There is no rain here since 3 weeks - it is very dry. It rains in the south of Poland, but not in the central. I am trying to keep my garden alive. Many plants do not need too much additional water, but what about those which need it? It takes pretty much time to water the garden.
In such a dry garden, water garden is like oasis in the desert. It is changing the air - adds humidity - and changes the SOUND of garden - garrulous water makes perfect environment for relaxation. The sound of water got more loud and rich lately. Since there is a pond in the garden (
that we have cleaned lately) it attracts more and more wildlife :) Cats have always water at hand and also something to watch - fish are mesmerising to humans and to cats as well, but for different reasons. Apart from dragonflies - which are very beautiful and sweet to watch, there is 3 frogs in the pond. 2 smaller - which presumably are HE and 1 bigger SHE. THEY are responsible for additional and in a way unexpected sound in the garden and adjacent gardens as well. Since few days, they started to sing! They croak, so they must be happy, right?
What a weird sound is that - first when I have heard it, I was thinking there must be aliens hiding in the shrubberies.
Do you remember movie "Signs" and scary aliens there? They were taking in such a way, that is similar to single frog's sound. Probably in bigger amount they would be disturbing, but 1-2 seems to be fine and I hope they will be not disturbing to neighbours - at night, when sound travels faster.
As you can see, water in the pond looks pretty fine. Glones are growing fast, so already after 1 week after cleaning pond lost that "weird fresh grey" plastic look. I prefer green pond - looks more natural and better. At the beginning after building a pond, most tricky is to keep the proper chemical balance, so glones will not overtake your pond. Any chemical means are not really helpfull - even those mild ones are in different ways harming aquatic plants. The best way to prevent glones colonizing pond, is to use the acidic peat in the filter - it contains humic acids that dissolve in the water - glones are allergic to it. The only thing is, that peat has to be special: firbous and free of fertilisers - not garden peat, which is ground and usually mixed with fertilisers.
Do you remember movie "Signs" and scary aliens there? They were taking in such a way, that is similar to single frog's sound. Probably in bigger amount they would be disturbing, but 1-2 seems to be fine and I hope they will be not disturbing to neighbours - at night, when sound travels faster. 
As you can see, water in the pond looks pretty fine. Glones are growing fast, so already after 1 week after cleaning pond lost that "weird fresh grey" plastic look. I prefer green pond - looks more natural and better. At the beginning after building a pond, most tricky is to keep the proper chemical balance, so glones will not overtake your pond. Any chemical means are not really helpfull - even those mild ones are in different ways harming aquatic plants. The best way to prevent glones colonizing pond, is to use the acidic peat in the filter - it contains humic acids that dissolve in the water - glones are allergic to it. The only thing is, that peat has to be special: firbous and free of fertilisers - not garden peat, which is ground and usually mixed with fertilisers. 
7 comments:
Ewa - nice to see I am not the only one with the Warsaw drought!! I was in Muncih on Wednesady evening and there was great storm which almost meant I missed a flight- how I wish for rain for Warsaw.
Can you give me some advice? I planted around 120 summer bulbs in an area of ground which is uncovered. Various books tell me that summber bulbs like Liliums or Dahlias dont need much care but I am watering this area of ground most days - there is very little shade and no ground cover - Am I doing good or bad?
Also should I be watering Rhodendruns during the drought - so far I avoided.
Also for Roses I sometimes give but mostly not - still they seem to be doing ok.
If your frogs are singing you will probably have plenty more frogs by the end of the season unless your fish eat all the tadpoles. You have quite a few fish in your pond. It would be relaxing to sit and watch them swim around.
Your pond is wonderful and I love froggies...we are also having a dry hot spell. It is raining too much in other parts of the country but we aren't getting any. It's like that every where isn't it?
Gail
Hello David,
I just had some rain - hope it was passing through your area as well :) Concerning bulbs and dhalias - water them in such conditions as we have now and if the place where you planted them is very sunny, either every day or every second day. They will grow better.
Roses do not need that much water, so I water mines: those in full sun and transplanted in autumn every second day, those in sunny place not transplanted every 4-5 days. Those which are growing partially in shade, I water maybe once a week.
Rhodos do need water and moist in the air - that's best conditions. They like also rain water, cos tapwater contains too much calcium that does not cope with their natural acidic conditions :)
In general lack of water for the plants means stress - stress means diseases and this is we would like to avoid.
I hope to hear from you soon :)
Lisa,
It is very relaxing to watch how they swim, what they do, watch the golden and silver glitter on their body, as they change the position :) Oh, that reminded me my favourite Gary Glitter song :)
Gail,
That is really interesting, you also have a dry hot spell :) on the other hand we not have too much of hot nice weather in Poland, so I am not complaining. It could be even 10C in June, but luckily it is 30C!!
Some rain would help.
Greetings,
Ewa - thanks for the tour of your pond. I wish I had room for some living water, but that just won't be until I sell my car and rip up the driveway.
Your theory about the croaking frog might be accurate, but more likely, he's thinking of finding a hot date, popping open some champagne, looking deep into her eyes, then "jumping her bones". [That's American slang for "guaranteeing the survival of the species."]
Hey everyone - a little word about watering. Please don't set a schedule. Water when the effective root zone of the plant is almost dry. The only way to know that is to dig down and see how moist the soil is before you water (or see if you can buy a soil probe - a hollow pipe with a "T" handle. Most people think that if the surface looks dry, they have to water.
A rose bush has a root system that's at least 12" deep (sorry, my brain still doesn't do metric), so if the surface is dry, it doesn't mean anything.
Also, a 3" layer of mulch (wood chips or gravel) will protect the soil from drying out as fast, and also keeps weeds out.
Hope this helps.
Frogs are a part of nature and should incline attention as indweller of lake Greatly you told concerning the steps. I’d share some options, some skills for maintenance to stay your labor safe that's fish pond liners you'll be able to cure leaks.
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