Ponds, Streams & Waterfalls
What we have here is essentially three stories rolled into one. Partly, it's about what happens when a well-established company steps beyond its comfort zone with a major renovation project that involves an unusually large set of unknowns. It's also about what can happen to a property when an old, large, man-made pond system breaks down, time passes and the space reverts to a wild, natural state. And it's about what's involved in pulling a failed
When we think about Koi ponds, the images that most often come to mind are of spaces entirely naturalistic: irregular shapes, edges offering limited direct access, lots of aquatic and terrestrial plants interacting at the margins and, as a rule, little suggestion of formality in the design. That was certainly the case in a project I recently shared through
Pond owners tend to focus on the larger forms of wildlife that enjoy being in or near their watergardens. But as Ed Beaulieu points out here, there are dozens of diminutive creatures that merit attention -- and also do a remarkable job of bolstering and sustaining the ecosystem.
There's no doubt about it: Ponds have a magnetic pull on all of us, particularly when there are waterfalls or streams adding layers of sound and motion to their awesome visual appeal.
These bodies of water also attract deer, raccoons, dogs, cats and other creatures to their verges. Frogs, birds and a host of others arrive, too, on the hunt for a cool drink of water, for a quick bite of sashimi at the expense of a pond's fish population - or, as we'll see below, for a safe place to lay eggs.
For humans, appreciating the full extent of this parade of life takes patience, especially when it comes to accounting for the various insects that take to the water and can be found in and around ponds at most times of the year. Some of these creatures fly, others crawl - and there's no questioning the fact that they are as drawn to the water just as certainly as are the much larger creatures that tend to attract all the attention.
To help professionals who design, install or maintain these watershapes inform homeowners of the full scope of life they can find in their backyards, let's survey a few of the smaller creatures to be found in, above and around a pond's water.
FRIENDS OR FOES?
Many of us tend to think of these creeping, crawling, multi-legged and often airborne critters as irritants to avoid or even eradicate. But the simple fact is that these insects form as vital a part of a pond's ecosystem as any animal, bird or fish in the vicinity.
Of course, it's easier to appreciate and contend with life forms that will, with the exception of household pets, usually scatter or otherwise make themselves scarce when a human steps out into the space. Birds will swoop in and out periodically, but deer and squirrels and other mammals tend to be skittish and will generally vanish until the coast is clear.
Dragonfly
By contrast, a pond's insect population tends to be a constant and can even become bothersome by buzzing around your head as you're trying to enjoy the view or feed the fish or perform routine pond maintenance. That's annoying, of course, but they're around for reasons that will only be appreciated if you know how mature aquatic ecosystems work.
Let's begin with the fact that lots of these creatures actually start their lives in a pond's water. Indeed, many flying insects - including dragonflies - spend their larval stage below the surface. They are vulnerable in that early stage and bring a bit of variety to the diets of fish, but once they take flight, they are prodigious consumers of mosquitoes, which is a kindness, and also attract other predators to the water, including many beautiful bird species as well as amphibians and other insects.
Dobsonfly larva
The first step to appreciating these creatures, in other words, involves placing them within the local food chain and recognizing the interdependence of all of these species in maintaining a successful, sustainable backyard ecosystem.
Adult female dragonflies are among those that lay their eggs in pond water. From 12 to 30 days later, those eggs will hatch as nymphs and move to the bottom of the pond, where their drab coloration will help them hide from hungry fish and frogs until they emerge as adults and take to the air.
There's often another insect here that looks a lot like a dragonfly - that is, a damselfly (seen at the top of this article). The only way to tell the two apart is by looking at their wings: A dragonfly will hold its wings out to the side when resting, while the damselfly folds them together above its body. For the sharp-eyed and even more curious, the tail of the damselfly nymph is longer and more slender than that of the dragonfly nymph, and it has gills that allow it to breathe oxygen during its time underwater.
UNIQUE KINGDOMS
The list of aquatic insects goes on and on, continuing with the dobsonfly, a large, dark, flying insect that is mostly nocturnal. As adults, they are predators with large appetites for small, aquatic invertebrates. Their larvae are large, up to three inches in length, and they have strong jaws and legs to go along with eight pairs of gill filaments that look like small legs attached to their abdomens. They'll find their way into fast-moving streams and, helpfully, make great bait for folks who like to fish.
