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PHOENIX POND BLOG

Water Features Have Healing Power

12/1/2020

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Did you know there’s a scientific reason why a shower feels so refreshing? It’s the same reason why people flock to lakes, oceans, and waterfalls for vacations. Falling water from fountains, waterfalls, and even your morning shower releases negative ions into the surrounding atmosphere. And these ions have a profound effect on our physical well-being!
​When you’re in an environment where the concentration of negative ions is greater than positive ions, it will have a positive effect on your body, mind, and spirit. There’s an increase in blood flow and oxygen content to your cells; it lowers blood pressure and stabilizes respiration creating a calming effect. Increased oxygen content in your blood is critical for all metabolic functions which in turn effects your mood.
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Hospital patients who have a view of natural landscapes recover faster from surgery and require less pain medication. In addition, heart rate, blood pressure, and other measures return to normal levels more quickly when people view natural rather than urban landscapes after a stressful experience.
The Sustainable Sites Initiative. Standards and Guidelines: Preliminary Report. 
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It’s no secret that water features provide soothing sights and sounds that help you relax and de-stress in today’s busy world. Now more than ever, we need the healing effects that water provides.
Whether you’re dealing with stress, illness, or simply wish to improve your overall outlook on life, consider adding a pond, waterfall, or fountainscape to your outdoor living space. Experts agree it can be extremely therapeutic!
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As landscape architects and experts in healing garden design, we specify water features in most of our projects. We’ve had great success with using the Aquascape product line. Their natural pond systems fit perfectly into our design solutions and offer our clients a sustainable solution that adds a positive distraction to the healthcare environment. We also design water features in unusual locations like roof decks. Aquascape sculptural water displays add a nice balance to the healing garden aesthetic.
Geoff Roehll, Senior Vice President, Hitchcock Designs
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Our patients and their families find peace and tranquility when visiting our beautiful water features. We receive a great deal of positive feedback on the addition of the water gardens to our facility. Even the staff and board members have found the water features to be beneficial for relieving stress and improving their daily outlook.
Nancy Vance, Executive Director, Living Well Cancer Resource Center

Ready to get your own piece of paradise?

YES!

MORE POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

PHOENIX PONDS HAVE MEASUREABLE VALUE
SELECTING KOI
​THE VALUE OF PROFESSIONAL POND MAINTENANCE
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Phoenix Ponds Have Measurable Value!

11/15/2020

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PicturePhoto courtesy of a colleague: South Shore Pond, NY.
We all know by now that an organic living water feature on your property benefits the local and migratory wildlife. We also know that it greatly enhances the enjoyment of your outdoor environment. And it's well-known that it tends to be the focal point of a garden, as well as a gathering spot for family, friends & neighbors. But does this kind of home improvement actually add value to your home?

Yes, Water Features DO Add Value to a Home!

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Studies show that Phoenix ponds & water features have measurable value! The garden/landscape/outdoor environment is the center of what is most likely your biggest asset: your home. According to Dr. Charlie Hall, Texas A&M University, landscaping is now the only home improvement project that actually nets you a return on your investment. You will receive a 9% increase in home value for well done landscaping expenditures! That's right, for every $1 you invest, you can expect a return on investment of around $3. That might  be better that some stock market options right now. You also get curb appeal, a great outdoor living area, and you help improve the look of the entire neighborhood! Conversely, a poorly conceived, neglected garden can adversely affect your home value by as much as 8-10%. Yikes!

How do I cash in on this added value?

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If you don't already have a great living water feature, you might be interested to know that an upgrade of adding a pond, waterfall, stream or custom fountainscape to your outdoor environment can increase your home value by 10.8%. AND it's an investment that lasts!  In fact, it gets even better as it matures -- like women and fine wine.
If you have an old pool that no longer is in use, it can be converted to a fabulous Koi pond!

How can I get more proof?

Need more evidence?  Check out what our customers have to say about theirs -- and feel free to contact them with your questions or concerns! 

You can also check out some before and after pictures for ideas about improvements to your own garden.
Before
After

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
TURTLE PARENTING IN ARIZONA
WATER IN THE GARDEN, PAST & PRESENT
WATER FEATURES MAKE RELAXING AT HOME MORE ENJOYABLE

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TURTLE PARENTING IN ARIZONA

9/15/2020

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Red-Eared Slider Turtle
​Turtles are great! The Pond Gnome has lots of clients who adore their turtle pets. And just like any pet, turtles need certain conditions to keep them happy, healthy, and safe. We don’t profess to be herpetologists by any stretch, but we can help with some basics for our area of the country, as well as some references for more information.

