Covering the surface
 

Hi, I have a 12x7x2 pond approx 1150gal. Water looks good and fish seem
healthy but i have a problem of not getting enough surface coverage from
plants to ward off all the sun. The pond gets a solid 8hrs of full sun. I
have three hardy water lily plants and some hyacinth and water lettuce but
they don't seem to be spreading as good as I thought. And there are some
marginal plants too. Temporarily i have an beach umbrella over a section to
help cover it. Any other suggestions? Thanks.......

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 23:22:55 -0400, "Paul" wrote:

Hi, I have a 12x7x2 pond approx 1150gal. Water looks good and fish seem
healthy but i have a problem of not getting enough surface coverage from
plants to ward off all the sun. The pond gets a solid 8hrs of full sun. I
have three hardy water lily plants and some hyacinth and water lettuce but
they don't seem to be spreading as good as I thought. And there are some
marginal plants too. Temporarily i have an beach umbrella over a section to
help cover it. Any other suggestions? Thanks.......

At this point, probably patience. All the above will grow, especially if
they're nice and green right now (not looking sickly). Check the roots of
the WH to see if the fish are eating them and slowing their progress. ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

Thanks, will check.
"~ janj JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 23:22:55 -0400, "Paul" wrote:

Hi, I have a 12x7x2 pond approx 1150gal. Water looks good and fish seem
healthy but i have a problem of not getting enough surface coverage from
plants to ward off all the sun. The pond gets a solid 8hrs of full sun. I
have three hardy water lily plants and some hyacinth and water lettuce but
they don't seem to be spreading as good as I thought. And there are some
marginal plants too. Temporarily i have an beach umbrella over a section
to
help cover it. Any other suggestions? Thanks.......

At this point, probably patience. All the above will grow, especially if
they're nice and green right now (not looking sickly). Check the roots of
the WH to see if the fish are eating them and slowing their progress. ~
jan


See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

Yes, seems like the fish are using them for a snack. Just thats the way it
goes?
"~ janj JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 23:22:55 -0400, "Paul" wrote:

Hi, I have a 12x7x2 pond approx 1150gal. Water looks good and fish seem
healthy but i have a problem of not getting enough surface coverage from
plants to ward off all the sun. The pond gets a solid 8hrs of full sun. I
have three hardy water lily plants and some hyacinth and water lettuce but
they don't seem to be spreading as good as I thought. And there are some
marginal plants too. Temporarily i have an beach umbrella over a section
to
help cover it. Any other suggestions? Thanks.......

At this point, probably patience. All the above will grow, especially if
they're nice and green right now (not looking sickly). Check the roots of
the WH to see if the fish are eating them and slowing their progress. ~
jan


See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Hi, I have a 12x7x2 pond approx 1150gal. Water looks good
and fish seem healthy but i have a problem of not getting
enough surface coverage from plants to ward off all the
sun. The pond gets a solid 8hrs of full sun. I have three
hardy water lily plants and some hyacinth and water
lettuce but they don't seem to be spreading as good as I
thought. And there are some marginal plants too.
Temporarily i have an beach umbrella over a section to
help cover it. Any other suggestions? Thanks.......


Try Mosaic lilies. They grow very fast, are quite hardy,
and provide good cover.

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Yes, seems like the fish are using them for a snack. Just thats the way it
goes?

The trick is to outnumber them (fish). The more WH you have, the less any
one plant will get abused. Although I'm not sure it's possible to outnumber
Koi/GF with Duckweed. They seem to have a never ending appetite for this
stuff.


"~ janj JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 23:22:55 -0400, "Paul" wrote:

Hi, I have a 12x7x2 pond approx 1150gal. Water looks good and fish seem
healthy but i have a problem of not getting enough surface coverage from
plants to ward off all the sun. The pond gets a solid 8hrs of full sun. I
have three hardy water lily plants and some hyacinth and water lettuce
but
they don't seem to be spreading as good as I thought. And there are some
marginal plants too. Temporarily i have an beach umbrella over a section
to
help cover it. Any other suggestions? Thanks.......

At this point, probably patience. All the above will grow, especially if
they're nice and green right now (not looking sickly). Check the roots
of
the WH to see if the fish are eating them and slowing their progress. ~
jan


See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

I've thrown in watercress from the grocery
store, they seem to like that and it might
curb them from chewing up the roots of
water hyacinth and water lettuce.

You can also fashion a planter of sorts
out of a hoola hoop and netting underneath
it. I think there are even commercial versions
of this available.

Being a lazy ponder, and time challenged,
I tend to spend more $ on more plants and
then let them divide and try to take over.

kathy :-)www.blogfromthebog.com
this week ~ a snake story

Pond 101 page for new pond keepers ~
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

As I recall, someone last year posted photos with a really great umbrella
shade thingy -- all it lacked was a chaise longue for the ponder, IMHO!

Since I have retriever-type dogs, water hyacinth lasts less than an hour
here, but parrotfeather worked well in the past for me (covering a teeny
water garden, admittedly). I could not find parrotfeather readily this
year, so I have milfoil -- BUT I cannot recommend that to anyone near a
real water source. (My teeny garden is filled by hose, and I'm at least 1/4
mile from any natural water source.)

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC







"Paul" wrote in message
...
Hi, I have a 12x7x2 pond approx 1150gal. Water looks good and fish seem
healthy but i have a problem of not getting enough surface coverage from
plants to ward off all the sun. The pond gets a solid 8hrs of full sun. I
have three hardy water lily plants and some hyacinth and water lettuce but
they don't seem to be spreading as good as I thought. And there are some
marginal plants too. Temporarily i have an beach umbrella over a section
to help cover it. Any other suggestions? Thanks.......

Thanks, will look into those.........................
"Robin" wrote in message
news:fB_qe.51539$nG6.42398@attbi_s22...

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Hi, I have a 12x7x2 pond approx 1150gal. Water looks good and fish seem
healthy but i have a problem of not getting enough surface coverage from
plants to ward off all the sun. The pond gets a solid 8hrs of full sun. I
have three hardy water lily plants and some hyacinth and water lettuce
but they don't seem to be spreading as good as I thought. And there are
some marginal plants too. Temporarily i have an beach umbrella over a
section to help cover it. Any other suggestions? Thanks.......


Try Mosaic lilies. They grow very fast, are quite hardy, and provide good
cover.