Another common pond inhabitant is the caddisfly. The adults have a moth-like look, with hairy wings and long, slender antennae. Caddisfly larvae can be found in moving water, along the bottom of ponds or streams. Most live in tubes or cases they construct from sand, pebbles or pieces of leaves and wood. They eat algae, decaying plant matter and various microorganisms - again, useful to have and keep around!
Caddisfly larva net
Another handy critter is the stonefly, which hides under stones and amid debris in clear, cool, running water. Indeed, their presence is an indication of good water quality. They are multicolored with black, brown, tan and yellow hues, and their lovely little larvae feed on dead plant material and single-celled organisms. As they grow, they become wider-ranging predators as well as an important source of fish food.
Then there's the cranefly (also known as a mosquito hawk), which looks like a giant mosquito but is actually harmless. That interspecies resemblance starts early, because the larvae also have the same appearance as mosquitoes at a similar stage, but they are larger and are often a brownish gray or even transparent. The larvae feed on debris such as decaying leaves that accumulate on the bottoms of ponds or streams.
Stonefly
Beyond the flying insects, a pond also attracts a wide variety of aquatic insects, including giant water bugs, water boatmen and backswimmers.
Giant water bugs are brown and grow up to three inches in length. They dive to collect food or to seek protection. In doing so, they must first capture a bubble of air that they use like scuba gear: Once the air supply is gone, they must return to the surface for more. While in the water, they feed on tadpoles, other insects' larvae, small frogs and even small fish.
Water boatmen are the most common of aquatic insects and can be identified by the oar-like hind legs they use to propel themselves through the water. They feed on small organisms, algae, plankton and various components of pond debris and, like giant water bugs, travel with an air supply in the form of a film of air that encapsulates their bodies. They can fly, but most often they are spotted on or in the water.
Cranefly
The backswimmers are well named: They look like water boatmen, but they swim on their backs as they prey on various aquatic insects. They'll bite humans, too - not a useful quality, but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.
So when all of this is added up - with many more bugs not mentioned here - it's apparent that there's a beautiful, naturally balanced, aquatic "circle of life" encompassed within mature backyard ponds. And the good thing about most of these insects is that, unlike their larger creatures that share the water, they'll hang around in plain view, ready for people to observe and appreciate.
Aquatic ecosystems are more complex than they seem at first glance, and helping pond owners gain an appreciation for all of the layers of life to be observed and appreciated at the water's edge can only add to their satisfaction and enjoyment: As with so many of the good things it life, it pays to pause and take a closer look!
Ed Beaulieu is director of contractor development and field research for Aquascape, Inc., St. Charles, Ill. For more information, visit www.aquascapeinc.com.
Ponds in winter are uniquely charming. Where they teem with life and activity through the spring, summer and fall, they slow down when the weather gets cold - but never so much so that they lose their ability to surprise and delight. It's the seasonal changes that bring a welcome sense of drama to these settings when the days are cold and short: Super-clear one morning, snow-covered or crazed with ice the next, in winter these watershapes offer up daily levels of textured, luminous variety that I see as
How do you figure out how much water there is in a pond? This is a question that frequently reaches my desk - and it's important enough to know that I devoted this edition of "Ask the Pond Digger" to answering it. In the video, I approach this as a practical matter of how you figure out how many gallons a pond contains, offering a couple basic ways to
In my lengthening career as a landscape designer and installer, I have worked on every aspect of a variety of residential and commercial projects - indoors and outdoors; on backyards, sideyards and front yards; on formal gardens, wild meadows and stands of trees; and on pools, spas, fountains, ponds, streams, waterfalls and more. I enjoy every part of the projects that come my way, but
The weight of conventional wisdom opposes me here, but I love using bamboo around many of the ponds we install. In the right setting with a pond large enough that the vertical plants are appropriately scaled to the horizontal watershape, bamboo looks great, grows rapidly and brings a wonderful architectural look to the composition - not to mention great sound when
If frogs show up in a pond, writes Mike Gannon, it's a sure sign that the water is healthy. But it also means some extra chores for the pondkeeper -- including a need to massage a few details to persuade these finicky amphibian guests to stick around for a while.
