smallest pond or water garden featuring koi should be 1000 gallons of volume at the bare minimum, and bigger is always better. Koi can easily grow to 12 inches or more, and several koi will easily grow too large for a small pound. You need to have a deep area in your pond, spanning at least 3 to 5 feet deep, though deeper is typically better.

Koi cannot be an afterthought when you are planning and building your water garden. You cannot put your entire water garden together and then decide to add koi, because the odds are good that your pond will not be sized or planned properly to accommodate these large, hearty fish. Instead, you need to plan first and foremost whether you will be introducing fish to your water garden, and then plan the other details of your water garden around the needs of the fish.

Filed Under: DIY, Environment, Technique Tagged With: Fish, Gardens, Koi, Pets, Plant, Pond, Water, Water garden

Escape Stress with a Home Garden

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The backyard of your home can be your escape from the problems of the workday world, a way to clear your mind of the projects and deadlines and stress at work. There are a variety of different garden or landscaping projects you can choose that can be accomplished in a weekend or that will take a little longer and may require the help of a landscape architect or other expert. In either case, the goal is to transform your backyard into a place where you can relax, enjoy nature and recharge after a demanding day at work.

A simple home garden, for example, can be something fun that you create on your own. The garden can produce beauty and attract nature, or you can concentrate on fruits and vegetables and grow some of the food for your family. Either way, gardens can also be a great teaching tool for your kids. There are plenty of guides available, both at local nurseries and online, providing step-by-step directions that outline the plants and bushes or fruits and vegetables that are best for your region of the country and when you should begin planting and how. Your garden will require plenty of attention – watering, fertilizing and protection from insects and pests. That means plenty of time outside, which experts say is a great way to reduce stress.

However, perhaps you want something on a grander scale – maybe a fish pond or a new landscaping plan for your entire backyard. Larger projects will cost more money, but don’t ignore the possibility of refinancing a mortgage to get the cash for a total landscaping of your backyard. Real estate experts say that a home with a landscaped yard is attractive to potential buyers and can bring in offers between 5 and 15 percent more than homes without gardens or landscaping.

Filed Under: Environment, Gardening, Landscaping Tagged With: Back garden, Garden, Home, Home & Garden, Landscaping, Personal, Plant, Soil