Did you know there are worst beasties out there then birds, snakes,
snapping turtles & raccoons? There is a silent pond peace destroyer. A
motion sprinkler won't stop it, fishing line won't stop it, not EVEN an
electric fence will stop this pond nuisance.

My ponding peace was being hammered daily, hourly. I would clean up from
its mess, and within hours it would destroy all my good deeds, it not only
messed up the ponds, but the surrounding area. Though this evil, silent
menace doesn't eat fish, it could kill them from displacement alone, if not
out right poisoning from the dreadful waste it is known to create.

What is this dreadful, silent, and noxious thing, you might ask? Especially
now that I have you shaking in your water booties?

They are rampant throughout the world, but most of us only deal with them
in the fall. Guess yet? The ever dreadful........leaf!

My DH girdled our planted-to-close-to-the-house-by-previous-owners 50-60'
tall Silver Maple, over a year ago. It still manage to leaf out this
spring, including a BIG dose of seeds to the like that the squirrels
couldn't even begin to keep up. (Year before they ate them all, what they
didn't drop to the ground in big easy-to-cleanup clumps.)

Now we've had some very hot weather and it is losing leaves like it is
early fall. I've been out cleaning around the ponds daily, and if the wind
blows, I make sure I'm up early to clear the grated flow thru between the
ponds. Then I continue doing it several times/day if the wind continues.
The tree drops half the leaves on the roof, so even a little puff of wind,
drops them straight down into the ponds.

Since I'm the ponder in the family and I'm going to my sister's for a week,
I knew I couldn't leave this hourly chore to my husband and son, it just
would not get done. They probably would have kept the ponds somewhat clear,
but the surrounding area? I shiver to think what I would come home to. So
yesterday I purchased netting, and my guys connected it to the deck all the
way to the fence. This morning, no GD leaves!

The net is taut (did I spell that right, Galen?) ;-) That hopefully not too
many will stick, and they'll blow off over the fence... where I've already
informed the neighbors I'll rake them up if need be. Better there on grass,
then amongst plants and rock edging. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

~ jan wrote:
Did you know there are worst beasties out there then birds, snakes,
snapping turtles & raccoons? There is a silent pond peace destroyer. A
motion sprinkler won't stop it, fishing line won't stop it, not EVEN an
electric fence will stop this pond nuisance.

My ponding peace was being hammered daily, hourly. I would clean up from
its mess, and within hours it would destroy all my good deeds, it not only
messed up the ponds, but the surrounding area. Though this evil, silent
menace doesn't eat fish, it could kill them from displacement alone, if not
out right poisoning from the dreadful waste it is known to create.

What is this dreadful, silent, and noxious thing, you might ask? Especially
now that I have you shaking in your water booties?

They are rampant throughout the world, but most of us only deal with them
in the fall. Guess yet? The ever dreadful........leaf!

My DH girdled our planted-to-close-to-the-house-by-previous-owners 50-60'
tall Silver Maple, over a year ago. It still manage to leaf out this
spring, including a BIG dose of seeds to the like that the squirrels
couldn't even begin to keep up. (Year before they ate them all, what they
didn't drop to the ground in big easy-to-cleanup clumps.)

Now we've had some very hot weather and it is losing leaves like it is
early fall. I've been out cleaning around the ponds daily, and if the wind
blows, I make sure I'm up early to clear the grated flow thru between the
ponds. Then I continue doing it several times/day if the wind continues.
The tree drops half the leaves on the roof, so even a little puff of wind,
drops them straight down into the ponds.

Since I'm the ponder in the family and I'm going to my sister's for a week,
I knew I couldn't leave this hourly chore to my husband and son, it just
would not get done. They probably would have kept the ponds somewhat clear,
but the surrounding area? I shiver to think what I would come home to. So
yesterday I purchased netting, and my guys connected it to the deck all the
way to the fence. This morning, no GD leaves!

The net is taut (did I spell that right, Galen?) ;-) That hopefully not too
many will stick, and they'll blow off over the fence... where I've already
informed the neighbors I'll rake them up if need be. Better there on grass,
then amongst plants and rock edging. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us


It was the Sycamore (Maple) trees over our back fence that eventually
did in my original pond. Even with netting in the autumn with the leaves
fell the amount of leaves falling was too much weight even for the
netting to cope with - at that time it was dark when I got home from
work so could only clear the leaves at the weekend....you can guess the
rest.....no more fish and no more pond in the end....and now I just have
the spring job of removing the hundreds of saplings that sprout up all
over the garden.

