On Wed, 3 Oct 2007 09:18:06 CST, gmb wrote:

We're not talking about a few dainty leaves. The pond is literally
under a hickory tree, which, alone I could deal with. The hickory is
under a couple of towering oaks in the neighbor's yard. I live in a
mature oak neighborhood. The county vacuums up the leaves three times
during the season if we deposit them at the curb (too many to bag).
Prior to each vacuum, our two lane streets become a single lane with
hip high piles and parked cars on both sides. Springtime brings oak
pollen - another problem which can turn the water tea colored. The
trees provide shade and help us fight algae but I'm leary of leaving
that much of anything to steep in the water. (We do get some sun on
the pond and it's gorgeous.) The leaves are starting to drop mostly
because of the current drought. Our net/screen plan is temporary, to
be removed when the leaves are done, but it sure doesn't look
natural... Funny, the pond was originally for us. Now it's all about
our fish family!

Gail
(Northern Virginia)

P.S. If anyone has pictures of their solution, I'd love to see them.

http://users.owt.com/jjspond/koipond/photos/46s.jpg I didn't do frames. I
just lay the boards down and cover with screening that is tied down at the
edges with rocks. The screening sits about 8" above the water. For the lily
pond I used shade cloth, comes in wider widths. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us