Dearest Gluggy, Landscaping is often artificial requiring a lot of care. All of the plants and animals for landscaping and our pets once had a purpose in a distant past eco-system. And that purpose was often that the plant did have a flower, looked better than the average, tasted good, had a wonderful odor and … Read more
Dear Frog, Having a lot of trees and water plants next to a pond will keep the water cool. Each square meter of respiring plants next to the pond will remove 1 BTU/hr of heat from the pond. However, new ponds that do not have trees and water plants need this cooling too. To do … Read more
Dear Gluggers, The water management shown in this blog is applicable anywhere in the world. Drought and water crisis are occurring in many places e.g. South Africa, Australia and the southwest U.S. The techniques outlined in “The Pond Keepers Guide” will work in any waterway or pond. In places where the only potable water is … Read more
Dear Glug, The most misunderstood concept among pond owners is aeration. The reason is most frogs that breathe air don’t understand the gas laws. Dr. Boyle (1662) found the entire planet and all on it depends on a simple equation: PV = PV. The equation means the pressure times the volume of one gas in … Read more
Dear Glug, In The Pond Keepers Guide” the conclusion is a fishery needs all components of Nature including proper geology and respiration. The motivation to determine what a “fishery” is came from working in the scientific fishery for many years. I realized many of the premises of the fishery were incorrect. Why do we consider … Read more
Glug, It is Spring!!! The Pond Keepers Guide describes all of the techniques I have described thus far in the blog. However, I have not talked about leaks and specific weeds. Water management is as much about maintaining a volume as it is maintaining its quality; both are related. As described, a pond system is … Read more
Glug dear, The most powerful water management plant is the willow. You can terriform with it. Within minutes you can change the course of a stream or river just by taking cuttings and sticking them in the shore rocks and soil. Willow is a necessary component of ponds. They respire cooling the pond, act as … Read more
Gluggers, In this blog and the next, I will discuss the two most powerful components of ponds that cost nothing: a dead log and willow. Human froggies do not recognize the importance of a good rotting log in the pond. Frog, it is my hardest sell. I tell them “Get a log!” It doesn’t cost … Read more
Glug, Ponds have pests. We have already spoken of weeds and that they are both beneficial and damaging. Animals are the same. The reason you have a pest is because you do not have control. Froggie, you are a better predator than I; however, it is my responsibility to be the TOP top predator until … Read more
Gluggiest, lookee I know you are worried that I am getting a little far afield from the pond. Glug, while PonDocing I saw that the pond extended far outside its shore. Many ponds were overwhelmed with voles and gophers. Deer ate everything around the pond. The absolute best top predator is a raptor. The common … Read more