Just over a week ago, we had barely finished the lower pond area to be somewhat presentable to our guests. Lots of dirt areas covered with mulch, some areas just dirt and rocks, but in general it was okay. This weekend we tackled the landscaping and while it’s not finished, we’re quite pleased by the results.
The pond digger shielded the pond with some insulation boards and took to the area with a walk behind bobcat. We needed to remove a lot of clay, substandard dirt and rocks..We have a pile 6′ x 11 ‘ x 4’ that will disappear this week. It’s a little on the costly side to get it taken away but the labor and finding a place to dump this stuff makes it worth it.While the pond digger went out for some rolls of sod, I put down some top soil and raked it a level as I could.While I was with other koi club members working on the scoring system for our annual koi show, the pond digger put down sod between the pond area and lilacs.Next we tackled the area of our future dining deck. We had to race a pending thunderstorm to get this finished.we used up the remaining sod to cover the deck area. Since we’re not sure when we’ll do the deck, sod is a great way to keep the area from turning into a mud pit and it looks good.The pond digger plans to put in a drainage system around the pond edge.I had made some bamboo panels to give the koi some shade but it defeated the purpose of being able to see them at all times. So I purchased two patio umbrellas and we have some brackets on the side of the pond.We’re very pleased with how the area is looking now.
After putting down the sod and looking around at the landscaping still left to do – we’re thinking about not putting the dining deck in the designated spot. We actually like the grass and might fill the rest in with more sod. The good thing about sod is that it’s pretty cheap and easy to remove.
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Our pond water is good in the upper pond and not so good in the lower pond. While we have a seeded bead filter and the new RDF Combo Bio going on the lower pond, my ammonia is still pretty high. We’ve been doing some extra water changes and we have the constant fill/overflow system set up. None of the koi are showing any signs of being affected with a high level of ammonia, so I’m hoping we cycle down soon.
good pond – not so good pond
Here’s how the koi are doing today – the little kin ki utsuri continues to spend half of his time in the skimmer.
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