When Jan Goldfield took up the task of building a pond in her backyard in 1987, it was strictly as a hobby. Once completed, Goldfield´s garden and pond was such a showpiece that friends encouraged her to market her skills. With a direct mail piece picturing her pond, and referrals from local nurseries, Goldfield started her water garden business. From them until her retirement in 2006, she had a career designing, installing and maintaining aquatic gardens. ... http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/pondlady Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:44:42 -0600 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.squidoo.com/pondlady Learn to build a pond with the pondlady. She shares her almost 20 years experience in designing and building ponds cheaper and easier than any other method you have read about. From building to troubleshooting, from plants to fish, we talk about what you want to know.  Read articles, blogs, and discussions about ponds and water gardens. Find out what others are doing with their ponds, and turn your backyard into a relaxing showpiece of nourishing greenery, refreshing waterfalls and fish swimming lazily in the summer sun. diy Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:36:37 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/waterlilies Many people have ponds just so they can have water lilies. Here in New Orleans we love tropicals with their aroma reminiscent of tropical islands and colors that defy description. Hardy water lilies are beautiful and grow anywhere. If you have a pond, you want a water lily. Their beauty makes your pond complete. Water lilies are blooming at their finest now. Don't forget to fertilize them. I often fertilize every 10 days this time of year to get the most blooms. Have a night bloomer and a day bloomer, so you can enjoy water lily blooms at all hours. You may want to stagger your fertilizing. Fertilizer feeds water lilies, it also feeds algae. With the hot summer sun baking our ponds, we can have an algae problem if we feed our lilies too much all at once. So feed half of your lilies this week and the other half next week. That way your water will stay clear of algae. diy Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:52:51 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/underwatergrass Is your pond green? Ponds and water gardens need submerged vegetation to have clear water. Submerged plants give off oxygen for your fish to breathe and are fertilized by fish waste. They act as a natural filter and your fish eat them. What a perfect plant/animal symbiosis. Solve most pond water problems with submerged plants. A naturally balanced pond with goldfish, not koi, cannot flourish without submerged vegetation. Now that summer is here, your submerged plants are multiplying so fast, your fish cannot keep up. Why not trade some with your local pond society members. diy Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:26:33 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/bogplants Bog plants, emergent plants, marginal plants are all the same. They all love wet feet and grow in swamps or bogs. Bog plants or marginal plants are at the height of their growing season in the heat of the summer. If they outgrow their pots, cut them back. If they jump from their pots, cut the overgrowth off to share with friends. I have bog plants in my rain garden. I try to use water before it returns to the sewer system and use bog plants to do so. Bog plants are beautiful; their flowers almost irridescent in twilight. The marsh mallows, a type of hibiscus are beginning to bloom now. I love the name of the plant and the shallow Louisiana bayous are now covered with dish sized marshmallows. diy Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:32:35 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/aquaticplants Floating plants for your pond are as necessary as water. Half of your pond needs to be covered so your water doesn't get too hot and to provide shade for your fish. Your submerged vegetation needs shade or it will burn in the sun. Floating plants give your fish something to hide under when hungry egrets, herons or raccoons drop by. And during the hottest days of summer, your floating plants are in full bloom adding yet another dimension to your pond. Water clover is producing a small yellow bloom that looks beautiful against your water lilies. Water poppies are putting forth little white blooms that look like someone threw popcorn over the top of the pond. Sun hitting water produces algae. Keep the algae away by using floating plants. diy Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:47:19 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/Louisiana_Iris Louisiana Iris is the Louisiana state wildflower. It covers bayous and swamps in the Louisiana spring. I use them in most ponds, in the water and out. See pictures of hybrids. Find growing conditions. If you are looking for an iris that loves wet feet, this is the place for information on this striking plant diy Thu, 05 Jun 2008 05:31:27 -0600 http://www.squidoo.com/gardenersgumbo Gardeners Gumbo is a gardening forum where gardeners from all over the world share their ideas, problems, solutions, photographs, laughs, stories and good times. Join us and meet fascinating folks who share your love of gardening. We swap recipes, pet stories, children stories and grandchildren stories, brags and antics. From flowers to vegetables, from daylilies to dahlias, ponds to pets, even beekeeping, learn what people from zone 3 to zone 10 grow in their gardens. As with any spicy stew, the more the merrier. C'mon, let us meet you and spice up our gumbo with your photos, your stories, your gardens tales, triumphs and failures. Get suggestions, give suggestions, have a good time in our gardening community. Gardeners Gumbo diy Tue, 06 May 2008 14:30:52 -0600