Ponds Archives - gardenmyths.com

Can Commercial Muck Reducers Clear Pond Muck?

Pond muck is the organic material that accumulates in the bottom of a pond. It can be physically removed with nets and vacuums, or you can try to degrade it using commercial bacterial products such as MuckOut, Macro-Zyme, Muck Pellets, MuckAway, Natural Clear, Mukk Busster, Muck Reducer, Muck Doctor, MuckBiotics and the product name I really like, ” Get The Muck Outta Here”. All of these products claim to reduce the amount of muck in the pond and some also claim to reduce the nutrient level.

Do commercial muck reducers work?

Can Commercial Muck Reducers Clear Pond Muck?, Credit: The Pond Guy

If you like this post, please share .......

Is Your Pond Leaking or is it Water Evaporation?

The biggest single fear of pond owners is that their pond starts to leak. Imagine removing all the rocks and much of the water to find the leak? It’s a lot of work.

You have noticed that the water level in your pond is dropping faster than before – or at least you think it is faster. Could it be a leak? Before you even start thinking about a leak, find out if it might just be normal evaporation. Doing this can save you both time and money.

What is a normal evaporation rate? That depends on many factors and nobody can give you an answer to this question, but it is easy to measure it yourself. I’ll show you how to do that in this blog post.

Is Your Pond Leaking or is it Water Evaporation?

If you like this post, please share .......

Overwintering Pond Plants – Part 2

In this post I’ll look at some specific plants and discuss ways to overwinter them. Some plants can be brought indoors and grown in a green state just like your other house plants. Others can be easily stored in a semi-dry dormant state.

In my post, Overwintering Pond Plants – Part 1, I reviewed general ways to overwinter both hardy and non-hardy plants.

lilies with pink flowers — Overwintering Pond Plants – part 2

If you like this post, please share .......

Do Plants Attract Dragonflies to Your Garden?

There seems to be a big surge in interest for attracting dragonflies to gardens and many online sources are suggesting the best plants for the job. Titles include, 12 Best Plants to Attract Dragonflies and Best Plants to Create a Dragonfly Garden. The lists include things like rudbeckia, milkweed, yarrow and sage.

But do plants really attract dragonflies? And if they do, which plants work best?

Do Plants Attract Dragonflies to Your Garden?, photo by André Karwath

If you like this post, please share .......

Creating a Dragonfly Pond

Dragonflies are great aerial acrobats and fun to watch. They are a nice addition to any garden and they eat large numbers of mosquitoes. The best way to attract them to your garden is to create a dragonfly pond which will give them a place to breed and raise their young.

In this post I’ll provide the information you need to build such a wildlife pond.

If you like this post, please share .......

Overwintering Pond Plants – Part I

How do you winterize pond plants? Pond plants seem to be segregated into their own little class of plants, but they are not all that different from regular plants. Non-hardy garden plants need protection in winter and so do non-hardy pond plants. The hardy ones in both groups can be mostly left alone.

This is the first of a two part post that will provide detailed information on how to winterize pond plants. This post will provide general information that applies to all pond plants. Part II will provide more detailed information on some specific plants.

pond covered with water lilies — How to Winterize Pond Plants

If you like this post, please share .......

10 Ways to Control Duckweed in Your Pond

Duckweed and watermeal can cause big problems in a pond and they can be difficult to control. This post looks at 10 different ways to control or elliminate duckweed from your pond and evaluates their pros and cons so that you can select the best method.

If you like this post, please share .......

Does Barley Straw Stop Algae Growth in Ponds?

Algae is probably the pond owners biggest problem and people try everything to get rid of it, even barley straw. This is becoming a common method and companies are even selling bags of it for small back yard ponds, but does it actually work?

If you think about it for a minute, it does not make any sense. Why would barley straw work? Why not some other kind of straw?

Even if it does work, it seems a shame to use it in a pond rather than make beer out of it!

Does Barley Straw Stop Algae Growth in Ponds?

If you like this post, please share .......

Selecting the Best Pond Liner?

You have decided to build a pond and now you need to select the best pond liner. There are numerous choices out there, at various price points. In this post I will compare your options and make a recommendation for the best pond liner.

Which pond liner is best? — What is the best pond liner?

If you like this post, please share .......

Waterfall at Aspen Grove Gardens

A quick post to show you some pictures of of the Waterfall at Aspen Grove Gardens – my private garden located in Southern Ontario, Canada.

It has been in place for about 12 years, and is 12 feet high and 55 feet long, with a small pond at the bottom. There are 5 smaller waterfalls along the waters route. It does use a pump to get water to the top of the hill, but there is no filtration system. The rocks and plants in the waterway act as biological filters for the system. No chemicals are used and water is never tested. I believe that if you build it correctly, nature will take care of it for you.

If you like this post, please share .......

Aquaponics – Grow Vegetables in Your Pond

Imagine growing vegetables in your pond. You never have to water them, or fertilize them. Since ponds stay cooler than soil, cool growing crops like lettuce can be grown over a longer period of time. Ponds are a natural source of nutrients, especially if they contain fish, and these nutrients help vegetables grow aquaponically. Not only do you produce food but the growing vegetables help keep algae levels low.

Vegetables can be grown right in the pond or in an associated bog garden without any extra equipment. Or you can get more serious about this and pump water to an external hydroponic growing area.

Lettuce ready to harvest from a Styrofoam raft floating on a pond

This post uses affiliate links

If you like this post, please share .......

Winterizing Ponds and Water Features

Winterizing ponds is important for anyone who lives in a climate where water freezes. Even in warmer areas were temperatures get close to freezing, you should consider some preparation steps for cold weather.

This post looks at things you should consider before winter sets in.

Winterizing your pond - a small air pump is preventing the pond from freezing over, by Robert Pavlis — Winterizing ponds – a small air pump is preventing the pond from freezing over, by Robert Pavlis

If you like this post, please share .......