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If you build a pond, wildlife will come. I've done two small fish ponds using heavy duty rigid plastic liners expecting only the fish (koi and shubunkin) would
by ilamont 4y ago
If you build a pond, wildlife will come.
I've done two small fish ponds using heavy duty rigid plastic liners expecting only the fish (koi and shubunkin) would enjoy it. We live less than ~10 miles/~15 km from downtown Boston.
We were surprised to see the second pond, which is next to the north side of our basement and on a small hill, gets all kinds of animals and birds coming to drink. Racoons, possum, fox, squirrels, and many types of small birds. Without fail, one or two tree frogs find it every summer and settle in on the water plant we put out there (taro) in a semi-submerged pot.
The frogs disappear in the early autumn. Before the first hard frost, we bring the taro plant inside in a bucket, and place it next to a sunny window for the next 5 or 6 months. By mid-December the pond freezes over except where we have a small pump running. The fish go dormant at the bottom, under the ice.
Then in spring it starts back up again. The ice melts, the fish come back to life, and the animals return to drink. We put the taro plant back out, and once again the pond is the center of life in our side yard.
Images:
https://www.instagram.com/p/4O0ZZGJJvH/ https://www.instagram.com/p/4O0ZZGJJvH/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CiwTVBLOuUG/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CiwTVBLOuUG/
- ilamont 4y agoJust remembered, I did a video about making the pond. Includes clips of the fish under the ice. https://youtu.be/8ExfrhjpMp4 https://youtu.be/8ExfrhjpMp4
- rexreed 4y agoDo you find any wild animals (raccoons) eat the fish? Also any opinions on floating plants (water hyacinth, water lettuce, frogbit) instead of Taro? I built a pond and put in a soft PVC liner instead of one of those preformed ones. I had it out for a summer expecting frogs but they didn't show. Mosquitos did tho.
- ilamont 4y agoSee my reply upthread regarding raccoons and herons. We have tried all kinds of water plants, including fishweed, water hyacinth, water lillies and tiny little floating green plants that I have scooped from the nearby river and marsh. None of them survive, likely because it’s such a shady spot on the north side of the house and there’s very little direct sunlight, except in the morning. the only thing that does consistently well is the taro plant. It actually tries to self propagate but we don’t have enough space for another water pot. Regarding mosquitoes: this is not standing water, because of the pump which goes year-round. I also believe the fish will eat most bugs and any larvae that start to form. they seem to be constantly hungry. Except in the fall and winter.
- elihu 4y agoI'm not the person you're replying to, but I have a pond too. Mosquito dunks are one way to deal with mosquito larvae without resorting to a conventional pesticide. Another is to have some kind of fish. Mosquito fish are probably best. I think koi/goldfish tend to eat them too. https://summitchemical.com/products/mosquito-dunks/ https://summitchemical.com/products/mosquito-dunks/ Taro needs to be moved indoors for the winter if you're in a cold climate. Water hyacinth and water lettuce also don't survive winter. I don't think frogbit does, but regardless apparently it's considered invasive where I am (Oregon) so the pond/garden supply places don't sell it anymore. Azolla (aka fairy moss or mosquito fern) can survive the winter. It turns red when it freezes, but it starts multiplying again when it warms up. Cattail and hardy water lily can regrow from the roots. Same with water clover. Duckweed is similar to azolla, but does not survive in winter. If you buy water plants, you may end up with duckweed that went along for the ride. We had a lotus, it came back after one winter, but didn't survive the next. (Our last spring was very wet and cold, and lotus apparently like hot weather and sun.) Incidentally, if anyone reading this is in the general vicinity of the Willamette valley, I highly recommend visiting Hughes Water Gardens in Wilsonville if you get the chance. It's a plant nursery, but they sell mostly aquatic plants, and also pond supplies and koi.
- pvaldes 4y ago> Also any opinions on floating plants (water hyacinth, water lettuce, frogbit) instead of Taro Different category. Taro is a marginal, it adds \vspace. Can be substituted by Iris or Pontederia. Avoid water hyacinth and water lettuce in small ponds. They will conquer all the surface and became a nuissance. They also will block you from watching the fishes. > Mosquitoes The worse ones dislike moving waters, this problem can be alleviated if you use a pump to move the water at a regular interval. Take in mind that water lilies dislike also moving water so you need to choose
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- zeropoint46 4y agoI'm a novice when it comes to this, so apologies for the dumb question. Can you explain how you manage the taro plant? Like how can it grow in a pot completely submerged then be brought inside? Can taro be both grown partially submerged and out of water? Thanks for the info.
- lostlogin 4y agoI’m not sure if it’s the same taro, but people grow it in the ground here in New Zealand.
- ilamont 4y agoGoogle taro water garden, and you will see many results, including instructional videos for this plant. We purchased the taro plant from a garden supply store that sold us the plastic liner. This was more than 10 years ago. This species of taro can live in partially submerged pots, and we still have it planted in the original pot. The plant tries to self propagate in the late summer sending out little runners with leaves attached but it can’t root anywhere because there is no shallow muddy spots by our pond. It’s just the plastic liner which drops off to about 2 feet at the edge of the plastic. On the other side of the hard plastic liner is ordinary soil, which is not wet enough for the taro, but other plants, including ferns and ground cover take root there and grow over the edge of the plastic liner as shown in the video below. https://youtu.be/8ExfrhjpMp4 https://youtu.be/8ExfrhjpMp4
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- elihu 4y agoI have a taro plant that I bring inside in the winter. Basically, I just transfer the pot to a large tub of water, where it can be mostly submerged. I let the water level get pretty low last winter so only the bottom few inches of the pot were in water. It didn't do well and almost died, but over the summer in the pond it multiplied quite a bit and we could have had half a dozen taro plants if I wanted to plant all the runners.
- 4y ago
- technological 4y agoNone of these animals which come to drink water do not try to eat fish ?
- ilamont 4y agoRaccoons do, by scooping (they do not like to stand in the water or swim). The pond has deep areas and we put broken pots and cinder blocks so fish can hide. We also get darker fish which are harder for predators to see. Certain local bird species such as herons do too, but they won’t come under low tree canopy or near the house.
- happyopossum 4y ago> Raccoons do, by scooping (they do not like to stand in the water That’s funny, because out here (California) the raccoons will take other food to the water and stand in it while eating. They stand on the steps of pools and dunk their food - presumably to wash it off - between nibbles. Quite funny to see, and leaves some hilarious paw prints if your pool isn’t clean.
- ilamont 4y agoIt’s possible the pond is too deep (shallowest area is about 8 inches). We have a security camera, which sometimes catches them at night frantically pawing in the water from the edge of the pond to try to catch the fish. But they never go in.
- seszett 4y agoBy the way, the French word for raccoon is "raton laveur" which means "washing rat-like-thing". So it looks like they're supposed to wash their food indeed.
- omnibrain 4y agoThe german word is "Waschbär". As you may guess, that translates to "wash bear".
- stevage 4y agoPleasantly surprised to see the promised "small" ponds are indeed small.