You Asked Us

This page isn't of Frequently Asked questions, but of some of the interesting questions that have been asked of us over the Internet and we thought we'd share them with you. You know the old saying... if one person asked, ten more must be wondering!
Some of the questions are quite straightforward but others are quite complicated, if you have another idea on how to solve the problem or have experiences that you'd like to share here, let us know!

QUESTION:

 We have gotten an unwelcomed vistor to our ponds recently. It is some type of bird, not sure of the species, but enjoys diving and flying off with our fish. Do you have any kind of netting, preferably clear, that can be placed over the surface of the pond to keep the pest out of the water???
Any help would be greatful!!

 Sincerely,
Monica

ANSWER:

 I certainly have sympathy with your problem, since we have many birds visiting our ponds for a fish dinner! I do not know where you are located, but you probably either have a Kingfisher, - a blue and white bird with a loud "laugh" - about the size of an American robin, or some kind of hawk - like an osprey, or eagle.
For a bird that dives in from a height in the air, often perched in a nearby tree until he spots a fish, the most effective deterrent is fishing line. Monofilament fishing line (available from a hardware or sporting goods store) is almost invisible stretched over the pond a few feet above the water's surface. If you run several strands criss-crossing the pond, when the bird dives at the fish, and hits a strand with his wings, it scares him because he cannot see what it is, and it usually deters him from a return visit.
There is also available a black plastic mesh which is usually used to keep leaves out of the pond in the fall. It is not completely invisible, but completely deters pests of any kind - cats, birds, etc. It is quite cheap, it comes about 12 feet wide, and we sell it by the running foot.

 Good luck with your bird problem!
Rowena Burns

QUESTION:

 We have gophers in our all of our flower gardens. We started digging a pond this weekend and now are worried about what they may do to any liner we install. We have thought about adding chicken wire to stop them. Could you give me some advice?
Debbie (Louisiana)

 ANSWER:

 I am afraid we can't really be a definitive help on gophers, since we don't have them here. I feel that they would not dig through but when they encountered the liner might chew through it. Chicken wire should stop them from getting to the liner, but I would recommend felt underlay (which you should be able to get where you get liner) rather than newspaper which would not give as permanent a protection from any sharp edges on the wire. Newspaper tends to deteriorate quite quickly and does not have the tensile strength to prevent puncturing as do the various felts which are intended for pond liner protection. I would recommend 45mil EPDM rubber as the strongest and most durable material in our experience. Vinyls are quite easy to puncture and have a much shorter life. Molded ponds, unless you go to fiberglass (which is extremely expensive) have a fairly short life and tend to be too shallow. They will overheat very quickly in the summer, and are more difficult to blend into the landscape.

 For some specific suggestions on your locality, you could try the North Texas Water Garden Society - they should be able to give advice on gophers. Their URL is www.cirr.com/~ntwgs/

 Good luck with the gophers!
Rowena Burns

QUESTION:

 I have a pond 4' wide 5' long and 3' deep and have a whiskey barrell 8" above the pond top. I need to pump thru 1/2" pvc to top of barrell. What size pump do I need?
Richard

ANSWER:

 Your pond has a capacity of about 1700 litres. It is not recommended that a pump much greater than 1/2 the pond volume per hour be used since turbulence can then be a factor. This would mean a pump about 850 litres/ hour. You do not mention the reason for pumping to the whiskey barrel; if it is used as a biological filter, a lower pump rate should be used to increase dwell time in the filter, but if it is a water fall effect, the important criteria is the width of the lip of the falls. To make a proper "fall" effect a minimum flow of 180 litres per hour for each inch in width of the lip is neccessary. For more information on pumps see our picking a pump page.

 Hope this helps
Bob Burns

QUESTION:

QUESTION:

 Hi Burns Water Gardens--

 We live in the interior of British Columbia--zone 5 or 6--and our pond will only get about four hours of direct sunlight a day. I've been researching water lilies which will bloom with as little as three hours of sun per day, and I've come up with the following few hardy water lilies: Chromatella (Marliac), Gloriosa (Marliac), and Comanche. Will these ACTUALLY bloom with only four hours of sun, and do you stock these varieties. Any other suggestions?

 I really enjoyed looking through your website and look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks, Eva (British Columbia)

 ANSWER:

 Hi Eva!

 Your waterlilies might bloom with only 4 hours of sunlight, books etc. that say only 3 are in much warmer climates than Canada. Yes, we do stock Cromatella and Gloriosa, in small quantities, which is why they are not listed on our website. Perry's Baby Red (which is on our online catalogue) and James Brydon (which we also have) are also good choices for areas that don't get much sunlight.

 Glad to hear you enjoyed the site!

 Fiona Wood

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