2004 & 2005

Whatever happened to my water garden?

The End of My Beautiful Pond?
or The Beginning?

In early August, 2004. I recently received an e-mail from someone who wondered how my water garden was doing. It had been a while since I had updated that site, and for good reason. I decided that it is time to update this section and let you know!

There is some really bad news and then there is some good news.
In late 2002 we decided that the original pond tub was too small, so we replaced it with a 75 gallon tub. It gave us more room, but also presented different problems. We needed more bricks to cover the tub, and it had to have support since it was higher on one side, and because it was heavier, it tended to sag. So, back to the drawing board. We removed the bricks, put wood supports below the tub, and refilled the tub. We had fewer plants, but the yellow lily had survived and multiplied. Those plants seemed to still be doing well. The Parrot feather is hard to get rid of, but it goes through good and bad stages. It is O.K.

I put several large goldfish in the pond, including some beautiful fantails and watched as they grew. I had a small pump that circulated and aerated the water. Oh, how I loved to go out each day and feed them! They were like pets - they came over to where I was and seemed to know it was time to eat.

A couple of times the raccoons got in and overturned and lily pots, but the fish seemed to survive by finding places to hide. The evil bandits even had the nerve to wade in during broad daylight. Sometimes it would take several days for the fish to overcome that trauma and come back to the surface, but I always found survivors and I was beginning to believe they would always be there.

One day I after I got home from work I looked out and saw that the pond and it's contents had been trashed. Everything was overturned, plants were upside down and out of the pots and mutilated. I knew what had happened. Again, I feared for the fish, and those fears turned out to be well-founded. My beautiful, friendly pets were gone this time. I was extremely angry at those stupid raccoons, and completely disheartened.

I gave up on my water garden for nearly a year.

I kept saying "One of these days we will clean it all out and just have a fountain. No fish, few plants, no attraction to raccoons." All winter it sat there in ruins. I didn't even try to re-pot the lilies. I figured they would eventually die. I was too busy with work and my art and photography and didn't have time to worry about it; besides, I was completely disheartened. All of that work and joy, not to mention the cost in time and money, and it was ruined. It had happened several times, and I felt like giving up.

I had placed a pickerel plant in a tall, decorative urn next to the pond and kept it watered. It flowered for several years until it grew so root bound that it eventually split the pot. To keep it from dying, I jammed it into the already ruined pond and left it to its own devices. Over the winter, we didn't cover the pond with net to keep the falling leaves out, so they fell in and settled and began decaying.

At the end of the school year I retired from teaching, and one the things on my "To Do" list was to get out there with my husband and empty the pond, dig out the mud, clean it out and get rid of all of the muck. Then I would go to plan B with the fountain and no fish. Everybody likes to hear the trickle and splash of water, right?

The Good Part

When spring came, the lilies had started growing and spreading. They nearly filled the pond. The Asian lily (the purple one, the one I thought had died) bloomed first. Then the yellow ones started blooming and are still blooming now in August.

Because of the many mosquitoes hatching this year due to the rains early in the summer, I saw enough squiggles of larva on the water's surface, so I thought, "What the heck," and decided to go to Wal-Mart and get a bunch of 20¢ goldfish. I figured they would last a while, anyway, before the raccoons found them, and would keep the larvae under control. I was determined not to become attached to them, so I selected some that were rather ugly. They were dark colored rather than gold, and once I put them in the water, they didn't stand out like gold ones would have. They lasted for a while, since once, when I was scooping leaves and twigs and slime out of the water, I caught one in the net). I haven't seen mosquito larva since I put them in the pond. That would suffice until the pond was clean and then moving water would prohibit the mosquitoes. Before too long, they, too, disappeared.

With lilies blooming and fish in the water, I got back into the habit of going going outside to look at the flowers and check to see if maybe I could spot a goldfish. I even started taking more photographs of the flowers. I had long ago stopped aerating it because of the mud, but the plants are very pretty and the silt does settle to the bottom, leaving a layer of clear water about 6-8".

