Cleaning one of my lily ponds

[Kat]

I've been cleaning out lily ponds off & on the last several weeks in order to catch any extra goldfish/clean the muck/leveling.  None of them have bottom drains, so I have to use a pump with hose.  All water is saved in clean trash cans & the lilies held in the cans while the pond is empty.  I have to catch all of the goldfish (easy) & catch all of the gazillion mosquito fish (not so easy).  After it is drained enough it is time to scoop out all of the accumulated fish poop, decayed muck, & escaped dirt/rocks from the pots.  I will pour the goop into strainer baskets.  Eventually they will drain enough to make decent potting dirt for the lilies.  Refill the pond, release the fish back into their home, & rearrange the lilies again.  By the end of the day I'm usually covered with mud splatters from head to toes 

[CT]

Wow Kat, what have you been feeding that thing?? It's huge!
I can sympathize with the pond cleaning. I'm not looking forward to winterizing the ponds. I just cleaned and drained the fry pond.

[KatFish]

Wow!  It's worth it tho, you have beautiful flowers!  I'd pitch in if you were nearby.

[Jerry]

Love your gardens

[Ky Kim]

You have been a very busy woman.  All your hard work sure pays off with those beautiful lilies.

THOSE PADS are HUGE! 

KIm

[landey1230]

   Holy smokes.  Those are huge.  How long does it take to clean 1 pond?

[tweetybaby2005]

Kat, are they on steroid?  The leaves are huge!!   

Love your pix.  Never get tired of looking at them.   

Kuan

[Kat]

Katfish--thanks for the offer ... I'd probably take you up on it 

As for the huge pads & why, the roots have grown out of the pot holes & feeding on the muck at the bottom of the pond.  Probably like growing in a mud pond condition.  Avalanche has pads that are just as large & it is in a smaller pot    I've been watching their pads all summer & been amazed at their size.  Caliente has huge blooms, too.  Everyone that comes by wants it because it is so impressive.  Plus the pads are so cool to look at.  Midnight was being a close runner up with big blooms.  So if you leave the bottom of your pond dirty, there are benefits for the lilies 

This pond has taken me all day to do.  Luckily I didn't have to do a lot of work to level it a bit.  When I have to stuff dirt under the sides that is when the serious labor kicks in.  I'm dreading doing my 8x12 pond as the dirt settled too much under it so I've got to relevel it.

[greenthumbnails]

Wowwee!  Never knew pads could get so big!  Is the muck and all the bottom gunk smelly? 

[bunny56lbc]

Hey kat, come & clean mine.....when ya get you'rs all done  ..they're not tooo dirty....

Nice sized pads on  Caliente 

bonnie

[Esther]

I was just going to ask if you smelled good at the end of the day. LOL.

[miguynmkoi]

Oh Poo!!  You sure have a lot of work to clean out all those ponds!   

I'm sure your lilies appreciate it too judging from the divisions you send to me!  I find that if I leave my lilies alone in their original (first) pots for a couple of years they send up bigger and more blooms.  Maybe I will just let all that poo stay on the bottom of my pond for the lilies.     Well, maybe not...may turn out too crazy three feet under.

Just love your lily photos.    Saving your filtered water and recycling the poo is the best way to conserve.  Thx! 

[marla]

Wow Kat that is a lot of work, but sometimes a labor of love does not seem as hard and of course much more worth the effort.  Hope you are not straining your back, cause that is a real pain to be laid up this coming from many times of experience. 

[Julles]

Wow, what a lot of work!  You do that EVERY year?  Or just when needed?  I remember seeing photos of your ponds... there are 20 or 30 or some killer number, right?  will you clean each of those ponds???  Where does all that muck come from, anyway - from the lily pots?

But it pays off.  You sure have lovely ponds, and the most gorgeous lilies.

[perplexed ponder]

Wow, what a job! No wonder it takes weeks! Those pads are HUMUNGOUS! Gorgeous flowers too.

[Kat]

All the muck accumulates from fish poop, decayed lilies, & whatever escapes the lily pots (dirt/gravel).  The lilies will get a huge root system growing it in if their roots escape the pot.  Do I clean them every year?  Probably not.  The one shown I cleaned it in the beginning of last summer & didn't clean it until late summer this year.  My other pond with all of my lily starts wasn't cleaned for at least 4 years.  A lot will depend on how many fish I need to catch because I don't want too many goldfish in the ponds as they don't get any filtration.  Don't need them dying because of lack of oxygen.  The 300 gallon stock tanks are a bit easier to clean as I can tip them on their sides to spray them out once they are empty but the cinder blocks that hold my lilies up can get to be HEAVY to lift in & out so much.

[EagleEye]

I just have to comment. Cleaning out the pond I can relate to, but your the only one that can have gorgeous garbage can lilies.

Steve

[lorraine1960]

wow beautiful and huge..you must have a good back to do all that....lorraine