How to plan for building on if you intend to build a pond

Water Gardens Gazette number 306

You are receiving this newsletter because you requested it, bought my book or downloaded the free water garden booklet. You can unsubscribe at the bottom of this newsletter. This Gazette is sent a little bit earlier because tomorrow I go to Australia for 2 weeks. We export water features and I will be visiting our customers in this beautiful country. If you do send me a question and don't get a quick reply please forgive me. Travelling on a tight and long schedule is not conducive to working at a computer.

Most of you will have noticed that I normally sell my unique book "Your Pond Crystal Clear Water - Guaranteed" by direct download at US$8.50 or GBP 5.90 or AUD 17.00. In Rands it normally sells for R75.00.

For a limited time and with Spring in mind I want to offer my book at US$6.90 but only to Gazette subscribers. For this reason I have created a special buying link using the secure servers of Digibuy.com.

Subscribers to this Gazette are keen gardeners without doubt. People who have taken the trouble to download my free "Successful Pond Keeping" booklet have also shown a keen desire to learn more so that they can benefit. My book will put all you need to know in a single convenient easy to access and read place. You have my unconditional personal guarantee that your money will be totally refunded and no questions will be asked if you really believe you were not able to benefit from reading my book (in pdf format which means you need Adobe Acrobat reader to view). Just say please refund my money and supply me with the reference number of the purchase that will allow me to make the refund Here's the link.

http://www.digibuy.com/cgi-bin/order.html?Weblux+104783013961

You will be taken directly to the ordering page. Place your order and provide the details requested.

You will receive an e mail from Digibuy with a special unique download link. All very simple and quick. With this offer you do not get calculators downloaded automatically so if you want them then you will need to send me a separate e-mail including the purchase reference number. I will then send you the calculators when I return from Australia

About Water Gardens Gazette

Feel free to pass this Gazette as a complete document to friends you may have whom you think would like to improve their pond keeping hobby.

This edition includes ....................

1. Free pond calculator as promised (all calculators are in Microsoft Excel .xls format). We continue with the theme of pipe sizes and bring fittings into consideration this time. The calculator is called size your pipe

2. A little bit closer to Springtime

3. This edition's quick tips

4. New articles: covers all kinds of topics related to water gardens

Address where all editions can be found and where you

can ask questions we will try to answer

5. Subscribe and unsubscribe information

1. FREE POND CALCULATOR ...............

As promised when you subscribed you will be able to get a free calculator by going to the following web address. Free pond calculator one of a series of 12 pond calculators to collect. This edition's free calculator will identify the impact pipe fittings have on head loss and therefore your pump specification. New subscribers can access these previous calculators at Free pond calculators

INSTRUCTIONS TO DOWNLOAD:

All you need to do is go to the web page above and click the link. The calculator will open up in Excel automatically. Save the file to your selected folder.

You can learn about what each calculator does by visiting:

Learn about all the water garden ponds calculators here. Of course you can get all 12 calculators free in one go by buying my book "Your Pond: Crystal Clear Water Guaranteed." Read more about it here:

Receive all 12 FREE water garden ponds calculators when you buy my book. Free pond calculator go to this page to download the pond calculator.

2. SPRING A LITTLE BIT CLOSER ........

Here in sunny South Africa the temperature is still close to 30 degrees centigrade every day ( about 86 degreees Fahrenheit) and we look forward to a short autumn and short winter ... we really are very fortunate to live in this wonderful and challenging land of opportunity.

Of course for our readers in the Northern hemisphere there will be a mounting and keen anticipation of Spring ... just around the corner. Now is the time to build that pond you have often contemplated and never had the courage to do.

If you have a pond now is the time to make sure that the coming year is the very best year for both you and the pond's inhabitants. This year your pond must delight you. It must not create a feeling of despair and hopelessness. It must be crystal clear day in and day out. This and future Gazettes are geared to making your pond a pleasure and not an eyesore.

Lets plan so we can enjoy.

In the sections below I have briefly highlighted the items to be planned for and the important considerations to be taken fully into account if you intend to build a pond. To learn more do go to the various web sites I have constructed which cover all aspects of water gardening. The easiest and best way is to start at www.practical-water-gardens.com. This site will provide all the access points you need to find what you are looking for. The web sites consist of hundreds of pages and it can be a chore going from one page to another. This is one of the clear disadvantages of the web ... the inability to get things together in one easy to access place. Don't get me wrong the web is a remarkable and wonderful medium.

My sites receive almost 100,000 unique visitors per month because of the rich and wide variety of content provided totally free of charge........

If the idea of click click and more click does not appeal to you then do consider my special offer on "Your Pond Crystal Clear Water - Guaranteed" described above and ONLY available through a special link in the Water Gardens Gazette.

Here is that special link again ... http://www.digibuy.com/cgi-bin/order.html?Weblux+104783013961

THE NEW POND OWNER

For potential new pond owners do site your pond correctly.

The most important location for your pond is where you can enjoy it the most and also most of the time. Other than that the following need serious consideration:

Full sunlight for at least part of the day is necessary for the benefit of all the plants, fish and other inhabitants. Flowering water plants will not easily flower without sufficient sunshine

Shade in moderation will provide respite for your fish during the heat of the day and this can be provided with plants.

