[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following information is presented as an exclusive online supplement to the article "Eco-Challenge" from the July 2001 issue of Lawn & Landscape magazine.]
CLEVELAND - Disease and excess algae aren’t the only assailants that raid a properly functioning ecosystem. Other much larger pond foes contractors need to be aware of include foxes, coyotes, raccoons, herons and other fish-eating birds.
Herons enjoy searching for ponds loaded with fish, and are easy to identify because they leave a signature invasion mark on clients’ properties, explained Scott Eddy, president, R-man Productions, Denver, Colo. "Herons take the whole fish out of the pond, eat what they want and leave the rest of it about 10 feet away from the pond," he said. "And they won’t stop coming back until they eat all the fish in that pond." The best way to deter herons from eating clients’ fish is to put decoys near ponds, Eddy pointed out. "Herons are very territorial and will be fooled into thinking another heron has staked claim on your pond," he said.
Other pond predators leave similar "we-were-here" marks in landscapes they’ve raided. Foxes, for instance, take the fish but leave the head, and with raccoons, fish just disappear, Eddy said.
To rid yards of four-legged predators, Eddy said contractors should urge clients to install a 4-foot-tall electronic invisible fence. "Once these critters are zapped once, they won’t come back," Eddy explained. "They will just move on to the next yard in search of food."
FEEDING FRENZY. Contractors’ opinions differ when it comes to feeding fish. According to Eddy, the warmer the weather, the more fish should be fed. "If fish are eating your lilies, they aren’t getting fed enough," Eddy said. "If you find food at the bottom of the pond, then you’re feeding them too much. My fish get fed four or five times each day in the summer."
As water temperatures decrease to 55 or 50 degrees, most contractors agree that fish should not be fed. At these temperatures, fish don’t produce the bacteria that digests their food, Eddy said. "Food just rots in their bellies," he said, pointing out that fish go into dormancy at this stage.
"In the winter, food will also dirty a pond and cause more debris to build-up," added Mark Carter, general manager and head designer, Carter’s Landscape, Jackson, Tenn.
Some contractors don’t recommend feeding fish at all. Christopher Bell, president, Alliance Waterscapes, San Jose, Calif., said that fish shouldn’t be fed unless they are being trained to eat out of clients’ hands. "If you feed them, they excrete more waste and create additional algae problems," he said. "Algae is good food for fish and if they eat that, the amount of string algae you have will decrease."
The author is Managing Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.