| Hello
Everyone!
Welcome to summer! The weather is hot and
the water is cool and sparkling at Wakoola Water Gardens.
The kids are out of school and maybe you are looking forward
to taking a vacation with your family. We hope your summer
plans include coming to Wakoola to stroll around the ponds
and enjoy the sight and sounds of water! We would love to
see you!
Your pond, like ours, came to life in the
past two months. Your water lilies should be in full bloom
by now. The frogs have finished their love fest of spring
and are chirping all night now. The tadpoles, except the bullfrogs,
are mostly grown up into frogs and toads. You should start
to see dragonflies, butterflies, and water bugs. It is time
to add tropical lilies to the pond. We carry some fantastic
colors (both flowers and leaves) that will bloom all summer
and well into the fall, some even bloom at night.
The most spectacular plant of the pond, the
lotus, is in bloom now. We have lots of varieties to choose
from. Even if you don’t have a pond, you can enjoy a
lotus in a container on your deck or porch.
If you still don't have a pond but are hoping
to build one now, you can come to our pond construction seminar.
Our schedule includes two more sessions this summer, August
21st and September 25th. This popular class will teach you
the basics: from laying liner to installing filtration, to
rocking the sides of the pond. We also have a special contractor
class scheduled on August 20th for those of you in landscape
or other trades that want to add building ponds to your portfolio.
Have a fun safe summer and we hope to see
you soon!
Happy
Ponding! |
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The
beautiful urn that Janet Allgood installed as a disappearing
fountain on HGTV in May has started a craze at Wakoola Water
Gardens! Any pot, granite sculpture, or piped statue can be
made into a unique fountain for your garden. We can show you
how - it’s easy! Or, for those of you who prefer to
have someone else do the work, talk to the Wakoola Staff.
Come by and see our new supply of pots and urns.
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One of the most elegant things
you can add to your pond is a bronze sculpture or spitter.
These heirloom pieces (put them in your will - they last forever
and will be handed down for generations) can be whimsical
and fun or stately and elegant. It is worth the trip to come
see our newest collection.
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Algae
is found in two basic forms in your pond. The first is "Green
Water Algae" which is a single celled plant that causes
that green pea soup in the pond. It takes many million Green
Water Algae to make the pond turn green. The second type of
algae grows in multi-celled colonies. This is sometimes called
Filamentous Algae and coats the sides of your pond, the plants,
and the rocks. The dreaded "string algae" is a part
of this type of algae.
During
the spring many of our customers come to us excited and worried
about the green fuzz that has grown on their rocks and pond
bottom. This type of algae is natural and beneficial in a
pond. In fact, preserving some of this "natural patina"
is why we don't recommend scrubbing the pond wall too thoroughly
during a pond cleaning. Any time you can leave a beneficial
algae in the pond it will help to keep away the Green Water
Algae because it eats the same nutrients.
Green water and loads of hairy string algae naturally occur
in water where there are too many nutrients. And because of
our slow-to-warm spring this year, algae had a chance to get
started and fairly well established in many ponds early. This
was because the bacteria and aquatic plants, which will keep
the algae in check if there are enough of them, couldn't do
their thing in cold water. Now that the water has warmed up,
algae will have some much needed competition for the nutrients
in the water. Also, algae looks unattractive but rarely does
it cause any harm to the fish or plants. In England they even
like the look of green water. So if you have a green pond
you can consider yourself an English chap for a while!
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Product
of the Month:
MUCK VAC |
The
muck vac attaches to your garden hose and has a discharge
hose that can be laid out in your lawn or flower bed.
It effectively and easily cleans the bottom of your
pond with no messy bags. It eliminates muck and fish
waste without causing turbidity in pond water or displacing
fish or plants. |
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complete system includes: Muck Vac power head and brush,
10' flexible discharge hose, andvacuum hose adapter. It requires
minimum of 50 psi garden hose water pressure (standard household).
The telescoping handle extends to 6'. We'll let you try it out
before you purchase it if you'd like. $79.99 |
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| Lotus
- Sometimes called the sacred lotus, these wonderful plants
are truly the most spectacular flower of the pond. |
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Their bloom time is relatively short (about 6 weeks
usually) but they are so impressive that we don't mind
a bit! Their fragrant flowers develop into decorative
seed pods which you can bring inside to remind you of
the flower you had last summer! When it rains, water
dances on their stately round leaves which are held
high above the water. $50.00 each |
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QUICK
FIXES FOR GREEN WATER ALGAE |
- Change
out 25% of the Pond Water. This can be done up to once a
month. Don't forget to dechlorinate the water if you use
city or county water.
- Add
Microbe Lift PL. When used according to directions on a
regular basis, this live bacteria will help keep your water
clear. It colonizes beneficial bacteria on your filter and
rocks to starve out algae by consuming the nutrients first.
$24.99 quart
- Treat
the Pond With AccuClear. AccuClear is a flocculant. It will
cause suspended particles (including algae) to clump together,
which then fall to the bottom to get picked up by your filter
system. $16.99 pint
- Plants.
Add more plants. Add water lilies to shade out the sun on
the algae. Add submerged plants such as Anacharis and Hornwort
which suppress the growth of algae by competing with the
algae for sunlight and nutrients in the pond. Another great
algae fighter is the Hyacinth. This floating plant has nutrient
consuming roots growing down into the water.
- Add
a UV Light. Green Water Algae is effectively eliminated
(within 3-5 days) when it is pumped past the UV light bulb
inside the UV Clarifier. UV Clarifiers improve water clarity
but have no effect on water quality. Come by for us to price
the size light you need.
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QUICK
FIXES FOR STRING ALGAE |
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Remove
it by Hand. If you don't want to touch it (it looks gooey
but is actually like cotton fiber when you pick it up)
use a hairbrush taped to a broom handle.
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Treat the Pond with Algae Fix. Algae Fix has worked phenomenally
well for many water gardeners in killing string algae.
$18.99 pint
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Barley Straw, pellets, or extract. Bales of barley straw
have been used since medieval times to suppress algae
growth in ponds. These little bales are most effective
when placed in a newly cleaned pond or introduced into
the pond when treating with Algae Fix. $14.99 Barley Bale
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LONG
TERM SOLUTIONS FOR
BOTH TYPES OF ALGAE |
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Remember
to feed your waterlilies with Pondtabbs every two weeks during
the summer. You will get more blooms!
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July
Is National Water Gardening Month!
Watch for emails about special activities in July.
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