One day early in June, I looked down into the pond and saw a little bitty frog. I had never, ever seen a frog in the pond before. I rushed in to get my camera and took photos. For a while I was checking several times a day, half thinking that the frog was a fluke and would soon disappear down the hill into the little stream that runs into the bay near our house. To my surprise, a few days later I saw a different-looking frog. Now there were two of them. I could hardly believe it! They were both small, and are still fairly small. My husband incorrectly identified the one we see more often as a bullfrog. I did a bit of research on frogs and he turned out to be correct. Astonishingly, it seems that they had found a new home in our overgrown, muddy water garden.

Later, I did some research and talked to someone I know who is very active with the Sierra Club. He has a lily pond, and from a photo I e-mailed him, identified the frog above as a Bronze Frog.

At first, the frogs sat on floating or half-submerged lily pads. Sometimes I saw them; sometimes not. Even when I didn't, if I dipped my net in to remove fallen leaves (the pond is under an oak tree), I would hear the splash of one that had been hiding on a lily pad underneath another taller one. As time went by, they started hopping out and sitting on the side of the pond on the flat stones surrounding the bricks and sometimes hopping over into a potted plant to hide beneath the leaves..

About a week or so ago, I looked into the water and saw something strange. My instincts told me what it was, but I again went on the Internet to search for information. The surface of the water was covered with a plate-sized layer of frog spawn. The teensy-weensy little black dots that were attached by some type of "stuff" were frog eggs. I read all about the stages of frog development, and I was fascinated as I watched it change appearance each day. The eggs soon separated and the little embryos started sinking a bit. The information I had read said that the chances of many surviving as tadpoles were slim. Common sense told me that the fish would have a picnic on these little fellows. One day, they were all gone except for two tiny black bodies squirming around on an upturned, brown oak leaf I saw, but no more were sited. No mosquitos were they - they were little tadpoles. I don't know what happened to them, as I now see no signs of larger tadpoles.

One of the frogs had stayed guard over the spawn every day. Whether or not any survived, I don't know for sure. Each morning I go out and usually see one of the adults on the ledge of the pond, watching. When he is outside the pond, he doesn't move. I can get relatively close to him without him jumping in. I guess he "freezes", thinking I won't notice him, but I like to think that he is getting used to me. I did learn that they have ears and can hear. I talk to him, and assure him that I won't hurt him. As the day progresses and gets hotter, he stays in the water or in the shade of another lily pad. Today, after seeing him, I went back in for my camera. When I came back out, he had dived in, swam across the pond, and was out on the other side where the spawn was laid. I wonder if he knows what happened to them?

August 2004

Above is the pond full of lilies with the pickerel plant in the back, flowering in full.
Surrounding the pond and on the stone ledge, I have bromeliads,and around the
edge are two hibiscus, a chrysanthemum, angel wing begonias,
a spider plant, chocolate mint and some wild irises that aren't in season.
In the yard beyond are banana plants, English Dogwood, an Oakleaf
hydrangea, and a clematis vine with wood plants in the background.

It looked beautiful, but the water wasn't clear except for the top 6 inches, and had lots of rotted leaves in the bottom. Probably perfect for the frogs.

I was thrilled at my new ecosystem. I came to the conclusion that frogs need slime and roots and murky water and protective vegetation as a home. I never saw them when the water was clear and clean water. So satisfied that things are working, I planned to leave the pond be and not clean it out until it takes another turn. I'm sure the lilies have sent roots down into the dirt and leaves that have decayed at the bottom and are dividing away. I decided to just scoop out the algae and the leaves and twigs that fall in, and remove dead lily pad leaves and the spent flowers. Maybe one day I would clean it out, but probably not.

Dragonflies flit all around the pond and light on the twigs of flowers I had surrounding the pond in pots. Their favorite perches are the leaves of wild irises, or the sticks I use to anchor plants and keep them straight. The two hibiscus plants around the pond bloom often, giving color along with some bromeliads sitting along the pond ledge. The frogs seemed happy, and so far the raccoons hadn't found the fish or the frogs. Lets keep our fingers crossed, I thought. I was again enjoying my pond, albeit in a different but more interesting way.

Things were going so well that I got some more fish. Two large and two smaller multicolored goldfish, and a small Coi They weren't as friendly as my pretty fantails, but they were beginning to come up and feed when I came out. What about the plans for a fountain? Well, I decided to get one of those pond frogs that spews water from it's mouth, and I set it on one end. The fish and the frogs got used to it. I was happy.