For lots of people, their knowledge of frogs is limited to stories they've heard about them, from the biblical plagues of ancient Egypt to Mark Twin's tale of a celebrated jumping frog in not-so-ancient California.
For those who own ponds, however, frogs are a more familiar proposition - a stout thread in the fabric of ecosystems in which these amphibians play colorful and interesting roles. They are so much more than the plump critters who populate fairy tales and flirt with enchanted princesses.
Indeed, these formidable denizens of backyard ponds play keys roles in pond diversity and sustainability, which is why I advise so many of my clients to set things up in ways that will welcome frogs as members of a complete and more interesting ecosystem.
FROG FACTS
One of the cool things about frogs is that, if a yard has a pond, they'll somehow manage to find it and will arrive both unannounced and uninvited. It's like "Field of Dreams": Build a pond and they will come!
They make these appearances because ponds offer two things they crave: water and food. And the reassuring thing about their intrusions is that they'll only stick around if the pond is right with the world and is thriving as a healthy, sustaining ecosystem.
In return for water and a ready food supply, frogs add dimension and personality to a pond - great sound, interesting appearance and incredible variety - and they do it all without being very demanding in return. Some new pond owners push things along by introducing tadpoles or even grown frogs, but it's generally not necessary: Frogs will, someday and somehow, find their way to the water.
How do they manage this trick? It's because they spend a lot of their time on the move, looking for places that meet their basic needs for water, food, shade and security. Once they find a suitable pond, they add to its diversity while coexisting productively with fish, plants, insects and other wildlife.
Moreover, frogs come in many shapes, sizes, and colors and prosper within a broad spectrum of water-centered settings. And they all start their lives in the water, which explains their inclination to take advantage of it wherever they find it. But frog habitats range well beyond the water's edge: They live on the land and burrow beneath it, climb in trees and nestle in grasses and make their ways in wildernesses or cities. They'll even waltz their way into homes from time to time - but they'll always stay near water.
One disturbing fact about frogs is that their populations are declining globally. They're acutely sensitive to habitat loss and the use of pesticides, and these threats may explain why they are so attracted to well-kept backyard ponds: They can use all the help they can get and seem to thrive in these isolated environments. Still, it's sad to consider that creatures who've occupied ecological niches on our planet for 190 million years are imperiled - and that's one very good reason our pond-owning clients should be encouraged to tolerate and welcome their arrival, hoped for or not.
DUAL NATURE
In addition to being ancient, frogs are just plain cool. They are among the planet's few fully amphibious creatures, as much at home in and under water as they are on dry land. At one moment, they are champion swimmers; the next, they are bounding across a lawn or negotiating land, rocks, plants and trees with ease. And they truly can leap great distances with disarming ease.
Many species of frogs also have the ability to change color on demand - a natural-born skill they use in being more efficient hunters. They are, in fact, voracious carnivores, using their long, muscular tongues to capture prey. They also use eyes that give them a nearly 360-degree range of vision; have sensitive ears as well as skin that resonates sound to their impressive brains; and boast a superlative sense of smell that gives them an edge when they hunt, as they often do, at night.
But they're not inconsiderate: Fish caught by frogs, for example, will generally be sick or weakened, meaning healthy backyard pond fish including Koi and goldfish don't have anything to be stressed about. In fact, the interactions of frogs and fish can be highly entertaining: I've heard stories about a frog hitching a ride on the back of a large (and willing) Koi.
There's no promise that a backyard pond will turn into Sea World, of course, but it's been my observation that pond owners who are patient and cautious can get their frogs to eat out of their hands. They particularly enjoy plump nightcrawlers, but in their enthusiasm, it's sometimes a stray human finger that gets a frog's attention at feeding time.
Nature is a series of balances, of course, and frogs are subject to predation as well. Sometimes, in fact, bigger frogs will eat them. And despite the fact that many frog species have skin that carries toxins that make them taste terrible, they are favorite snacks among herons, raccoons, snakes, turtles, foxes, big fish and possums. Humans get in on the act, too, as any visit to a good French restaurant will attest.
For their parts, dogs and cats just want to play with the frogs they encounter, but they're so enthusiastically physical that the confrontations tend to decrease the frog population. As a celebrity frog once said, it's not easy being green!
