The first water lily bloom of the year appeared in what we call the Lower Pond, which we're in the process of remodeling. We originally lined the perimeter of the pond with red sandstone flagstones, thinking of how the color and style would blend in with other elements of our hardscape. The gravel covering nonplanted areas of the yard is red, the patio is composed of red patio pavers, and the raised beds for plantings utlilize reddish stacking blocks. However, it turned out not to be the best choice. It was crumbling in many places and did not sufficiently hide the rubber pond liner in others.
I'd met Paul (The Pond Gnome) in a Master Gardener class, and he was willing to come out for a consultation, which was money well spent. Not only did he have some great ideas, he later gave us a bunch of free plants! One of his suggestions was to replace the flagstones with rip rap, which could be piled up in and around the pond edges. We've only begun on this project, but are very pleased with the improvement so far. It looks more natural, while still blending in with the overall colors and design of the yard. I also think it will provide a much better habitat for aquatic plants than the pea-gravel-filled pond baskets we'd previously tried. The plants can spread their roots out among the submerged rocks, which will better anchor them and allow them to spread.
As you can probably see in the picture, we still are battling string algae to some extent. We've noticed that it goes away about the time the water lilies wake up, and have always thought it was because the lily pads were depriving the algae of either sunlight or nitrogen. However, Paul said the real reason was that beneficial algae-eating organisms wake up about the same time the water lilies do, and suggested an enzymatic treatment to speed the process.
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