We don't have the option of getting rid of the trees as they are on
council owned property (allotments) and even a request from a number of
neighbours to have them topped has gone unheeded. If the tree is on your
property which IIRC you have told me it is, then unless you are
especially attached to it as a tree, I would get rid of it.....

BTW my new pond is as far away from those darn trees as it can possibly
be.....

Gill

On Jul 21, 2:43 pm, Gill Passman wrote:
~ jan wrote:
Did you know there are worst beasties out there then birds, snakes,
snapping turtles & raccoons? There is a silent pond peace destroyer. A
motion sprinkler won't stop it, fishing line won't stop it, not EVEN an
electric fence will stop this pond nuisance.

My ponding peace was being hammered daily, hourly. I would clean up from
its mess, and within hours it would destroy all my good deeds, it not only
messed up the ponds, but the surrounding area. Though this evil, silent
menace doesn't eat fish, it could kill them from displacement alone, if not
out right poisoning from the dreadful waste it is known to create.

What is this dreadful, silent, and noxious thing, you might ask? Especially
now that I have you shaking in your water booties?

They are rampant throughout the world, but most of us only deal with them
in the fall. Guess yet? The ever dreadful........leaf!

My DH girdled our planted-to-close-to-the-house-by-previous-owners 50-60'
tall Silver Maple, over a year ago. It still manage to leaf out this
spring, including a BIG dose of seeds to the like that the squirrels
couldn't even begin to keep up. (Year before they ate them all, what they
didn't drop to the ground in big easy-to-cleanup clumps.)

Now we've had some very hot weather and it is losing leaves like it is
early fall. I've been out cleaning around the ponds daily, and if the wind
blows, I make sure I'm up early to clear the grated flow thru between the
ponds. Then I continue doing it several times/day if the wind continues.
The tree drops half the leaves on the roof, so even a little puff of wind,
drops them straight down into the ponds.

Since I'm the ponder in the family and I'm going to my sister's for a week,
I knew I couldn't leave this hourly chore to my husband and son, it just
would not get done. They probably would have kept the ponds somewhat clear,
but the surrounding area? I shiver to think what I would come home to. So
yesterday I purchased netting, and my guys connected it to the deck all the
way to the fence. This morning, no GD leaves!

The net is taut (did I spell that right, Galen?) ;-) That hopefully not too
many will stick, and they'll blow off over the fence... where I've already
informed the neighbors I'll rake them up if need be. Better there on grass,
then amongst plants and rock edging. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds:www.jjspond.us

It was the Sycamore (Maple) trees over our back fence that eventually
did in my original pond. Even with netting in the autumn with the leaves
fell the amount of leaves falling was too much weight even for the
netting to cope with - at that time it was dark when I got home from
work so could only clear the leaves at the weekend....you can guess the
rest.....no more fish and no more pond in the end....and now I just have
the spring job of removing the hundreds of saplings that sprout up all
over the garden.

We don't have the option of getting rid of the trees as they are on
council owned property (allotments) and even a request from a number of
neighbours to have them topped has gone unheeded. If the tree is on your
property which IIRC you have told me it is, then unless you are
especially attached to it as a tree, I would get rid of it.....

BTW my new pond is as far away from those darn trees as it can possibly
be.....

Gill

Release of Pollen and litle seedlings that fill and clog the pond is
also a factor during the pollination season! They just pass through
the netting!

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:43:44 CST, Gill Passman
wrote:

We don't have the option of getting rid of the trees as they are on
council owned property (allotments) and even a request from a number of
neighbours to have them topped has gone unheeded. If the tree is on your
property which IIRC you have told me it is, then unless you are
especially attached to it as a tree, I would get rid of it.....

That is the plan, that's why it be girdled. DH took a chainsaw and removed
the bark in a band around the perimeter so it can't get water up, nor
nutrients down to the roots. This stops suckering. But big trees apparently
store LOTS of water.

It was suppose to be taken down before it leafed out, but DH didn't get to
it. So now I'm just waiting, either he'll get to it, or I'll win the lotto
and hire someone.

During winter I always used boards and window screening on the ponds, and
still will, but once this tree is down, it will cut our fall work more than
half. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

On Jul 21, 8:52 pm, ~ jan wrote:
On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:43:44 CST, Gill Passman

wrote:
We don't have the option of getting rid of the trees as they are on
council owned property (allotments) and even a request from a number of
neighbours to have them topped has gone unheeded. If the tree is on your
property which IIRC you have told me it is, then unless you are
especially attached to it as a tree, I would get rid of it.....

