Eco-Logical Environments: Pond Maintenance

Using the right kind of rocks and gravel is also important.

Greg Wittstock warned against the use of limestone because it changes the pH of the water, effecting the natural low maintenance growth of the ecosystem.

“It’s good to use smooth, granite cobbles for gravel, and use mossy, chunky rock for shelves and other areas of the pond,” Greg Wittstock explained.

“The pond floor should look like pieces of rock where water eroded away the earth,” he continued. “It should look very natural. How you place your rocks is the part of the construction where you can be very creative.”

No two rocks are the same, acknowledged Bill Soeder, owner, Bill Soeder Landscaping, Westlake, Ohio, and it takes time to predict what one rock will do when water hits it compared to another or the backside of that same rock, especially when building the waterfall.

“I’ve gone through five to 10 rocks before finding the perfect waterfall,” Soeder admitted. “Everyone has a different ‘eye’ when building a pond. My employees laugh at me because sometimes I just need one certain-shaped rock to complete the waterfall.”

Because gravel helps to keep the whole system clearer and cleaner, Louis Battista, landscape designer, Waterloo Gardens/Landscaping, Exton, Pa., recommended washing off the gravel and rocks before putting them down in the pond.

“It helps to clear the pond up more quickly after the water is added,” Batista pointed out.

SKIMMING OFF THE TOP. Three years ago, water features were a profitable business for Wagner, but clogged pumps and dirty water hurt profitability.

Then he decided to start using skimmers in his ponds. Skimmers, sometimes called pre-filters, collect the debris that falls into the pond, such as leaves and twigs, before it has a chance to clog the pump, Wagner explained.

“They protect the pump, keep the water flowing and keep debris from sinking to the bottom of the pond,” Gary Wittstock added.

The pump rests in the back of the skimmer vault on the edge of the pond, Wagner explained, and the skimmer automatically skims the top of the water where debris falls, takes it through a filter into the pump and then through plumbing to the biofall, or waterfall, which flows the water, then free of debris, back into the pond. This cycle creates water movement and circulation, which helps oxygen move through the pond, keeping the fish healthy, the bacteria growing and the water from getting too stagnant, Wagner added.

AQUATIC PLANTS. Contractors also sell plant materials to grow in water features. Typically, aquatic plants should cover about 60 percent of the pond’s surface area, Wagner recommended.

“For example, if we build a 10-foot by 10-foot pond, we’d like a majority of that surface area to be covered with lily pads,” he explained.

“Lily pads help create shade, which encourages bacteria,” added Charles Thomas, owner, Lilypons Water Gardens, Buckeystown, Md.

According to Thomas, there are two types of water lilies: hearty and tropical. There isn’t much price difference between the two. Most water lilies on average are $20 each retail, Thomas said.

Hearty water lilies bloom in May through September. Most hearty water lilies, which range in color from white to pink to yellow to red, open at 9 a.m. and close between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Tropical water lilies, on the other hand, are frost tender, produce two to three times as many blossoms as hearty water lilies, come in blues and purples and some varieties are night bloomers, which open in the evening and close by noon the next day, Thomas said.

“Tropical water lilies are more popular with customers because they bloom when most people get home from work and stay open all night,” he explained.

Water lilies will grow in a very heavy topsoil in a pot with 8 to 16 inches of water over them, Thomas informed.

“Water lilies at their deepest will grow 12 to 18 inches tall,” Wagner noted, “but in deeper water, they aren’t as thick and plentiful.”

Aquatic plants will also root in the gravel at the bottom of the pond, added Gary Wittstock.

When it comes to planting, Thomas said the general rule-of-thumb is 1 bunch for every 1 to 2 square feet of surface area, enough to cover 60 to 75 percent of the surface area of the pond.

Water lilies also like still water, Thomas pointed out, recommending that a rock be placed between the waterfall and the plants to ease the rush of water from the fall.

“Over the years I’ve learned that plants are the key to solving the green water problem,” Thomas enthused. “More plants and fewer fish equals clearer water. More fish and fewer plants equals greener water. It’s all about balance.”

GOIN’ FISHIN’. When it comes to adding fish, it’s important to keep the size and type of fish and the size of the water garden in mind, Wagner said. Usually, it’s good to have about 1 inch of fish per 1 square foot of surface area, he stated.

“If you have a 10-foot by 10-foot pond, that’s 100 square feet of surface area,” Wagner explained. “That means that 10 10-inch koi could live in that pond. As long as you don’t overstock fish, they take care of themselves. There’s enough natural food there for them that you don’t even have to feed them; and you shouldn’t let them become dependent on extra feeding – maybe once or twice each week.”

Thomas goes by a different rule: Add not more than 1 inch of gold fish for every 5 to 10 gallons of water. The amount of water should be doubled if koi are being added to the pond, Thomas pointed out, because they have great growth potential.

Fish growth should also be taken into consideration, Wagner continued.

“If you buy 10 3- to 6-inch fish, they’ll grow to about 10 to 12 inches,” Wagner said. “You have to factor that in when adding fish to the pond. If you overstock your pond, there won’t be enough algae there to feed them.”

To incorporate fish, a pond should be at least 2½ feet deep to give them room for growth and so the water doesn’t freeze all the way through, giving the fish a place to live in the winter, LeBoutillier added.

POND PROFITIBILITY. If a contractor expects to build five ponds a year, then it can be a profitable business, Gary Wittstock said.

Water features, according to LeBoutillier, start at $2,000 for a 10-foot by 10-foot basic pond. A popular 11-foot by 16- or 21-foot pond can range from $3,000 to $5,000, similar to the price of a hot tub, noted Greg Wittstock.

Three-fourths of the homeowners Wagner builds ponds for request landscaping, a patio or a deck after the pond is built.

“Incorporating pond building into my company increased my add-on sales,” agreed Soeder. “One-hundred percent of the ponds I build lead to additional services. Usually, we try to sell a three-year contract with pond building. The first year, we build the water feature. The second year, we start with additional landscaping around the pond area and, the third year, we’ll complete the entire project.”

The author is Assistant Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.

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