my Zen Water Garden and Koi Pond

[kien]

Originally Posted by ALang

Alberta Winter!! But you do have to over-winter the lilies and pond plant indoors, right?

Ya, it amazes me too. Like I said earlier, it is a little unnerving at times to imagine them out there when you're nice and toasty inside. As with anything in these hobbies, there are pros and cons to either approach. There are plenty of people who bring their fish inside and feed them year round. There are also lots of people who do as I do and keep them outside year round.

Water lillies are perennials and go dormant in the winter as well. In the fall you cut off their stems once they have died off and keep the root ball/rhizome damp. I used to bring the root ball/rhizome indoors and store it in the garage through the winter as I thought the pond was way too cold for it, but last year I experimented with one of them and overwintered it in the pond with the fish and it came back in the spring just as strong. Now everyone will be overwintering outside.

Originally Posted by don.ald

very impressive! do you have critters such as raccoons to deal with?

I don't have any critters attacking my pond (or at least I haven't seen any yet). I do have a a friend who has a pond that has had cranes clear out their pond