A Unique Bridge
A Unique Bridge
Chuck and Karen Lenz have an unusual bit of history in their water
feature--a curved piece of granite curb from St. Louis city streets
became their bridge. How did they get it? Their contractor could
have the pieces if he would remove them from the city's storage
lot.
Overview
- Owner: Chuck and Karen Lenz
- Location: Town and Country, Missouri
- Installed: 2002
- Designed by: Jim Meiners
- Constructed by Prestige Landscaping
- Size: 1200 gallons
- Equipment: 1/2 hp Tsurumi pump with a 2" pipe and 72 gpm
discharge, PFF 3000 Pondfiltration Inc. filter.
- Special features: A granite bridge, three waterfalls, a Japanese
lantern, seven Koi and one goldfish.
Chuck shared some of his pond experiences with us:
When we re-landscaped, we replaced railroad ties with 90 tons
of stone. The pond is one foot deep at the skimmer and two feet
deep at the waterfalls. We would have made it deeper, but our
back yard sits on a rock shelf. We made a mistake by not including
a skimmer, so two years later, that was put in.
The reason we joined the St. Louis Water Gardening Society was
because we had no idea of how to keep the water clear. Our kids
had aquariums when they were young, but this was a whole new ball
game. So we added a filter and started using Algaefix to control
the algae.
Three waterfalls
We've
had issues with our fish. Twice, with neighbors watching the pond
while we were on vacation, we lost all our fish due to the heat.
The water didn't have enough oxygen, even with the waterfalls!
The two years that I didn't cover the pond in the winter, I also
lost all the fish to MINK. The little rascals come in and just
clean you out, leaving no trace. Each time, Water Garden Society
members came through and helped us get new fish. Now, with the
help of Nies Landscaping, I seal the pond every winter with a
net, bricks and big staples so they cannot get into the pond.
Initially, we had ground cover on both sides of the pond which
we have replaced with mulch. However, we have learned that: (1)
run off from the mulch discolors the water, (2) mulch washes into
the pond, and (3) mulch needs to be replaced all the time. Consequently,
we are back to planting ground cover to slow the water run off,
help filter the water and keep the dirt from washing down the
slope.
A lovely water lily
And
one more story. Our golden retriever "Cameron" (named
after Duke's basketball court) is fascinated by the fish and constantly
circles the pond to watch the fish move around. A couple of times
his enthusiasm has prevented him from slowing down and he's ended
up in the pond, not able to get out because we have straight sides
with no shelf.
(Hang in there, Cameron! Chuck's coming!) Wonderful experiences,
Chuck! Thanks for sharing them.