​Most Common Breeds Kept in Arizona

​Turtles are well-adapted to our desert climate, and most species will live about 30 years given a proper habitat and diet.  The most common turtle species we see in backyard ponds are the Red-Eared Slider.  They are native to the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico. 
The second most commonly seen backyard turtle is the Mississippi Map Turtle, which is native to the Mississippi watershed, as the name suggests.  These two species likely make up 80% of the pet turtles in Arizona.
Our native species is the Arizona Mud Turtle. There are three species of mud turtles that are found in and near creeks, rivers, lakes, stock tanks, and ciénegas in central and southeastern Arizona. Mud Turtles can be relatively common in their preferred habitats. A hunting license is required to lawfully collect and possess Mud Turtles in Arizona.
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Arizona Mud Turtle

​Security and Safety for Their Health and our Native Environment

​The most important thing to remember about keeping exotic pets like turtles, is to keep them properly contained.  Escaped exotic turtles do a lot of damage to our native species. Allowing them to escape into natural rivers and streams is an environmental disaster of sorts.
Proper fencing designed to contain them from both climbing out, and digging out, is crucial.  Also keep in mind they are not the top of the food chain.  If you live in an area with racoons, you must also keep the racoons out of your turtle habitat, or build you turtle pond large enough for your turtle pets to escape predation.
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​Food

​Turtles are omnivores.  They eat whatever they can catch or find, including insects, small fish, frogs, and many aquatic plants, as well as dead fish or frogs.  This makes an organic water garden a utopian environment for them!  Just make sure it is large and diverse enough to handle their foraging activities, and the biological filters are designed to handle the ammonia production of your turtle pets.
Of course, lots of folks like to hand-feed their turtles various veggies. We know of a few really spoilt turtles whose owners interact with them every single day with treats and attention, and swear that they come when called.
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​Shelter

​Turtles will spend most of their life in the water.  When active, they can hold their breath under water for up to 30 minutes!  During the colder months, they can enter a state of torpor and remain under water for months at a time!  Still, they should have a sunny rock to bask on in the middle of their pond where they can feel safe while soaking up the warm sunshine.  They should also have a space of terrestrial dirt, and maybe event composted mulch and a shrub or two, to hang out under once in a while.
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​Water!

​Turtles need a body of water to hang out in to stay hydrated.  They cannot survive long without a healthy, organic, body of water.  Having a filtered pond big enough to swim in, to hide in, and within which to forage is optimal.  If you relegate them to an enclosure with a small water tub, know that the water in the tub will need to be changed frequently as turtles defecate mostly in the water. Thus, a properly built filtration system designed to handle their output is essential if you want to also enjoy that pond aesthetically.
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Onota, a client's pet turtle

Responsible Turtle Parenting

​As with any pet, you should design and build a good habitat for the creature before bringing it home. Many folks get a turtle on a whim, or by gift, and don’t have a good environment in place, causing suffering, and sometimes even death. All the good intentions in the world fall short of proper planning.
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​Resources for More TURTLE Information

Arizona Game and Fish Department:  http://www.gf.state.az.us/
Arizona Herpetological Association:  http://www.azreptiles.com
Online field guide to reptiles and amphibians of Arizona:  http://www.reptilesofaz.com/
Reptiles of Arizona: http://reptilesofaz.org/turtles.htm​

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
FUN FACTS ABOUT KOI FISH
CAN I HAVE A POND INDOORS?
​IT'S A FROG'S LIFE

THINKING ABOUT A PET TURTLE?

​The Pond Gnome speaks turtle, and would be happy to help you out with an appropriate aquatic home!
GET STARTED TODAY!
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SELECTING KOI: DAILY DRIVER OR SHOW CAR?

8/14/2020

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Koi people tend to fall into two categories: those that love keeping them as pets in their pond, and those that collect them like a prized car that’s only driven on Sundays or parked at car shows. There are actually quite a few analogies that can be made between Koi and cars. And since we’re kind of into cars, we’ll use those analogies shamelessly.
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The Sedan

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​The sedan represents the attractive, domestic Koi of good quality. It’s a healthy fish that has been spared a long trip from overseas. The bloodlines of most domestic fish are short, and the classic ancestral stock is not long ago. So, the fish are sturdy and dependable. But with a lack of refinement comes a less refined look. Domestic, durable Koi of average to good quality make wonderful, robust pets, and are an enjoyable addition for your pond as wet pets.

