No April Club Meeting
There will be no April Meeting. Instead, the club will host a Workshop on how to:
Paint and Design
Concrete Stepping Stones
When.............. Thursday, April 21, 2005
Time........................................................... 7 PM
Where............... Butterfield Youth Services
Where ?....................... In The Cafeteria
Address........ 1180 Highway WW, Marshall
You can pick the design and colors you want for your stone. Stencils and stamps will be available to use and painting techniques will be shown. This promises to be a fun evening for all.
The fee for the workshop is $7 and includes the stepping stone and all the materials to decorate your stone.
Please contact Sandy Hendrix 886-4130 or LaDonna Arrowood 886-8191 by April 20 to make a reservation.
No Water Garden Tour
This is just a reminder that we are not hosting our public water garden tour in June this year. We could not arrange for enough new water gardens to have a tour this year. We are planning to have a tour in 2006 and have new gardens that will be ready for that tour. Notify persons who usually attend the tour that we will not have one this year.
Golf Course Project
Work has started to complete our community service project at the Indian Foothills Golf Course. We will finish the landscaping, install the fountain in the pond, and add other garden features. If you want to help with the completion of this project, contact Larry Arrowood, 886-8191. Watch for pictures of the completed project on our website www.finsandfriends.com. A dedication of the water garden will be held later in the summer.
May Meeting
Our May 19, 2005 meeting and
plant exchange
will be held at the home of
Larry and LaDonna Arrowood
in Marshall.
This will be a
pot luck dinner and hot dog roast.
Watch for details in the
May Fins and Friends.
Remember that this is also the
plant exchange
so start
saving your plants
to bring to this activity.
Calendar of Events
Wed., Apr 20.... RSVP Stepping Stone Workshop
Thurs., Apr 21...... Stepping Stone Workshop
Sat. Apr. 23, 9am............. Work on Jim Garden
May 19........................................... May Meeting
May 19.................................... Plant Exchange !
May 19................................... Pot Luck Dinner !
Find more information on each of these items within this newsletter.
Jim the Wonder Dog Park
Saturday, April 23, 2005 – 9 am
This will be our club work day at the Jim the Wonder Dog Park. We will clean out the water garden and clean up the plants around the water garden and the waterfall mound. Bring equipment for cleaning out a water garden and gardening tools. We need as many people as possible since we are also going to help get the entire garden cleaned up for spring.
Dear Polly,
I have had a pre-formed fish pond for 3 years and it is a pain when it comes to cleaning. I remove the fish, who are also 3 yrs. old , put them in a large bucket of fresh water., drain the pond with help of pump, then get in with scrub brush in hand and spend 3 hours scrubbing. What can I use to make cleaning the sides much easier and painless, that won't hurt the fish?
Any, I mean any, help will be much appreciated.
Susan
Dear Susan,
I frequently get this question about scrubbing the sides of ponds. It doesn’t matter if it is pre-formed ponds or a liner pond everyone scrubs the sides of the pond. Maybe I am just a lazy water gardener, but I don’t spend much time cleaning the sides of the pond.
I feel that all you need to do is hose off the loose dirt and then use an old broom to knock off any big pieces that stick to the liner. The fish certainly don’t care if you scrub every little spot off the sides.
In fact it is better to keep some of the microorganisms in the pond to get the natural balance back in the water when you fill it with the tap water. It is recommended that you store the fish in water from the pond while you are cleaning it and then pour that water back in to the pond to help restore those important organisms.
Once the water is back in the pond, it takes only a short time for the sides to become coated with algae and slime so why spend so much time taking it off. The situation might be different if you were fighting some type of fish disease. Then you may want to spend time disinfecting the pond surfaces. I think water gardening should be fun not a chore, so let the snails do the cleaning for you.
Polly
To learn more about Polly Ponders and view other Polly Ponders articles, click here.
Send your questions to:
Polly Ponders
Saline County Water Garden Club
PO Box 555
Marshall, MO 65340
or e-mail Polly at:
