well. living in zone 5 even I have this desire for something besides ice and snow
all winter long. I think people farther north NEED a greenhouse of some kind to take
the edge off, to hasten spring, delay fall. even a tiny greenhouse with a pond and
waterfall at one end are going to provide an oasis of life in winter (OK, so my
finches do a lot of that). I would NOT put the greenhouse "out" where I would have
to shovel a walk to get there (done that, didnt care for that at all). better to
have the little greenhouse attached to the house in some manner so can step right
into the greenhouse (or have the door swing IN). Greenhouses do not have to be
heated for them to provide winter relief. If they are situated with protection (and
snow acts as insulator on the bottom) they get pleasant when the winter sun shines
in. a greenhouse, a small pump and pond heater is all that is needed to keep the
water moving all winter.

Ponds do not have to be a lot of work.
http://weloveteaching.com/mypond/changes/changes.htm
mine has a long veggie filter that is cleaned out once a year in fall before the pond
is winterized. I drop in a 500 watt heater, cover with plastic lean to, have a small
pump running and the fish are active (and fed) for all but one month in January when
the pond temp goes below 50. the pond never freezes over. without the heater the
pond would not freeze anyway. and my pond is partially above ground. I wouldnt
suggest that for further north. Ingrid

"bungadora" wrote:
I think you're on the right track not doing the pond thing. They're a
lot of work for something you only have open for 4-5 months of the
year. And if you have fish in the pond you either have to install a
heater or take them in for the winter. Which is why my neighbor has a
very large tank in her very small living room.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://list.lovemyoldhome.com/puregold/
WEBSITE AT: http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/home.html
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for
any of the recommendations I make.
AND I DID NOT AUTHORIZE ADS AT THE OLD PUREGOLD SITE