Summer ponds and water gardening in the northern hemisphere

Summer ponds and water gardening in the northern hemisphere

If the weather gets really hot and the water in the pool is warming up, look to see if the fish are getting lethargic. If the fish look as though they are in distress, there is an emergency. A partial water change of a third will do them the world of good, or at least blast fresh tap water in there from a height and let the pool just overflow. Ensure you have some water running into the pool, either a fountain or a stream.

If it is a really well-established pool, and a little (dare I say) sludgy on the bottom, the fish in these pools will be suffering the most, especially in the evenings. What makes the situation worse is that water will not retain oxygen very easily the warmer it gets. The bacteria in the sludge will be using up the oxygen, and any oxygenators, although they plug along at their sweet level during the day, come night-time they begin take in oxygen as well. If there are Koi in there, theyll be using up the resources like nuclear subs and will be the first to be panicking on the surface.

July is good for the late season marginal plants and the march of the bog brigade. And of course there are the lilies. Most of the real wet footed marginals have done their thing by now. There is still the big Pickerel weed and Lythrum is blazing away, and the demur Flowering Rush both competing with the big grasses. In the bog there are the Ligularia, Astilbes, Hemerocallis or Day Lilies. Hostas are flowering and the Bistorts are looking good. There are spectacular displays of Primula florindiae and P viallii and yellow loosestrife and soon there will be the Schizostylis to wind things up. Meanwhile variegated and yellow grasses keep up the brightness and Gunnera and Rheum palmatum provide the big green backdrop. The Hampton Court Palace Flower show is the place to catch some new ideas. And what a venue!

What should be happening at this time of year?

Leeches are getting pretty big and pretty sassy at this time of year. So try to get a good look to see there arent any hanging off your fish. A very dilute salt bath will see to them of if you cannot bear to screw them of.

If youve got a bog garden make sure there none of those big weeds getting a foothold into it. And make sure it is well watered. You ought to have a tube going right down into it thats perforated with holes. This helps watering in the hot and dry, getting the water down to the roots where it is needed.

NOW is the time to thin those oxygenators if they are getting out of hand. Not in Autumn and not in Spring.

Plants that need a good long growing season to get going can be sown from now on. Some experts recommend that it is time to sow the seed of Tetragona waterlilies. It would also be good time to sow the likes of Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris) or Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi).

If it looks as though there are small fish that may get eaten, rescue them. Keep them in a tank and feed up until theyre bigger.

And if you are going on holiday and you were going to get the neighbours to feed the fish while you were away. Dont. Let the fish starve for a week or two. It will do them good. Unless your neighbours are experienced and successful fish keepers they will always overfeed for fear of underfeeding. The result will be disease and algae and God knows what. Leave it to God. He organises nice fat flies and things for this time of year.

This article is an extract from Peter J May's Water Garden Calendar and is reprinted with his permission

Do any of these questions or statements ring a bell with you?

• Have you ever contemplated building your own pond or water garden?
• Were you scared off by the complexities of designing and then costing and then actually doing the work of building that water feature in your garden in order to increase the value of your property or just get more pleasure out of it?
• Were you afraid it would become a nightmare rather than a dream?
• Did this prevent you creating that dream pond your family and yourself always wanted?
• I am afraid the water will go green and smelly ... will it?
• How many plants must I put into the pond?
• How can I put a pond in my garden ... my garden is not flat or level?
• Should I use a flexible liner or a preformed pond?
• Is it possible to use a liner and create my own stream or waterfall?
• How many fish can I put into the pond?
• Can I create a wildlife pond?

Just remember this .....

"To have the sight and sound of water near them in a garden has been an almost instinctive urge to people of all cultures in all ages. Now as then, the beauty of reflection, the relaxing sound of moving water and the life that it attracts make the water garden as desirable to many people as a lawn or patio." Peter J May AND ....

Don't worry because you were right to have these fears and feelings ... a pond is an important investment in money and time and you must get it right. All these fears are answered and allayed in my book. This is a book to be used ... it is not for the coffee table. It contains all my hard earned experience over many years actually putting ponds into water gardens ... all shapes, sizes and in all sorts of challenging environments My book does not contain boring descriptions ... you will see how everything goes together. All the tools required for each stage are explained and as it happens; the things NOT to forget are covered, the real time-tested tricks of the trade, estimating and budgeting tips are covered too.

Building a pond can be simple and a great pleasure especially when the pond idea was yours in the first place; especially when you designed the location, the shape, organized the bill of materials, bought the right equipment and conceived the intricacies of waterfall flow and design too. Let my unique extremely practical DIY manual and book help you get it right first time too .....

I am Peter May. I am an author, horticultural journalist and garden photographer. My specialist field is water gardening, about which I have written five books, two of them were called The Perfect Pond Detective. Not only that though, for 17 years I owned a landscaping company that specialised in the construction of water gardens and we built hundreds and maintained many of them for years. Now, I write regular monthly features for two specialist water garden magazines and have covered aspects of water gardening for most of the garden magazines on the British newsagent racks. I also answer any queries of a water garden and horticultural nature for a specialist Koi carp magazine. I have built award-winning gardens at The Chelsea Flower Show, I have created water gardens for Time/Life Horticultural Library as well as instruction videos for Television.

In 1994 the first edition of my book "The Perfect Pond Recipe Book" was published and quickly gained a well earned reputation. Many thousands of this low cost practical book have been sold through bookstores all over the world. It became out of print. It stills remain an unique book.

"The Perfect Pond Recipe Book" was written by me and I also drew the many detailed landscaping picture ideas and practical in-situ sketches that characterized the uniqueness of the book.The book was created when I was a professional landscaper in order to be able to show my clients how complex some water garden situations were and this was a reason why so many projects done by the DIY enthusiast went wrong. Well as the result of many many requests I have now completely updated the original successful version. You will find "The Perfect Pond Recipe Book" ...

"The Perfect Pond Recipe Book" empowers, informs and enables even the maladroit novice on the necessary processes involved in creating a water garden. It doesn't confuse the reader with fancy outmoded techniques like puddling nor does it underrate the skills required for concreting; instead it describes the simple landscapers' techniques for using the products that are available for you to buy like preformed ponds, and flexible liners.

"The Perfect Pond Recipe Book" is not just for those flat perfect bowling green situations. The techniques shown in my book enable you to put a pond or waterfall into any terrain.

Do take a closer look at Peter's book and information Click here and go to Perfect Pond Recipe Book Page