The pond has become a real source of pleasure to us and our friends. The sound of gently flowing water alongside the patio is restful and the fish and wildlife are a great time stealer and talking point. It adds another dimension to the garden and, although more difficult to get right than most people would think, there is nothing quite like it on a warm summers day. I love watching the Dragonflies and Damsel flies, the water boatmen and pond skaters.
This year the water lilies have covered the surface well keeping the algae and blanket weed down to a minimum, and the 3 water soldiers I put in last year have multiplied alarmingly; here must be 30 now and new ones appearing all the time. We also have a pretty vanilla scented Water Hawthorn with the impossible name of  Aponogeton distachyos, striped Acorus and Equisetum hyemale grasses, a Marsh Marigold, Caltha palustris, and a rather beautiful purple Japanese Iris.

It is commonly thought that Koi are both predatory and omnivorous, eating anything green and small fish and snails  as well. We have two Koi, 6 Shubunkins , 12 goldfish, 3 Orfe and 1 Golden Tench and although the Koi are voracious eaters, they only seem to eat the food we give them. They are also very tame, coming up and gliding through our hands if we gently tempt them with food sticks. Unfortunately, we don’t know the sex of our fish but for some reason, we think that the bigger golden Koi is male and the smaller white Koi is female. There is absolutely no logic to that other than size and appetite!

Earlier this year we spotted tiny black fish which have grown into large black and orange fish! At least we now know for sure we have some males and some females although at this stage it could just be the goldfish. We live in hope that the Koi breed as well provided our assumption is right and they are indeed a male and a female. The pond is certainly big enough at 5000 litres and 90cm deep to support more fish but we prefer to keep the oxygen levels up and the fish waste down!

Aponogeton distachyos – Water Hawthorn