D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
August 2009
Pondszi Schemes
Even in the desert Southwest, water features add variety, sounds — and fish — to the garden.
Our Goldfish
We have three goldfish in our pond
Of whom my father's very fond,
And they were given by his choice
The names of Julia, Edith, Joyce.
But Julia was his special friend;
She swam the pond from end to end,
So long, so strong, so golden-red —
The finest fish, so Father said.
. . . But now a sudden doubt arises,
One of life's tragical surprises:
A friend points out with skeptic air
That goldfish (girls) alas are rare.
A gloom across our pond is shed,
The water-lily droops its head,
The reeds are wilting on the brink
And nobody knows what to think.
Though Father still by word of voice
Addresses Julia, Edith, Joyce,
His tones the sad conviction carry
They might be Thomas, Dick and Harry.
— Margaret Lodge [1935]
A pond is a magical realm with mysteries lurking not only in the cool, gleaming depths of its water, but also above and around its liquid surface. How do you make this domain a successful component of your garden — and also learn to identify which fish is truly a Julia?
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In the Munoz garden, koi provide
bold size and color to a soon-to-be breeding pond. (Photo by Vivian Savitt) |
What's required is a slightly different take on land gardening — an approach to water, light and air that also considers the needs of aquatic plants and wildlife. The key is learning how these elements can be fused together into a harmonious balance that enables the pond to function alone.
Even aesthetic decisions, like types of pond "sounds," can mark the ecological symmetry of this biome. Want to hear the croaking chorus of male bullfrogs? Fine, purchase some tadpoles. A year later, if predators cooperate, you'll have a small bullfrog. As the bullfrog grows larger, however, it may eat the aquatic fish as a side course to its primary diet of insects, crayfish or whatever else it can cram into its mouth. So hearing a bullfrog's charming "jug-a-rum" involves multiple considerations.
Other pond choices are less crucial. The placement of rock and stone on a waterfall can produce a drip, trickle, splash or gush — per your auditory preferences. Aquatic insects bring their buzzing sounds; thirsty, water-frolicking birds offer chirps and mating vocalizations. Overall, it is a certainty that "once you build it (the pond), they will come."
Resources
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The sounds of silence combine pond-side with visual feasts as well: an azul-colored dragonfly hovers above a lily pad; a water strider bug performs its walk on water ritual — a feat enabled by a hairy, water-repellent underside that keeps the strider from sinking.
In our sterling town are many helpful pond enthusiasts who have schemed and studied for years to create ponds that are golden in their equilibrium.
Alex Munoz oversees his three ponds with an eye for aesthetics and a penchant for carp, like his Japanese koi and red shubumpkins with their salt-and-pepper-colored blotches. Alex started digging his first pond eight years ago, and added the others at two-year intervals.
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Shade and light create
an idyllic setting at the Dille family pond. (Photo by Tricia Dille Allred) |
The pond-dominated Munoz garden is surrounded by aspen, bamboo and bonsaied Oregon pines, lending the space a decidedly Asian atmosphere. The trees also camouflage each pond's individual pump and filtration systems.
Blooming water lilies bring color and tranquility to the garden, while a vine-covered patio offers an oasis and sitting area for appreciating the sight and sound of water movement.
Alex helped start the local Pond Society that met last year at Dunn's Nursery in Silver City, and grew to 80 participants. He attributes the zealous pursuit of his hobby to "a love of the outdoors."
Alex advises beginners to "make the pond twice the size that you first envisioned it, start simple, and stick to proven methods of pond construction. Schedule maintenance once a week or every other evening until the pond becomes its own balanced system."
Creatures who contribute to the balancing act in the Munoz ponds include "cleaning agents" like aquatic snails and crayfish who eat fish droppings and algae. He also has mosquito-fish (gambezi), who eat their namesake.
His middle, "all koi pond," is seven feet deep, containing approximately 2,600 gallons of water. Alex wanted depth to make it more difficult for predators to access the koi, and to increase the oxygen content of the water in winter while the fish are hibernating.
Aquatic plants, an essential factor in creating a water garden, are available from the aptly named Peaceful Ponds. Owners Kelly and Paul Osuna specialize in aquatic flora and fish, including gambezi, goldfish, shubumpkin and koi. Their selection of plants include hardy water lilies, deep-water hawthorn and bog plants like floating heart, picherelweed (Pontederia cordata), bullrushes and dwarf cattails (Typha). The couple also sell pond supplies, equipment and fish food.
Both Kelly and Paul teach math at Cobre High School and also coach the track and cross-country teams. Most of their summer vacation is spent vacuuming algae slime off the ponds of errant customers. Kelly insists that eradicating string algae — insidious here in summer — may be accomplished by anyone willing to rotate a toilet brush amid the muck.
The Osuna children and their cats enjoy watching the parade of wildlife to their several landscaped and plant holding ponds. Anyone who has seen children playing in rain puddles can understand their wonderment at ponds.
The Lloyd Dille family's 30-by-14 foot kidney-shaped pond in the Silver Acres subdivision is a testament to 13 years of pond gratification. Because the pond ranges in depth from 18 inches to 3 1/2 feet, the children know not to play there unless an adult is present.
In the evening, while the elder Dilles relax by the pond, their grandchildren enjoy feeding the gambezi and feeling them "nibble their fingertips." The kids observe the clean, scoured tracks of water snails who have eaten algae, fish waste and decomposed plant matter from the sides of the pond.
Other thrilling sights include watching gambezi being born alive and seeing adult gambezi attack wasps. In early summer, Mexican black ducks fly in from the nearby City Golf Course to take a swim. Their stay can last two to three hours.
The Dilles' other fish residents include two koi, six shubumpkin and a dozen goldfish. Although the fish hibernate in winter at the pond's deep end, to date they have not reproduced. Lloyd thinks that the spawn may get vacuumed during the family's once-a-year pond cleaning spree — a half-day job.
Up the street, Peggy Spofford boasts that her five-by-seven-foot pond with a small waterfall is balanced: Now her 12 shubumpkins no longer require fish food — living instead on pond debris. Water lilies are Peggy's only plant life, and she uses a filtering system with a UV light.
Raised in the Northeast, Peggy earned a PhD in etymology. She also started the Mogollon Mountain Dulcimers here.
Six years ago, she realized how much she missed water sounds — specifically those from the Salmon River in New York — and had the pond constructed. Observing birds by the pond is among her favorite pastimes. This pleasure is matched only by that of a friend's dog who "comes over and just jumps right in."
And what about goldfish Julia et al ? It's a gender-bender that must be postponed until the goldfish and many other species are over a year old. Ardent pond and fish lovers, including Alex Munoz, leave the sexing issue to professional breeders.