View a slideshow of the Aquascape Pondemonium Pond Build that took place on Saturday, June 7! Casey's provided the plants and landscaping expertise. Questions? Ask for Jessica at Casey's...

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One of the largest growing areas of interest is incorporating water into your landscape. The Water Gardening Department at Casey's probably generates more family interest than any other department. We offer information, consultation, and a wide array of products. We believe in educating our customers. It is important to understand how the water garden functions and how to care for it properly. When a water garden is created with all the essential elements to form an ecological balance there is very little maintenance.

Watergardening FAQ's

My pond water is green like "pea soup". What can I do to clear it up?

There may be a number of reasons why your pond is so green. First of all, you may have too small of a pump or filter for the size of your pond. Secondly, your pond may be in full sun which creates a perfect environment for algae blooms, or the pond is very shallow, particularly around the edges and doesn't get much water circulation. You can remedy these things by first checking your pump and filter size for your pond. If it is in full sun, you will have to increase the size of the filter and pump to compensate for the increased algae blooms that will occur in full sun.You must be equipped with a large enough pump, filter and biological media for the beneficial bacteria to grow on and be patient and allow the pond to find it's natural ecological system. You want to try to correct the problem instead of needing to add chemicals to it all the time.
Another thing that could be adding to your algae blooms is the frequent addition of cold tap water to your pond. Whenever you add cold tap water to your pond and the pond is in the heat of full sun, it creates a great environment for algae to increase. Try to eliminate adding tap water to your pond and you just may reduce the algae. Every time you add tap water, your pond has to adjust and find it's eco-balance. If you're continually adding more water to your pond, your pond will never really balance itself and you'll be combating algae and ammonia levels all the time.

Do I need to have my pumps running all the time?

Pumps give your pond water circulation. If they are the right size for your pond and are properly placed, they eliminate stagnant water and provide oxygen to your pond. If they are connected or pumped to a filter, you reduce the effectiveness of the filter if your pump is not on and may end up having unsightly water and elevated levels of ammonia providing you have fish. Your pump should provide for 1/2 the total gallons of your pond pumped every hour. As long as you have good circulation and enough oxygen in your pond, you don't necessarily need to have all of your pumps running all of the time.

How often should I test my pond water?

You should test your pond water approx. every week. For small ponds it may be more often than that and for large ponds, it may be less frequent. For new ponds, test it every few days for the first few weeks in order to get a good basis of where you're pond is at, chemically. After that, you may be able to ween off a bit providing you don't add a big change to your pond such as a bunch of fish, eliminating a pump or filter, etc. Sunlight will affect it a lot, too, so you want to have a good idea of how the sunlight and warm temperatures are affecting the pond's ecosystem.

How do I plant my aquatic plants in my pond?

Bog and marginal plants are planted in soil in special pots and placed on "ledges" or areas within your pond's water. Bog plants are placed in areas where there is approx. 4-6" of water. Marginal plants are also planted in pots with special soil and are placed in the pond at depths of 18-24".
Floating plants on the other hand, like water hyacinths and water lettuce, are actual floating plants just like what is indicated in their name and they float around in your pond with their roots growing or "floating" in the surface of the water. They don't require any pots and are just "thrown" into your pond.

My fish always seem to be up at the top of the water. Are they just hungry or is something wrong?

Depending on the type of fish you have, your fish may be in need of oxygen. If you see them gasping at the top, they are in dire need of oxygen and you need to get some to them immediately or they will not survive. If they just casually swim about the surface of the water, they may be looking for food so offer them some food and see what they do. If they don't eat it, they're not hungry.

Scenes from the Watergardens at Casey's