"marmarle" wrote in message ...
Must be a VERY big pond. What end of the state? We are thinking of adding a
yard pond. We have two small (150gal) ones, on enclosed porch, but wonder
if water would evaporate too fast if we left for more than 3 weeks in the
summer. Haven't thought out the adding water thing, since cold tap water
here is warm in summer. Or would that be a good thing? The "J" pipe setup
sounds good. How deep did you dig for the pond? J&KinAZ


Well maybe it isn't THAT big. =)
It's about 8 x 10, averages about 2-2 1/2 feet deep, and has some
plant shelves. I had a hard time the first year or two, as it's a new
house, with no trees in the backyard, and full Arizona sun. Now the
Umbrella Palms and cattails have grown pretty thick on the East and
West sides of the pond, and the north side backs up against our block
wall fence. I have some desert spoon growing up there, which provide
additional shade especially when they send up their long flower
spikes. I keep a small waterfall going, and as of last year (the
pond's 3rd) the plants are well established and the entire top was
covered with lily pads. That was hard at first as the sun kept baking
them. Until the plants got going we fought green water a bit because
of the sun's intensity. Last year it was crystal, and I attribute it
to the massive plant growth and the small sterilizer I added. As a
matter of fact, my first lily pad of the year just popped up last
Friday, so I think we'll have a bumper crop again!
Water from the tap in the summer is kind of warm, but once the hose
runs a minute it's actually cool. Pond temp will get above 80 though,
but the fish don't seem to care. The koi are growing like weeds, as
is the "mystery" comet that showed up in the first year. I think a
neighbor popped him over the fence.
Water will need to be filled though, I can't let it go longer then
about 5 days in summer without a top off. In winter I hardly mess
with it.
Oh yeah in east Mesa, to answer your question. Where are you?