That is the plan, that's why it be girdled. DH took a chainsaw and removed
the bark in a band around the perimeter so it can't get water up, nor
nutrients down to the roots. This stops suckering. But big trees apparently
store LOTS of water.

It was suppose to be taken down before it leafed out, but DH didn't get to
it. So now I'm just waiting, either he'll get to it, or I'll win the lotto
and hire someone.

During winter I always used boards and window screening on the ponds, and
still will, but once this tree is down, it will cut our fall work more than
half. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds:www.jjspond.us

We are in the woods, and I greatly sympathize with you. We have a
Flowering Poplar that has huge leaves, blossoms, and some kind of seed
pod that has these dagger like middles, and the seeds themselves have
a barb like thingy on 'em. That tree starts shedding at the end of
July and keeps it up thru fall. And that's just the leaves, it drops
all the aforementioned crap all year. And it's huge.
We also use window screening over the pond during fall, it is
unsightly, but keeps the pond clean. We have a bigger problem with
the poplar tree and the pool. It was dropping leaves in faster then I
could swim to them and get 'em out. Good exercise I guess!!

But the birds we watch and feed are worth it. We watched a hummer
just hovering in the sprinkler yesterday, and flying along to keep up
with it, then she sat on the fence to be in the water spray and shook
all off and went back into the spray again. It is very dry here in
DE. We've had loads of t-storms just north and south of us. The weeds
in the woods are wilting, that's always a sure sign of lack of water.
Have a wonderful week with your sister now that you don't have to
worry about your waterbabies!! Nan

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:49:06 CST, Olde Hippee wrote:

We are in the woods, and I greatly sympathize with you. We have a
Flowering Poplar

Have a wonderful week with your sister now that you don't have to
worry about your waterbabies!! Nan

Thanks Nan. :-)

I googled for images of a flowering poplar, omg, that is one humongous
tree!!!! The leaves kind of remind me of our local Sycamore trees, are they
also thick and leather-like after they fall? My upwind neighbor has one, so
of course I get many of the leaves in the fall. At least he took out one
when they did an expansion on their house, so that has helped.

I love trees, and I will great miss this maple, especially on hot days as
it really shades the house, where the others will only do so later in the
afternoon. They just don't mix well with ponding when they start dropping
those leaves on a constant basis. Part of the reason the other trees on the
property haven't grown is the shade this maple has cast upon them. It seems
a little less full, so I'm hoping they're getting more sunlight this year.

Have you tried over head netting to keep the flowering poplar out of the
pond & pool? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Go enjoy your visit and get some riding in while your there.
Bonnie
NJ

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:23:30 CST, Bonnie wrote:

Go enjoy your visit and get some riding in while your there.
Bonnie
NJ

Riding? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

On Jul 22, 11:35 pm, ~ jan wrote:
On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:23:30 CST, Bonnie wrote:
Go enjoy your visit and get some riding in while your there.
Bonnie
NJ

Riding? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds:www.jjspond.us

I thought you did some horseback riding at your sister's.
Bonnie
NJ

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 08:12:27 CST, Bonnie wrote:

I thought you did some horseback riding at your sister's.
Bonnie
NJ

Oooooh, that was my SIL, good memory as that was quite a few years ago. She
no longer has that place, and is down to 1 horse that she is boarding... at
a very steep price. You wouldn't see me on a horse now days, don't have the
bones or muscles for that any more. :-(

I'm going to my sister's and she's a pond and gardener like me. We were SO
different growing up, funny we ended up having such similar hobbies. Our
mother has no interest in the yard, other than to watch my Dad, and make
suggestions. My Dad has always taken care of the yard, but it isn't an
obsession like it is with my sister & I. You won't see him opening a
gardening book or magazine. He much prefers to be cycling and my mom
prefers to be traveling. So they travel to bike trails and my mom picks him
up at the end of the trail. ;-)

Thus, when I go to my sister's I'm hoping to stop at fish places or
nurseries. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

is okay, jan, why some of my
best friends are netters....

k :-)

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:29:27 CST, k wrote:

is okay, jan, why some of my
best friends are netters....

k :-)

After several days of leaves dropping I was getting concerned that it may
end up covered, but the wind blew this evening and blew them off. I'm not
sure where they went. I'll have to check the neighbor's yard tomorrow, but
I think most went to the front yard. I'm thinking I need a little more
coverage and am hoping my guys will consider it. I'll pick up another net
tomorrow, thankfully they're not that expensive. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us