Your pond will cost you money so location can also be a means of saving money. Bear in mind you will need electricity .. how far from the source of power will your pond be?

Avoid treed areas and especially deciduous trees whose leaves will pollute the water in autumn. Remember also some leaves are even poisonous to wildlife.

In cooler climates avoid exposing the pond to prevailing winds. Site and landscape your pond to avoid surface water from rain pouring into the pond. Smaller ponds heat up and cool down quickly and as such the inhabitants are exposed to significant temperature cycles.

Build the biggest pond you can afford bearing in mind positioning limitations. A pond whose main purpose is to provide a garden highlight need be no deeper than about 50 or 60 cm (say 2 feet). On the other hand if growing large koi is your ambition then a pond 6 feet deep is about right.

Keep the pond shape as simple as possible unless you buy a preformed pond. Use plants, edging and waterfalls to enhance appearance.

A waterfall or stream feature should be in proportion to the pond - gurgling brooks, tinkling waterfalls are far better than miniature Niagra Falls and also cheaper.

Here is the most important siting/location consideration again put the pond where you and your family can ENJOY IT MOST ......... that is why you are going to build a pond isn't it?

NEW POND EQUIPMENT

This is the best time to choose equipment properly. The golden rule is don't rush and if you dont not fully understand what you are buying AND why then reconsider. Go to www.practical-water-gardens.com again and review the topic.

If you are still not sure email me and I will do my best to give you totally unbiased advice. Now, the planning stage is a once off opportunity to save a lot of money. If for no other reason than you want to save a lot of money then buy my book - there is a complete no questions asked guarantee that you will benefit. If you don't think you have benefited then just ask for your money back ... simple. You even keep the book.

The pump or pumps ( 2 pumps are often better and cheaper than 1) is the most difficult item for most people to specify and this is where a lot on money can be wasted ...1. By buying the wrong pump - size and type

2. By buying a pump with unnecessarily high daily running costs. This is unfortunately also an area where many retailers do not give the best advice perhaps because of ignorance or maybe because of vested interests.

Do not rush into buying the first pump offered ... ask important questions. Take a look at www.pond-pumps.com for more advice and the questions to ask.

You will need a correctly sized biofilter if you intend to keep fish. Do not dig the hole for the pond before you have understood why and accepted this fact. You will never have a beautiful fish pond, hassle free unless you install a biofilter ... on the other hand you might be one of the very few very very lucky ones but I really doubt it. You can even build your own biofilter cheaply.

Go to www.clean-garden-ponds.com and take a look around ...

Your pond will almost certainly go green or a murky brown in summer if you have fish, feed the fish, and have immature and/or insufficient plants. There is only one way to prevent this permanently and for certain. Install an ultra violet light specified to the conditions in your pond. For more information see www.garden-ponds-algae.com. If you do not do it in the beginning you will wish you had later promise.

Spring still is a few weeks away. Do yourself a favour - dig and delve around the above web sites, re-read the free introductory pond keeping book you may have downloaded. Start to feel comfortable with the principles of pond keeping.

It is not rocket science but is a little technical and is one of the main reason why so many people enjoy water gardening - .... for the mental stimulation offered in seeing fish grow and multiply, watching plants thrive, noticing insects populate and listening to frogs croak all because you provided them with a perfect, cozy,

healthy living environment because you learned what they really wanted.

We will continue with the Spring approach and preparation theme next time.

Today's quick tips ..........

1. It is a good idea to pump out about 10% of your pond water every

month or even weekly if you have lots of fish and replenish with tap water.

The reason is that nitrate levels slowly build up and can reach a level that is too high for the pond. The easiest way to arrange this is to place a valve and "Y" or "T" piece into the pump line then all you need to do is connect a temporary pipe to the valve and lead the pipe to a spot in your garden - pond water makes for a good garden fertiliser.

2. Always spray water onto the pond surface when filling with fresh tap water ... any chlorine in the tap water will then be reduced.

3. Pump head is measured from the pond surface - not the bottom of the pond.

4. When buying pond plants check with the retailer ...how fast they grow and how big they will become. When small, plants can be very misleading. Low cost plants tend to grow big - a very general statement of course but bear it in mind.

5. Floating plants make excellent nutrient scavengers.

A list of quick tips is maintained at http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/tiptrick.htm

4. Expert Articles .............

In case you are not aware of the articles we publish by leading experts in the water gardening field take a look at:

http://www.practical-water-gardens.com where you will see the list.

I have recently published a very important article about carbon dioxide and algae problems. If you have ever woken up one morning to see your fish dead then MAKE SURE you read this article

A leading contributor is Peter May, one of the leading UK water gardens landscapers

He is just starting his own website and maybe you would like to see what he has to say there. This is his web address where you will find the details:

of the Perfect Pond Detective He would appreciate your visit.

Web address where all editions can be found and where you can ask questions we will try to answer ...

Our water gardens gazette index page is here

We will try to answer personally but if this proves to be not possible because of large volumes of e mail we receive we will certainly answer in future Gazettes.

Please note you may have to copy and paste this if the words wrap to the next line. If you do then leave out the words mailto:

Copyright: The Water Gardens Gazette and its contents are

Copyright: Tony Roocroft, 2003.