THE SPORTS CAR

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​If you’re looking for something fancier, you’ll generally pay more to own it. Typically imported from Asia, these Koi are more expensive than their domestic counterparts, but in general, they’re prettier. Their good looks, plus the cost of shipping, is why they’re more expensive.

The Handmade Italian Sports CaR

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​There is a breed of Koi owner who doesn’t care about price; they simply need to have the best. There are handcrafted fish available in Japan that are finer than any other Koi you can buy anywhere else in the world. These fish are usually large and have already won a Koi show in Japan.
What’s interesting is that when the driver of the handmade Italian sports car drives down the road, people only marvel at the value of the car – not the skills of the driver.
The grand champion Koi is no different. It’s a profoundly expensive fish that is bred, raised, and shown by a Japanese craftsman, then sold to a trophy hunter in America. No skills are called upon to buy a fish that already comes with a trophy. Only a fat wallet.

The American Collector Muscle Car

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​These performance vehicles are lovingly handcrafted in America. They’re fast and beautiful. The comparison in Koi is the hand-selected small import or domestic Koi that goes on to take a trophy in a local show. In this case, the owner of the fish chose it based on its assessed future quality and they raised it to sub-adult or adult status and put it in a koi show. Victory in a Koi show with a fish you chose and raised by hand is a testament to your ability to judge fish, to identify quality, and to provide the kind of husbandry needed to produce a champion from a small fish you hoped was a diamond.

The Economy Car

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​Koi breeders have been known to sell the poorest of their culled baby Koi into the fish bait market, and as feeder fish for consumption by larger fish in pet shops. The common alternative is to either bury the fish, or sell them as “pond grade” Koi.
Beginner Koi collectors sometimes think simply being orange is enough to be a decent Koi. The all-yellow Koi, called the Lemon Ogon, is wildly popular and easy to produce. It could be considered one of the finest of the economy cars because it is abundant and not unpleasant to own.
There’s nothing wrong with economy cars, or economy Koi, but exceptional colors or patterns don’t generally occur in this group. These fish are certainly pleasant to own – they just won’t win a show.

What Does It All Mean?

​What this means is that there are different types of Koi and, as you may have assumed, there are different types of Koi owners.
And here’s the interesting part: while the owners of economy Koi are unlikely to expect all Koi to be low cost and lower quality – the converse is not true of some of the folks who keep and show the finest Koi. There’s a big difference in the way Koi need to be kept, and the way they are kept by the Koi aficionados. Thus, when choosing a pond construction method, knowing which one you are will determine how the pond needs to be built. In fact, it’s one of the first questions we ask when someone calls us about building them a “Koi pond.”
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OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
YOUR PLANTS CAN SUFFOCATE YOUR FISH
WHY ARE MY FISH FIGHTING?
FUN FACTS ABOUT KOI


MORE ABOUT PONDS!
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WETLANDS: THE WHAT, WHY & WHERE

8/1/2020

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Technical information for this article supplied by our friend and colleague, Bernie Kerkvliet of Skyland Ponds in Lake Arrowhead, California.
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​What is a Wetland?

​Ecologically speaking, it is known as an Ecotone. An Ecotone is a transition zone between two diverse communities. It contains organisms native to each overlapping community, as well as organisms characteristic to the Ecotone itself.
In a wetland, life is very dense and variable. Every ounce of water from a wetland environment contains millions of organisms that make up a highly diverse community.
The Plantonic community includes algae or phytoplankton, zooplankton, and bacteria. Together, they are the plants, animals, and scavengers of this unique, aquatic ecosystem. The scavenger-like plantonic bacteria, along with fungi, clean up the corpses, wastes, and organic debris present in the water. The algae transforms sunshine and inorganic nutrients present in the water into food so it can grow and reproduce. In a nutshell, the bacteria, fungi, and phytoplankton all feed on impurities in the water and clean it as it flows thru the wetland. These are the base consumers of the ecosystem, or the base of the food chain. The amazing thing is the phytoplankton and bacteria can produce another generation in a matter of hours to days. Pretty cool, huh?
Simply put, the phytoplankton represents the grass and herbaceous plants in a meadow. The zooplankton which are protozoans, rotifers, and tiny crustaceans are the animals that feed on the plants in the meadow (Phytoplankton).
This basis for the food chain in turn provides food for insects, fish fry, larvae, etc. Aquatic plants also get their nutrients from the water and decomposing sediment in the wetland. The food chain continues to grow to include larger fish, frogs, reptiles, and eventually mammals and birds.
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Tempe Town Lake, 5/18/2008

​What do Wetlands Do?

