Way back in March, I told my backyard pond story. If you missed it, you can find it in the archives. Today I'm going to get more into the story of my pond's primary inhabitants -- the fish.

Yes, I know I promo'd this yesterday as "Trouble in the Pond," and I'll get into that later. First a little background ...

We started out with a much smaller pond by buying a kit that included two plants and four fancy goldfish (Red Comets, to be exact). We added four more fish that first year -- fancy Shebunkins. Shebunkins are basically more colorful goldfish. They don't require additional care or specific water conditions like Koi, but they come in color combinations similar to the beautiful Japanese carp. Red, gold, silver, black, spreckled or paint, Shebunkins are every bit as beautiful, just not as expensive.

Anyway, the following year our fish gave us four babies that survived spawning season (the fish tend to eat their young, and since they give birth by the hundreds, this is not a bad thing). But before that, I went and bought four more, never thinking in a million years that they would breed!

So now we're up to 16 fish in a 240-gallon pond. (We upgraded to a bigger pond two years ago, because the fish were getting too big for our original pond.) Our biggest fish is almost a foot long from nose to tail tip (and since, she's so big and white, we call her "Moby"), and the other "original" fish are almost the same.

Well last summer, the fish got really busy in the new pond and as far as we can tell, we have about 30-32 fish now (it's hard to count accurately when they're all swimming around). Don't get me wrong, we totally enjoyed watching the tiny babies last year, especially at night. Our pond has three underwater lights, so at night we can spy on the fish and they don't really see us. When we first discovered them, they were only a few millimeters long. All survived the winter and are about 4-5 inches now.

This is all great, except having too many fish in a small pond is not good for them. We have to clean the filter twice as much (that's twice a week in prime summer months), because naturally, they make more waste. And, over the winter in January, I spotted a tiny white fish that must have been born sometime in December (isn't that against the rules of nature?), followed by the discovery just last month of a tiny black fish (the black ones are really hard to see) that was probably born the same time.

Now on to the Trouble in the Pond -- Just the other day I noticed one of our big white Comets (not Moby) looking particularly huge toward her tail section. I think she's pregnant!!! and it's only April (well, actually it's May as of today). In the past the fish waited at least until June to give birth, which means, this is just the first pregnancy of the season ...

I think I'll be having a fish sale this summer!

The weather is going to be perfect this weekend for gardening!
Here's a few things to keep in mind (that I'm having a little trouble remembering myself):
If you have already planted some new perennials, they need to be watered at least every other day, unless we get some rain.
Pond filters need frequent cleaning at this time too, due to sludge build-up over the winter. Don't forget to clean out your pump too. Afterall, it didn't get much attention over the winter.
Check your pond temperature before feeding the fish. Temp should be around 50 degrees, at least. It's still a little early, and if you have plants in your pond, the fish will feed off them.
As for those pond plants, now's a good time to take them out and divide them if needed. Also, scrub off any algae that is starting to grow.
Clean your pond heater before packing it away for the summer. Make sure you get any barnacles off now, it'll only be more work in the fall.
Get the rest of the leaves and old mulch off those flower beds. Put them in the compost pile, along with a fresh helping of grass clippings. Most of you are going to need to mow your lawns this weekend.
Turn the compost pile and see what's going on at the bottom. Chances are, you'll have at least some usable compost to put on those freshly cleaned flower beds.
Now is also a good time to take down your bird feeders and give them a good cleaning. Use warm water and a little dish washing soap. Just make sure to thoroughly rinse, nobody wants to eat soapy birdseed! And make sure they're good and dry before filling with seed or it'll rot.
Clean up your decks and patios. You might even want to get out your furniture and clean it up Saturday.
(I seem to be pretty ambitious this weekend -- I'll let you know Monday what I actually get done.)

