Welcome to Pondforum. It is sweltering outside as I write this, making the lily pond look inviting not only to the frogs! This has been a great year so far for the company—and for the company pond. In this column I am going to discuss what has worked well in our pond, now in its second season, and introduce a link to photos that some of you may find useful in designing, building and maintaining your own ponds.

Two years ago we ripped out our old pond because it was too shallow and had turned into a kind of marsh. It was a painful process not because we were sorry to see it go, but because of all the life that we had to evict when we pulled up the old liner. Our office is located in a neighborhood in the middle of town, so unfortunately many of the creatures had nowhere to go.

Once we had completed the new pond, we set about restoring the life that was lost, and I am happy to report that we were successful. But before I detail the process we went through in stocking our pond, I want to mention something that I think is notable about what we did in the construction process, and that is our edging. To see our edging as it looks today, s.

Pondforum's philosophy on edging and pond maintenance has long been at odds with many of our competitors and colleagues in the field. We do not like shelf-style pond design, and we shun masonry edging. Not only are these features more work, but they look amateurish and don't last! (You can read about our edging philosophy and instructions in our information sections).

In this new pond, we wanted to create both a formal edge, or corner, out of bluestone, while maintaining a beautiful natural edge for plants and wildlife. In order to create the formal edge, we laid a concrete footing and built upwards with cinderblocks and cement, over which we laid the EPDM liner. The bluestone sits atop the wall and the liner of its own weight, without any masonry to secure it. Using concrete in this way also allowed us to have an area that was 3 feet deep in that corner that would accommodate our fish during the winter. It all worked like a charm, as you can see from the pictures linked to above.

The natural edging was created by placing a layer of peastone over the edge of the liner, and then placing soil over that. In some areas we used larger flat rocks beneath the surface to hold back the gravel and soil until plant roots could take hold, but this was not necessary everywhere. This peastone-soil area is very moist, and supports many bog-type plants that won't grow well in normal soil. Creating an edge like ours is easy, and instructions can be found in our information sections.

Stocking the new pond is the most fun part. During the first season we added muck from a local pond to jump-start the right kind of bacteria and other organisms that ponds need to be healthy. We planted our favorite lilies, Marliacea Rosea, added duckweed, and seeded and planted our natural edge area. You can see some of the plants we chose for edging in the photos, most notable are iris, forget-me-nots, primula, mosses, small ferns, moisture-loving grasses, miniature hosta and pickerel rush. We also let most small weeds grow freely among our plantings, and this gave a natural look to the edge while preventing erosion and keeping the water clear of soil.

In that first year we added two 4" koi, which have now grown to 8," as well as surface insects like water beetles and water striders. This year our water striders had babies, which was a big event! We waited until this spring to introduce amphibians. We added a number of salamanders and frogs from a local marsh, and they have all stuck around. The frogs are very vociferous and are constantly splashing into the water and sunning themselves on various perches (see photos). Unfortunately, the koi ate the frog and salamander eggs that were produced in early spring, so we are debating which we would rather have in the future: baby fish or baby amphibians. This is something to consider in advance when stocking your pond!

Our water feature is a simple pipe fall powered by the Nautilus 30, as you can see from the photos. The pump is the most consistent and constant performer that we have ever used, and we're very glad to be able offer the Nautilus line to our customers. This type of pipe fall is not low maintenance, it's NO maintenance, and the effect is simple and elegant.

If you are just starting out in the pond process, the best advice is to plan bigger and simpler than you had originally intended. Most water gardeners build again after their first pond because they want more surface area and depth (there should be a name for this, it is almost universally true). Many also tend to build shelves, ring the pond with masonry of some kind, and create an ambitious water feauture like a multi-tiered waterfall. This is a high maintenance type of pond construction that may not ever have the intended effects, so think hard before employing it.

The magic of a pond, what people notice and appreciate most, is the reflective nature of the surface, the trickling sound of water, and the beauty and novelty of water lilies in bloom. None of those requires engineering genius to construct, nor a full-time gardener to maintain.

Happy water gardening this summer, and enjoy Pondforum!

All the best,

Rob Sheldon and the Pondforum Staff