Yippee! Yay! Hal-a-you-ya! As my 3 year old grandson says. It looks like Spring is here! Trees are starting to bud out and I see sprigs of Bermuda peaking up at me and of course, lots of weeds as usual. The fish are kind of waking up from a Winter nap and beginning to forage for something to eat.
Our waterfalls are beginning to sprout their Spring colors as the weather warms up a little. We don’t worry about the algae that is growing right now. It is Mother nature’s way of balancing out the ammonia that has built up in the pond over the Winter as the bacte-ria colony went to sleep or died off. The fish are starting to release more waste as they become active and begin to eat more. As the bacteria we feed begins to be more active, the algae will be starved out as the bacteria con-sumes the nutrients in the water. Our water temperatures here are at 50 degrees right now and I suspect by the end of the week or early next week they will reach the magic 55 when we will start adding more bacteria and if the forecast holds true, maybe even feeding a little cold weather food.
You’ll recall I mentioned we’d be having our annual Water Garden Expo hosted by Pondliner.com a couple of weeks ago. It was another successful one with contrac-tors from as far away as Australia and all over the U.S. They came from Oregon, Florida, California, New Jersey, Montana, Texas and many points in between. It is one of the largest for pond profession-als in the country. More than twenty vendors showed their wares and the contractors and wholesalers learned from industry experts in seminars throughout the week. Lots of new products were show-cased and for the second year, the group raised money for Cancer Research in honor of industry members who are fighting the good fight, those who are survivors of the dread disease and those who have lost their battles. $5,000 dollars was donated on behalf of those who are “Living the Pond Life.”
The picture above is the latest arrival of inventory for the season. This is a frequent occurrence this time of year as we stock up. The warehouse crews are diligently working to get it all received in and stocked on the shelves. It will take us a day or two to get everything put away but we’ll be glad to go back and break open a pallet if we need to before then.
Always be humble and kind
~~~Mike
TIPS and TRICKS
Not really a tip or a trick but rather a blatant advertisement. Classes start on March 14th at 10:00am. The first class is one we think most pond owners want to attend. We’ll go over what are the best things to do in order to begin the season with your pond and provide you with the information you need to stay ahead of those Spring problems that seem to crop up frequently. Attendees will receive one Pond Dollar for future purchases as well as 10% off any purchases made that day. Only one discount applies.
Classes SPRING/SUMMER 2020 SCHEDULE
Check the schedule for start times. All classes are free and open to the public. No advance registration required. More classes added each month. One Pond Dollar awarded for each class. Attendees receive a 10% discount on all purchases that day. We train rain or shine in the only indoor pond training facility in the U.S.
March 14, 2020
10:00 am
Spring StartupI had a long time customer tell me today that she had learned something at every class. You might too. This is the class where we talk about how to get your equipment, plants and fish ready for a new season.
March 28, 2020
10:00 am
Pond FiltrationThe secret to a happy healthy pond is good filtration. If you’ve had problems keeping your water clear, come to this class and learn how filtration might be the solution you’ve been looking for.
April 18, 2020
10:00 am
Pond BuildThis is the one you’ve been waiting for all Winter. We’ll take you step-by-step through a simple ecosystem pond from start to finish. It’s indoors so rain won’t stop us. C’mon down!
There is no advanced registration required and we do not charge for our classes. We will have 12 classes each year, 4 pond builds, 4 pondless waterfall classes and 4 that are general in nature and cover everything from startup to shut down, plants fish and algae, your worst enemy, next to a blue heron.
