The Riggins Pond
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The Cover
Creeping Raspberry naturalizes this beautiful pond and is especially showy as it cascades down the waterfall along with the water. |
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The Back Cover Picture It appears to be a small lake. Notice the plant growth on one of the boulders. |
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Upon walking up to the Riggins' backyard in Duluth, Georgia one would think that the Riggins "lucked out" when they purchased their property to have such a great small lake out back. Though it may appear that the pond was placed there by Mother Nature, nothing can be farther from the truth! Mother Nature, in this case, was Neil Boyce of Blades and Blossoms. | |||
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Like many manmade ornamental ponds it is
lined with 45 mil EPDM rubber. The only rocks one can find on the
bottom of this pond are the large boulder islands placed on concrete
columns. If one looks closely he can see a very interesting patch of
plant growth on one of the boulders. It took only a season for the
liner to be naturalized by a healthful greenish coating on the sides.
Creeping raspberry was quick to grow along the border rocks, softening the
edges of the pond, and cascade down the waterfall. Sunny marigolds brighten the edges of the pond, adding splashes of color among bordering rocks. |
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His enormous pet koi were as friendly as
they could be often chasing me around the pond as I took photos. John
has done a fine job of not overstocking his pond so his water stays healthy
and he has few problems with fish health. During the Tour de' Ponds
the fish were the stars of the show, coming right up to John and curious
pond tourists. Hungry koi vie for attention during the Tour de' Ponds last August. |
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The filtering system of the Riggins' pond is conveniently located next to the house's air conditioning units and well out of sight of the pond and backyard living spaces. The 230 v external pump is positioned lower than the pond's water level and takes advantage of flooded suction operation. If the pump could not be installed lower than the water level of the pond it would have to be installed within only a few feet from the edge of the pond so that it could pull water up to it. A ProBead Ultra High Flow 3.1 bead filter keeps the pond healthy and a 130-watt Emperor UV keeps the water clear. Normally we would recommend a bigger filter for this size pond but it is stocked lightly with fish. | |||
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