It certainly does seem that said weekends were directed at getting wet and wild. It is will look like it was lifted straight out of the wild and plonked in your backyard. Love it!
How deep is the deepest part of the pond? It needs to be deep enough to provide a cool retreat after the absolute worst week of high temperatures and intense sunshine that you get through summer. If not that deep then consider adding shade by way of an evergreen that does not drop a lot of leaves, or shade cloth, shade sails, corrugated roofing on an arbor spanning the pond or whatever.
The biggest problem you tend to have with ponds, particularly if you are feeding fish in them, is filamentous algae – also called string algae, brush algae, hair algae and few more. A combination of high nutrients and strong sunlight will just about guarantee it. There are many different species and they produce endospores when the ponds they are growing in start to dry up. These spores are desiccation resistant and are blown on wind. Wild ducks also bring it in on their feet, along with things like leeches etc. Most fish pond people include a filter with UVC which kills any cells that go through the filtration system. I doubt that what you want.
The way around it is to have fast growing plants in the water which a well established and will keep the nutrient load too low for filamentous algae to take hold. If it ever does there are a number of products that will kill but let all other plants and animals live. There is shrimp they use in aquaria, known as the Yamato Shrimp or sometimes the Amano Shrimp (
Caridina multidentata) - prior to 2006 it was named
Caridina japonica. I don’t know if it is legally available or how it would fare outside over winter.
Getting back to those plants suitable for removing nutrients, a combination of fast growing submerged, low emergent and tall emergent would likely be the most desirable...
Vallisneria (Ribbon Grass or Eel Grass) is excellent fast growing fully submerged plant. It spreads by runners, like grass. By regularly cutting it back to a given area you will be removing bio-matter from the pond. As is also the case with the next plant, fish and tadpoles love to hide amongst it.
Watermilfoil is the common name for plants in the genus
Myriophyllum. There are over 40 native species and three invasive weeds to be avoided:
M. aquaticum,
M. heterophyllum and
M. spicatum. They send up stems from a common rootstock and the stem will either grow out of the water or float when they reach the surface. So it is very easy to cut back. They have very attractive, soft feathery leaves.
Bullrush or Cumbungi (
Typha domingensis) is an excellent plant to provide character and perches for tree frogs. It has an aggressive spreading root system so it needs to be planted in a pot. A 30cm – 50cm wide, low ceramic pot half filled with water-lily mix and with one drainage hole, is ideal. The roots will simply go round and round. This plant will be the dominant but not overwhelming feature of the pond. In nature the leaves go brown, soften and then fall in the water, where they provide the basis of a whole aquatic food chain. I just cut them off with scissors before they collapse or once they start to go brown. You can also remove a clump of leaves by cutting them off at the base near the roots. Re-pot after several years when it stops thriving. Just keep the healthiest looking piece of root with at least some buds on it.
Dwarf Papyrus is very hardy and attractive but should be planted in pot with the holes covered by a couple of layers of knitted shade cloth to contain the roots when immersed in water.
Taro is too big for the size of the pond.
Watercress and
Vietnamese Mint are good. Lemongrass is not needed to keep mossies away (even if it does) as fish in the pond will do that.
Liverworts need constant moisture and don’t handle direct sun – much harder to grow in your circumstances than several different varieties of moss that are available. If you know someone with a property, you could collect and trial your own. Use plenty of matured organic matter and or clay mixed in with the planting medium.
The
Blue-eyes should be a good choice. Or you can keep them inside where you will see and appreciate them and use White Cloud Mountain Minnows in the pond to eat the mozzie larvae. The Murray River Rainbowfish (
Melanotaenia fluviatilis) is good survivor in outdoor ponds. I shall try and check if it is OK with frog eggs and taddies.
You can collect your own native Glass Shrimp (
Parataya australiensis) around Brisbane or purchase other native shrimps from a retailer, rather than use the exotic
Cherry Shrimps (
Neocaridina heteropoda).
I know next to nothing about
Mystery Snails. However, they will graze encrusting algae, which covers surfaces underwater and exposed to sunlight. This will put them in competition with tadpoles once they arrive. I(f the numbers of snails are low and you feed the tadpoles as well, I cannot see a problem from that angle.
Sorry about the tome. I can throw a few ideas your way for consideration but only if desired. I do want to reiterate what a top job you have done, both in design and especially the choice of materials and their placement – not an easy thing to do well. You clearly have good ‘feel’ for it.
Well done,
Blue
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Drazzy,
My apologies. It is now apparent that I was mistake in what you were after. Clearly I should have re-read your post before letting my enthusiasm overtake me and get carried away – I used to do landscaping part-time.
You seem to be using the creek bed as your overflow but for those that want to construct a “hidden overflow” for getting rid of excess rain water directly from a pond, this might be useful...
View attachment 305584
It is constructed from 25mm PVC irrigation pipe and can be painted matt black or a colour (and texture) to match the pond lining or simply wrapped in matching pond liner. Bring it out underneath a large, flat overhanging rock and it should not even be visible. The outlet can be shallowly buried and come out many metres away.
Once again, my apologies
Drazzy,
Blue
