On May 21, 10:01 am, wrote:
Coming from zone 5, having lived in zone 3-4 for 11 years, and lived
in zone 7 (I think) I can tell you that the shorter your summers, the
MORE you need a pond. But not just any pond, you need one inside at
minimum a wind barrier, better yet one inside a greenhouse of some
sort. greenhouses DO NOT need to be glass or "hardware", they can be
plastic or even made of ripstop nylon on the sides as long as the top
is plastic to let in the sun.

Good advice, thank you. It's a friendly group you have here.

Does anyone here keep small aquarium fish - danios etc - in ponds for
the summer?

I'm in the colder part of zone 4a close to zone 3 - if Canada uses
same system as the United States for plant hardiness zones. The boreal
forest - think Russian taiga - is a 40 minute drive to the north, and
our lakes get thick ice that leaves in mid-late April.

Any normal garden pond would freeze to the bottom, and fish would need
to come in for the winter. A greenhouse (pond house?) would certainly
work, but instead I have a handful of aquariums. I still look at the
"Laguna" pond kits in the store, and imagine setting up a small pond
for plants and my zebra danios and platies - we'll see. The kits are
sold in my town, and relatives in warmer parts of Canada certainly
have kept goldfish ponds.
d.