> Sugeh! (Japanese for Oh! Wow! Gag me with a Nishiki Koi!) You got an office
> pond?
Not in my 8'x6' cubicle ... barely enough room to stretch there
(but enough room for a 2 gallon tank with 3 H formosa which are still
going strong after almost a year and infrequent water changes). But, yes,
there is a pond outside my office building.
One common piece of landscaping of small office complexes (at
least here in the suburbs of Chicago) is a water feature. Ours is a 'L'
shaped pond which is draped around one corner of the building. I think
it's 10' across and between a foot to two feet deep and fairly long (100'
or so). Boulders and rocks and gravel all around and a weak water
fountain. Of course, some wooden ducks and the obligatory goldfish and a
wooden bridge across the middle.
My friend and I have adopted it. It used to be pretty dreary, dark
green water. It usually freezes solid except for the circle around the
fountain. Late last summer, we tried out some sedges, buried some cow
slipper lily bulbs in the gravel around the edge and threw in some
hyacinth. Boy ... did the cow slipper and the hyacinth take off (lily pads
are more than foot across). The Hyacinth even bloomed once when the temp
got over 90 in early Fall. The sedges did throw up a few green stalks but
it must have died down. The pond appeared "happier". The fish were hiding
under the lily pads, there were dragonflies buzzing around and we noticed
some small insects that skim on the water surface. We even had some
migratory Mallards stay for a few days - the little pests tore up most of
the hyacinth. We also have some Canadian Geese stop by on their way south
in the Fall and they are back for their Spring trip back to Canada. We
also sometimes are visited by a small heron or heron-like bird. The pond
is also a pit-stop for migratory "black" birds (don't know what these
are). I don't know what these birds expect from that little puddle :)
This year, I have big plans for the pond. We have some Hyacinth,
some water sprite and perhaps some Hornwort. I can get some more lilies
and even Arrowhead bulbs if they don't come back. And, this year, we plan
to introduce some fish into the pond - small killies, perhaps.
Late Fall .... I plan to siene it and see what comes up. :)
Sajjad
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