And after all your hard work, reward yourself by taking stock of all you have in the garden to look forward to this season. Remember to enjoy those spring bulbs -- daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and, one of my faves, blue bells. They won't be in bloom much longer.
Neither will the forsythias, cherry blossoms and azaleas. So take a walk and enjoy what your local nature has to offer.



Here's my wild forsythia. And in honor of the Pope's visit, see if you can spot the Cardinal! Yes, I know it really needs a trim -- best time for this is right after it blooms. Make sure to routinely trim yours, and it'll keep blooming at its best! I'll let you know how it goes with mine.
Now start making your to-do list and remember, don't think of it as work - gardening should be Fun!

With the temperature reaching 60 degrees yesterday (Wednesday), it sure was a great day to spend time outside! Fortunately, I live close enough to work to be able to go home for lunch (and let the dogs out). While pulling up the driveway, I was welcomed by a familiar face I haven't seen for awhile. One of the many chipmunks that call my yard home was sitting on the window sill.

I'm not only plant and pond friendly, I also like to help out my local wildlife whenever possible. So it was nice to see Chippy, after not seeing him since last November. We have had a large hawk in the area and I was afraid that while the squirrels seem to be thriving, maybe our chippies had met a terrible fate.

Yes, I know that chipmunks, moles and the like can reek havoc on a garden. But I still feel that it's their world too. So, I put out birdseed, though the squirrels and chippies tend to get the majority of it. I also put out corn, which is why I can never get any to grow in the summer (the critters tend to dig it up as soon as I turn my back).

The pluses outweigh the minuses: I love to sit out on the patio in the summer and watch the chippies run along our split rail fence to get to the seed. When they run across the lawn their little tails stand straight up, and every now and then, one will wander onto the patio, not realizing that you're there. Only to be startled when you make a move!



Also, while I've never had any luck growing fancy sunflowers (as stated above, the critters dig up and eat the seeds), the chippies have helped me out. They take great mouthfuls of the black oil sunflower seeds put out for the birds, and then burry them throughout the garden, not realizing that if left there awhile, they will sprout. Each year I have had 6- to 7-foot sunflowers, that I never planted, in places I would have never thought to plant them. And they were beautiful, thanks chippy!



Unfortunately I learned the hard way that ponds and water fountains are not always safe for our critters. More than once I fished out a drowned chippy or hapless bird. Since then I make sure I have stones or bricks piled up to the edge so they can find a way out.



The squirrels, of course, provide endless entertainment for my dogs. I have a 13- almost 14-year-old Maltese who doesn't act his age at all and two Bichon Frises who all love to chase squirrels!



And soon the rabbits will be out in droves! Each year we have at least one nest that I try to find before the dogs do. Usually a small wire garden fence around the hole will keep the dogs out, so that mom can get back and forth to feed the babies.



I take it as a great compliment that the animals find my garden as enticing as I do and hope they continue to come back each year.

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! Now it's time to start thinking about this year's crop of colorful blooms.
First, just a little background info, aside from my profile, to introduce myself. I've been a garden/pond enthusiast for about five years now and hope to share some of my experience with anyone who wants to read it. Hopefully some of you can pass on your tried and true tips to me and the rest of our readers. I live in Douglassville, Pa., and, after watching hours and hours of HGTV (Home & Garden), I decided I could do some landscaping around the yard. Every year it seems to grow and grow, and I don't mean just the flowers! Over the years we've (me and my poor family) added an in ground fountain, a fish pond (followed two years later by a much larger replacement pond), a gravel path with lush gardens alongside it, new landscape lighting (electric as well as solar), countless paving and wall stones, a compost bin, more gravel, more dirt, more mulch, more plants -- you get the picture. Now, what started as a small outdoor project to add some interest to the yard has become my April-October obsession!
Anyway, now that the days are getting longer and, hopefully, the weather getting warmer, it's time to get on with this year's prospects. So feel free to let me know what you're getting ready for this season and I'll be checking back in to let you know what's happening in my garden. I will be including some photos from past seasons to get started until this year's blooms are ready for publication!