DRAWING THEM IN
While a frog's life may not be a breeze, I let my clients know that it's not difficult to make their ponds frog-friendly.
Before we get there, however, there are a couple things I ask them to consider: First, frogs are mostly solitary creatures, congregating only during the breeding season. During those times, males become territorial - and are vocal about it! If a pond covers a large enough area, there will be room for several frogs, and their calls can become quite loud and persistent.
Second and along with that territoriality comes an inclination among frogs to hang around, reproduce in the pond annually and build a population that will roll forward year after year. For all that, I tell clients they shouldn't expect a population explosion of ancient Egyptian proportions, basically because fish and even other frogs like to eat the egg sacs in which tadpoles develop.
Third, I alert them that, in breeding season, it's not uncommon to find eggs on various surfaces inside a skimmer box, but that they won't be there or anywhere else for too long, because the tadpoles will emerge after about 10 days. At that crucial point, I suggest that it's a favor to the mommy and daddy frogs to police the skimmer and usher the tadpoles into less turbulent water.
For starters, I tell my clients that there should be good quantities of well-maintained plants both in and around the pond, especially long grasses. In addition, frogs like calm water, which is why we'll set up areas with slow water flows (but not so slow as to create a dead spot in the circulation pattern!). And, much like their fish companions, frogs like hiding places, so we'll lay a simple clay pot on its side for the purpose.
If a client likes the amphibian idea, it's easy for us to take the pond design in a frog-specific direction with no fish included - and it's something that can be done with only a modest investment. In these cases, we discuss the advantages of including a "dirty" component in the form of a six-inch-deep tray of compacted soil covered with gravel mulch. This will give the frogs a place to dig in through the winter months.
In the natural course of things, the common species that will show up to occupy a pond in where I live include pickerel frogs, leopard frogs, green frogs, bull frogs and peepers. But that's only a start, and appearances by other types should come as no surprise. As suggested above, I let my frog-inclined clients know that it's better to wait for the frogs to materialize rather than stock the pond: There's greater value to the overall local ecology, I tell them, in waiting for native species to show up and move in.
SEASONAL DELIGHTS
Once frogs have settled in, the fun begins for pond ownrs.
During the Spring months, the cheerful peeping of frogs is one of the early indicators that warmer weather is coming and that a pond is waking up from its long winter's nap. I advise our clients that this is a good time to do a bit of pruning and grooming around the pond - that is, before the frogs move out of the water and become a hazard to safe navigation near the water's edge.
During winter months, it's good for pondkeepers to be aware that frogs will often climb into skimmers to enjoy the slightly warmer pocket of air inside the box. That in mind, skimmer lids should be removed slowly in cold weather to avoid startling the frogs inside: In their panic, they can get sucked into pipes and suffer other unpleasant fates. Beyond that, cold isn't much of an issue: Some frogs can actually go into a state of near-freezing during the winter months and thaw as rising temperatures allow - a rare and wonderful survival skill.
I firmly believe that frogs of all sorts are great in backyard ponds and let my clients know what to watch for and what to do when the amphibians march into view. These creatures are great fun to watch, and children in particular are utterly smitten with them.
Who can resist the charm of watching a creature, just sitting there on a lily pad, suddenly launch its tongue at a snack like a guided missile? It's a quintessential pond experience, and always has been. It's also great to think about the importance of offering our froggy friends safe haven in an increasingly harsh world. Why not be ecological heroes in a world that's not quite as hospitable to small creatures as it should be?
Mike Gannon is owner and lead designer at Full Service Aquatics, a pond installation and service specialist based in Summit, N.J. A certified Aquascape contractor, he may be reached at [email protected].
Pond liners are great: They're tough, last a long time and endure a great deal of abuse during their service lives - but sometimes people want to do strange things with them, as the first question addressed in this edition of "Ask the Pond Digger" attests. As you'll see, I was asked if it was acceptable to place a new liner inside
I live beside a lake on a property that also includes the headquarters for my business, Floating Island International (Shepherd, Mont.). The lake serves as our laboratory, and my near-constant proximity to it means that I've gotten to watch how the water has changed through the years. It's been an upward spiral: The water keeps getting clearer, cleaner and