​Wetlands are also good for slowing the water down. In a constructed wetland, we accomplish this by the size of pump supplying the wetland. Slowing the water down allows for sediment to settle out. In nature, after hundreds, or even thousands, of years, sedimentation continues until a meadow is formed. The sedimentation process prevents soil from washing downstream. Since the water is almost stationary, it allows water to percolate down into the water table.
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A lovely diverse meadow supporting a plethora of life.
​In a constructed wetland, the nutrient rich sediments are periodically pumped out on to the surrounding landscape.
The sedimentation process in both cases produces water clarity.
Wetlands, whether natural or man-made, are the most effective water purification systems on earth.
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​Where do Wetlands Come From?

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​Wetlands can be created in many ways. They can be built by rivers in slow moving waters and deltas that create wetlands. Lakes and landlocked basins can develop into wetlands, as well.
Aquascape has developed a very effective arificial wetland system that is very effective. Whenever water filtration is required, we prefer to use a constructed wetland if possible. This does require a bit of extra room on the property, but the results are well worth it – and it’s pretty!
One of the best ways nature has for building wetlands, man has destroyed in multiple ways. The best natural builder of wetlands is the beaver. All the industrious work the beaver has done in the northern hemisphere, man has slowly destroyed all in the name of two things: a hat and “progress. “ We hesitate to go too far into the history of the fur trade and beaver felt hats that became so popular in Europe, but the fact is that’s what started it all. But let’s fast forward to a little more current time in North America.
The total land area in the contiguous United States is 2.96 million square miles. It is estimated that there were some 200 million beavers in the US at the time white man came from Europe. It is also estimated that there were about 300,000 square miles of beaver ponds at that time. Can you imagine the benefits that brought to the land? Better plant and animal biodiversity, slow moving water meant better water percolation and recharge in the water table, flood control, clear unpolluted water -- and those are just some of the macro benefits.

What Can I Do AS JUST A HOMEOWNER?

In the pursuit of fur, hats, farmland, industry, and “progress,” our land is not what it used to be. That is why the work that we do is so important. Each pond, pondless, patio pond, fountainscape, stream, and waterfall we build creates another little island of biodiversity in our individual private back yards.
The bonus is that it also creates ambiance to help us decompress, to bring us back to nature after being “plugged in” all day, to teach our children about the nature world, and to use this natural world to teach a multitude of other subjects from biology to math to art to music, and beyond. And then there’s just the pure enjoyment of a backyard oasis – something that takes minutes per week to maintain, but provides hours upon hours of simple pleasure.

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
WATER IN THE GARDEN, PAST & PRESENT
BACKYARD PONDS MAKE RELAXING AT HOME MORE ENJOYABLE
FUN FACTS ABOUT KOI FISH


get started on yOur project today!

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The Pond Gnome offers Pond Design, Pond Construction, Pond Maintenance, Pond Remodeling, Pond Restoration, Pond Replacement, and Pond Cleaning Services for the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan area, including the cities of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Carefree, Cave Creek, Glendale, Peoria, Sun City, and other surrounding communities.

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Remodeling and Home Design
  • Home
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • Events
    • Seminars & Speaking Engagements
    • Employment Opportunities
  • Installation
    • Homeowner Installation >
      • Ponds
      • Pondless Waterfalls & Streams
      • Custom Fountainscapes
      • Pool to Pond Conversions
      • Rainwater Harvesting
    • Commercial Work
    • Pricing >
      • Financing
  • Remodeling
  • Maintenance
    • Emergency Pond Procedures
    • Pond Water Treatment
    • Aquatic Plants for Ponds
    • Phoenix Pond Cleaning
    • Phoenix Pond Service & Maintenance >
      • Snowbird Maintenance
    • Troubleshooting
    • Warranties and Manuals
  • Gallery
  • FAQ
  • Pond Tour
  • Blog
  • Contact Us