December 23, 2004 - Doomsday

I looked out one morning and almost screamed. It looked like the "after" photos of the December tsunami that I later saw on the Internet. The raccoons had struck again. Why do I bother to keep trying?
(Note: I had put the potted plants in the greenhouse, so they weren't disturbed except for the pickerel in the pond).)

December 23, 2004

Now, towards the end of January (2005) it looks worse. Fewer lily leaves than ever. It took forever for the mud to settle down, and still, when I go out to scoop up the leaves that continually fall, it stirs up the mud from all of the lily pots that were upturned and emptied. If I had tears left, I would cry every time I look at it.
I had my husband get out his raccoon trap and he caught three, but I know there are more. I think he has trapped and hauled at least 20 in the last few years up to the National Forest.

I'm going to name my water garden "Rising from Phoenix".
I refuse to give up.
I don't know in which direction I will go. I have these thoughts to consider:

• The raccoons are still there. They will come back. There are woods behind my house, and besides, they have become urbanized scavengers and fish are a natural food, so naturally they will go after them once they are discovered.
• I love my fish. There were just (once again) starting to know me and come up to feed.
• I love the lilies.
• I love the frogs even more. Did I forget to tell you that it took about two weeks of dead still in my pond before I saw little flutterings, and upon further investigation I saw at least 6-8 tadpoles? Somehow they survived. About three weeks later, I saw one of my frogs. I think it was the baby that grew from the first spawning; the adults seem to have disappeared or have been eaten.
• The frogs seem to like the mud on the bottom of the pond left my constant overturning of the lily pots by the raccoons, but the muddy water doesn't look good with flowers.
• There will always be leaves as there is a huge Live oak above the patio. I can deal with the leaves and have thought of putting some type of wire over the top to catch the leaves and keep the raccoons out, but the wire would definitely not look pretty or allow the plants to stand up out of the pond.

I haven't decided. When the weather gets warm enough I think we will clean out the pond, after trying to catch the tadpoles to save them if there are any there by then. It may cause the frogs to leave, and that will be bad as it took seven years and the mud in the bottom for them to make the pond their home.
I could use my small pond for just fish and have the larger one on the patio for plants and frogs.

What do you think I should do? Leave it muddy for the frogs, clean it out for the plants and fish, or just clean it out and have plants and frogs? Or, have two ponds, one with fish and one with plants and frogs.

Note: Since I wrote the above section, I've heard from several people who urged me to opt for a frog pond rather than cultivate the fish. That was my inclination, and I think I've made my decision to keep the frogs. My feelings are that I'm extremely blessed to have the frogs who chose my pond to be their home. Goldfish, while quite nice, are, as they say "a dime a dozen" and can be gotten at any Wal-Mart store.
I feel privileged to be host to some of natures most fascinating little amphibians.

2005

The "Rising from Phoenix" water garden has revised itself, rising from almost complete destruction, and is now going strong. It looks (almost) better than ever. It came back as the weather got warmer, the lilies have flourished in the mud (which I left there because of the frogs). In fact, I probably need to thin them out. The yellow lilies and Parrot Feather, are the only plants in the garden besides a pot of Purple Pickerel Weed that has seen better days.

I put the netting over it when the huge Live oak above it was dropping tons of leaves, and decided to keep it there as tiny twigs and leaves are always falling. I haven't turned the frog fountain back on because I thought it might disturb the frogs, but may try it.
The tiny bird bath to the lower left is a favorite bathing and drinking place for a male Cardinal who does his daily ritual at least once a day. He loves it.

As for the frogs, the two adult frogs stayed around until about two weeks ago, when they seem to have disappeared.
There are three tiny little black frogs in the pond, and they sit on the lily pads or hang onto them. Sometimes they stay still, and sometimes they jump back into the pond when I disturb them.

This is a close-up of the male Copper frog that was around last year.

The adult frogs in the pond this year were probably the same ones, but they had grown over the winter and gotten very fat and a bit larger. This spring, they would sit on the lily pads or on the rock edge and let me get very close to them. I relished going out and checking on them each day. I miss them. I'm sure they will come back to watch over their tadpoles like they did last year. Come back later if you are interested in updates to my pond frogs.

Constructing Our First Water Garden

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