Sorry I took so long to get these up here....just shy about showing these to everyone! Hope all the help I've been given is reflected in the pictures!

Very nice pond. Love the Hydrangea, I have one right behind my pond as well.

Vickie

Very, very nice. I just love your butterfly koi in the fourth picture. The white one with just a few spots of orange and black. Your landscaping is just gorgeous. Looks like a professional installed the pond and landscaped. Give yourself a huge pat on the back. You did a great job.

Gary beat me to the stick inquiring about that lily. Now I want one too, as well as the heated planter. lol

Jenny

P.S. I could look at pond pics all day every day. lol It is truly an addiction for me. I am going to put your pics in my favorites to help me though the winter. Oooops! Sorry didn't mean to say that nasty six letter word.

Jenny - I know what you mean about the doldrums of winter. I came to this forum everyday last winter just so I could read about ponds until I could actually work on my pond! LOL

I have no idea if the thermoplanter will work or not but the reviews I read seemed promising. I got mine on ebay. It wasn't the cheapest item around - $39.99. But, I figure if I can bring my tropical lily in for the winter, put it in a tote with some water still planted in the thermoplanter, shine a light on it for a couple hours a day, get it through the winter and not have to buy another tropical in the spring it will be well worth it!

I got the lily on ebay too! LOL Can't tell I'm ebay addicted, right? The seller's name is bloomingwaters. I've gotten two lilies from the seller and they've both been really good quality! In fact that tropical lily in the picture has only been in the pond for 2 weeks so you are basically looking at the actual lily that was shipped to me. Two new pads have popped up since then but that's it.

Thanks again everyone!

You've really worked hard to make it fit into your landscape. That's not an easy thing to accomplish. Kudos!

The beautiful thing about all the plants is that I've been blessed with a bunch of women in my family who are green thumbs. I got most of my ground covers from my aunt and plants from my mother. All of it came from divisions out of their yards years ago. Now, all their "donations" have been growing in my yard and were ready to be divided to landscape the pond.

Lisa

Don't be so bashful - most of the photos I've posted have a hose lying around somewhere! Your gardens are lovely, and nice job fiance!

S

As far as breaking the 11th commandment, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's pond, well, I'm very guilty of that one. It is all the pics on this site that I've examined with almost stalker-ish fanaticism that has given me so many ideas and inspiration!

Okiee-I'm using a 20 watt Pondmaster UV light and a discontinued filter that I got for very, very cheap (the Hozelock trinamic). The filter is rated for ponds up to 3000 gallons with heavy koi loads. As my pond is only about 1200 gallons, I think it's doing its job of keeping the pond very clear! LOL I oversized the filter because I know that my pond is overstocked.

Lisa - I am going to be adding a 500 gallon addition to the pond this fall to hopefully give the koi some extra breathing space to grow. But, I know that because of the small size of my pond - even with the addition - I will have to likely have to part with some of my koi eventually. A local cafe/pottery shop/artist's retreat has several ponds with koi. I might ask them if they want some of my koi if they outgrow the home I can give them. I'm also planning on hooking up with some other local water garden societies so I can meet people who may welcome some adopted koi. I just want to make sure they go to a good home someday. But, before I get ahead of myself, I probably should just try to get them through a Wisconsin winter!! LOL (see my post on overwintering koi under thick ice)