The diagram below shows the overall design of our pond. As stated on the diagram, it holds about 200 gallons of water:





The photo below shows the lush dogwoods that were planted when the pond was built. This photo was taken five years ago:





Over the years, the dogwoods have gradually died out, until this spring we will be cutting them back entirely and starting over. Below are two photos showing what the pond looks like today. Keep in mind that here in Minnesota, trees and shrubs are just beginning to blossom, so everything looks quite bare:








When the pond was built, small pine trees were planted to the south of the pond. At first, these trees didn’t shade the pond much because of their small size, but over the years they’ve grown taller and now create a lot of shade.

We don’t know if the dogwoods gradually died out because of lack of water, lack of sun, lack of nutrients in the soil, or a combination of these factors.

One other point: although the dogwoods were quite beautiful, they flowered early and dropped their blossoms into the pond, which required a lot of clean-up. If we happened to be gone during this time, the pond became quite a mess and the pre-filter tended to clog up.

We welcome any suggestions for what kind of shrub we might plant to replace the dogwoods as a backdrop to the pond. If you have any photos of a similar setup with shrubs that have worked for you, please direct me to them. Also, suggestions for how to care for the shrubs would be appreciated.

Thanks, Bill

These style of gardens utilize azelas alot, I myself would pick the evergreen style so that you will still have a green look year round.
Also for shade you can do Japanese maples, hostas, and ferns. Helleri holly shrubs (link below) do well in partial shade too (I have these in my garden, they are a bit slow growing but you can prune them to the size you want to maintain. Ferns are great too.
Hope this helps..

That's a gorgeous setup you have. You are justified to be very proud of it. Those Koi are HUGE.

However, we're aiming more for a native look: bushes, shrubs, etc. such as you might find growing naturally in Minnesota or elsewhere in the upper Midwest. I should have mentioned that point in my initial post.

Suggestions along those lines would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Bill

Good Luck, S

I would agree with sheepco, about checking with sites that talk about what shrubs do well in your area. The plants I suggested could still be used in your "look" you just would not prune them, you would just allow them to grow "as is", giving you that more natural look. When I lived in New York, the Japanese maples, ferns, hostas, hollys all did well there with the colder climate, so they may still work there where you are. I am surprised that the dogwoods did not do well there in the shade since they are usually considered "understory trees".

judithva wrote: "I would agree with sheepco, about checking with sites that talk about what shrubs do well in your area."

Yes, I will do that.

Judithva wrote: "I am surprised that the dogwoods did not do well there in the shade since they are usually considered 'understory trees.'"

As you can see from my first photo, they thrived for several years. I too saw online that dogwoods should do okay in semi-shade. Sadly, I think we took them for granted and should have sought advice sooner. Perhaps we needed to replenish the soil's nutrients. I did have a soaker to water them during dry spells.

Bill