Fertilizing

Fertilizing your lilies and lotus is not necessarily a must, but if you want the most out of your plants it really is. Lilies, and especially lotus, are heavy feeders and really need to be fertilized every three weeks or so. We put our lotus and lilies in large containers and put three tabs in the lilies and four in the lotus every three weeks. I mentioned the pot size because roughly one tab per gallon of container is what we go by, you can burn your lilies by over fertilizing. We most often use Highland Rim products because they have simply performed the best, pondtabs are a good option also if you can't find highland rim.
First tip, make sure to 're-seal' the hole you make when you push those into the plant. If you don't you're fertilizing the whole pond, including the algae. We aren't very high on the liquid fertilizer for the same reason. Secondly, don't fertilize the lotus until you have aerial leaves. Finally, depending on climate, stop fertilizing in late August so the plants can harden up a little before they go dormant. If you aren't in the mid west make sure to talk to a local specialist to find out what is best for your region.

Don't Dig Too Soon!

Just a quick post after a tough day of breaking bad news to a nice lady. Don't Dig Too Soon! I know it can be tempting to jump right into building your pond, but trust me you don't want to get ahead of yourself. A great lady called me and had me drive to her house so I could help her finish her pond. To my great dismay she had alrady dug a HUGE pond, with help from her husband's excavator, and than let it sit over the winter. This wouldn't have been as big of an issue if she hadn't already bought her liner. After the winter weather and the flooding conditions the hole washed out and became too big for her liner. Now she is faced with the options of buying a new piece of liner, re-building the sides (trust me its not fun), or filling the whole thing in and starting over. Either way its a lot more money and/or labor. So all you DIYers, do yourself a HUGE favor and make sure you don't dig too soon. Just a helpful hint.

Common Problems

After spending a full day rebuilding a bio-fall, the same amount of time I could have built half a pond, I am reminded how important it is to select the proper builder. Whether you are building your pond yourself or hiring someone it is imperative to get as much information as you can. Is this their speiality? If its the third 'specialty' listed on their business card, it really isn't. Take a look at some of their past ponds. Are they concerned about longevity or maintenance? Many, even some I thought were good companies, don't appear to be concerned about the future.

Now each job a contractor does they learn something, I wish when I built my first pond I knew what I know now. But there are some very important things that I have seen ignored in many ponds. For example, streams need to be deep with solid sides because if you walk around your stream it will compact and the rock will slide if it isn't concreted or foamed. This is a major issue, I've fixed multiple ponds this year that the side rock was falling in and the water level was off due to people walking around, admittedly one was mine. Learn from my, and many other's, mistakes and make sure to solidify the rock on sides of streams and ponds. If you think you or your contractor is building your stream too shallow, chances it is way too shallow. If it looks like the rock could slide, it will.

* One point I would like to make is I am in an area that large angular rock is hard to come by, most is river rock or glacier rock that is relatively smooth and rounded. When this type of rock is used securing with foam or concrete is important. If you can get your hands on more angular or easily stacked rock this isn't nearly as important.