Welcome to Pondforum. As usual at this time of year, I find myself planning for spring and remembering the amazing times I spent in the garden as a child. I built my first lilypond when I was twelve years old. My parents were out of town for the weekend, and I seized the moment to dig up their backyard and build my pond. Needless to say, they were none too pleased when they returned to find a muddy moonscape where their manicured lawn had been. But my parents are great people and, seeing me demonstrate interest and initiative at such a young age, they let me continue the project.

I quickly learned that black plastic of the garbage bag type was not going to last as a pond liner, and it wasn't long before I tracked down some catalogue companies and found, in addition to EPDM pond liners, that I was not alone in my unusual obsession.

There was no internet back then, but in many ways we have designed Pondforum with my younger self in mind--this is to be a place where not only can the right products be found at excellent prices, but where novice and established water gardeners can learn a few tricks and make some new friends.

By the time I graduated from high school, my parents had not one but two lily ponds, no more backyard, and no front yard either. Huge trucks came to the house (in the middle of downtown Hanover) over those years with literally tons of manure, loam, sand and field stone, all to feed and delineate the sprawling perennial beds that their property had become. Little did I know then that I would be the de facto caretaker for that garden years later.

My parents are retired now, and soon I will make my annual spring trip to get the New Hampshire garden in order. This year we're redoing the main lily pond. It will be three feet deep so that fish will winter and spawn, and the bluestone patio will come right to the edge of the water by being laid atop a concrete wall that we'll set on one side of the pond. I'll be using an EPDM liner, and a Nautilus 30 pump, and I will fill it with my favorite water lily, Marliacea Rosea, and lots of duckweed. The moving water feature will be a pipe of some sort from which water will spill--I like the elegant look of this effect, and it is very low maintenance.

I know that I am not the only one planning for (dreaming of) spring at this time, and I hope that all of our visitors will get to know Pondforum and make use of it in their water gardening endeavours. Remember that it is not too early to order your water lilies for the spring. Orders that come in before it is warm enough to ship will be taken and held until it is warm enough (April for hardies, May for tropicals), and as the first customers in line with our growers, you'll be sure to get the variety you want. Plus, those who order 3 or more lilies before April 15 will receive 100 fertilizer tabs free.

Again, welcome to Pondforum; we hope that you'll find what you need, and if you don't, by all means drop us a note.

All the best,

Rob Sheldon, Principal Manager