Our Cover Pond -- The Hembree Pond

The Hembree Pond
is located at the home of Johnny & Kim Hembree of Alpharetta, Georgia and will be one of the ponds featured on our upcoming Tour de’ Ponds. Built December of 2000 by Nemar Cobb of Alpha Aquatics, this beautiful 2000-gallon pond is nestled in a wooded setting surrounded by native Dogwoods thankfully untouched during the pond’s excavation. It features two waterfalls spilling into connecting pools and a separate bog pond.

This pond is home to at least 25 fish consisting of American and Japanese koi, butterflies, shubunkins, ryunkins, and sarasa comets. A variety of plants are used to soften the pond. Among them are water lilies, taro, several varieties of rushes, water celery, penny-wort and Kim has adapted coleus and impatiens to the water as well. The pond is the focal point of a garden that Kim designed and planted herself.

(Top) Plants with a flowing habit mimic the flowing water as it bubbles over the bottom waterfall. Kim’s choice of plants to soften the edges of the rock is superb.

The Hembrees are animal lovers as well as gardeners and when they discovered that their beloved koi were disrupting everything in the pond with a leaf, they decided to ask Nemar to create a bog pond just for the plants to run adjacent to the original pond. This was done in January of this year and a koi fountain placed in the middle serving as an attractive way to aerate the pond. 4 small fancy goldfish inhabit the water garden - their jobs to keep mosquitoes at bay.

(Top) A bronze-colored koi peeks out from an impressive grouping of taro growing in the separate bog garden located just below the main pond.

Kim says she’s totally happy now! She has her fish and her plants — what more could a person want? Except for maybe a bigger pond with more fish and more plants.

(Top) Kim’s garden is filled with little surprises, among them a koi creating splash from his own private grotto.

Kim transforms plants that are usually land-lovers into water plants by keeping the roots moist but not submerging the base of the plant. This works well with elephant ears, coleus, impatiens and other plants that prefer wet feet. Her use of this technique adds color and texture to the pond’s edge and a unique charm that sets Kim & Johnny’s pond apart from the others.

Filtering System

The Hembree pond is as easy to operate as it is pretty. Its 2000 gallons are continuously circulated by a 1 hp external pump. The pump is fed by a 2” bottom drain and fish safe skimmer both installed into the lower pond. The pump is located lower than the water level of the lower pond and relies on flooded suction to feed it so the pump is not required to PULL water up. This makes it run quieter and more efficiently.

Dirt and debris are filtered out from the pond water by a ProBead 2000 bead bio-filter. It takes them only 5 minutes a week to clean the filter by simply turning a lever. The filter also keeps the nitrifying bacteria alive so Kim & Johnny’s koi and goldfish stay healthy. The water, once filtered passes through a 40-watt UV1 brand ultraviolet water clarifier so their pond water stays clear throughout the year.

The filtering system is kept well out of sight by attractive wood fencing and Kim has placed a few plants in the right spots to integrate the structure into the garden. A light-weight wall fountain completes the look.

I didn’t feel like a visitor to Johnny & Kim’s pond. I felt like I was at home. The Hembrees were at work and the birds, the fish and I were the only living souls around. The quiet, speckled shade was hard to resist on a hot July day and the “just right” music of the waterfalls was trying to seduce me to sleep. I literally had to force myself to leave.

The Cover The Back Cover

From The Summer 2002 Edition of What's Up, Doc?, May thru Aug 2002
© 2002, The Pond Doc's Water Garden Center. All rights Reserved. Reproduction of this article prohibited without prior consent of The Pond Doc.

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	The Hembree Pond is located at the home of Johnny & Kim Hembree of Alpharetta, Georgia and will be one of the ponds featured on our upcoming Tour de’ Ponds. Built December of 2000 by Nemar Cobb of Alpha Aquatics, this beautiful 2000-gallon pond is nestled in a wooded setting surrounded by native Dogwoods thankfully untouched during the pond’s excavation. It features two waterfalls spilling into connecting pools and a separate bog pond.

	This pond is home to at least 25 fish consisting of American and Japanese koi, butterflies, shubunkins, ryunkins, and sarasa comets. A variety of plants are used to soften the pond. Among them are water lilies, taro, several varieties of rushes, water celery, penny-wort and Kim has adapted coleus and impatiens to the water as well. The pond is the focal point of a garden that Kim designed and planted herself.
(Top) Plants with a flowing habit mimic the flowing water as it bubbles over the bottom waterfall. Kim’s choice of plants to soften the edges of the rock is superb.
	The Hembrees are animal lovers as well as gardeners and when they discovered that their beloved koi were disrupting everything in the pond with a leaf, they decided to ask Nemar to create a bog pond just for the plants to run adjacent to the original pond. This was done in January of this year and a koi fountain placed in the middle serving as an attractive way to aerate the pond. 4 small fancy goldfish inhabit the water garden - their jobs to keep mosquitoes at bay.
(Top) A bronze-colored koi peeks out from an impressive grouping of taro growing in the separate bog garden located just below the main pond.
	Kim says she’s totally happy now! She has her fish and her plants — what more could a person want? Except for maybe a bigger pond with more fish and more plants.
(Top) Kim’s garden is filled with little surprises, among them a koi creating splash from his own private grotto.
	Kim transforms plants that are usually land-lovers into water plants by keeping the roots moist but not submerging the base of the plant. This works well with elephant ears, coleus, impatiens and other plants that prefer wet feet. Her use of this technique adds color and texture to the pond’s edge and a unique charm that sets Kim & Johnny’s pond apart from the others.
Filtering System
	The Hembree pond is as easy to operate as it is pretty. Its 2000 gallons are continuously circulated by a 1 hp external pump. The pump is fed by a 2” bottom drain and fish safe skimmer both installed into the lower pond. The pump is located lower than the water level of the lower pond and relies on flooded suction to feed it so the pump is not required to PULL water up. This makes it run quieter and more efficiently.
Dirt and debris are filtered out from the pond water by a ProBead 2000 bead bio-filter. It takes them only 5 minutes a week to clean the filter by simply turning a lever. The filter also keeps the nitrifying bacteria alive so Kim & Johnny’s koi and goldfish stay healthy. The water, once filtered passes through a 40-watt UV1 brand ultraviolet water clarifier so their pond water stays clear throughout the year.
	The filtering system is kept well out of sight by attractive wood fencing and Kim has placed a few plants in the right spots to integrate the structure into the garden. A light-weight wall fountain completes the look.
	I didn’t feel like a visitor to Johnny & Kim’s pond. I felt like I was at home. The Hembrees were at work and the birds, the fish and I were the only living souls around. The quiet, speckled shade was hard to resist on a hot July day and the “just right” music of the waterfalls was trying to seduce me to sleep. I literally had to force myself to leave.
The Cover		The Back Cover

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