Wendy,
First, thanks a lot. I echoed the part immediately below to get you
to elaborate a little. I want to understand a little better whether
you altered the crate at all, and if so, how.

What worked for me was to use an uprighted "milk" crate/file crate to
protect the lilies as they grow. Some lilies have a milk crate just placed
on top of their container.

How do you get the leaves to come out through the holes in the crate,
and not just jam up inside? The buds, I can imagine are on a
stiff-enough stem that it will find its way out of a hole, but for the
leaves, it seems like it could be a different story. That has always
been my question whenever anyone talks about putting mesh or anything
over their lilies. This could prevent me from having to dig a new
pond.
TIA,
Ann

btw, the email above doesn't work. I can't figure out how to update
it on Google w/o re-registering. Just answer on the group if that's
ok


"Wendy Kelly Budd" wrote in message ...
Hi,

I have had a 5 year battle with getting my growing koi to leave the lilies
alone. I tried everything anyone suggested. Finally, I hit on an idea that
is working for me and I have healthy lilies that are flowering. With 9
lilies in the pond, we have flowers every day. Last night I saw my first
Wood's White Knight in 3 years. It's the 4th WWK, every other one got eaten
within a week of planting it, even with netting as a protection. What a
beauty.

What worked for me was to use an uprighted "milk" crate/file crate to
protect the lilies as they grow. Some lilies have a milk crate just placed
on top of their container. The lilies grow up through the bottom of the
crate. Some lilies were placed inside a crate. As the lilies grew, they
camouflaged the black crate and I swear, you can't even see them anymore.
The crates are between 1-2" below the water's surface.

Hope this helps some other folks, you all have been such a help to me over
the years.