baltimore county - Mason Dixon Arrive Magazine

Gardens reconnect us with nature
And bring balance to our lives.
Have the landscape
you’ve always wanted!
Schedule Spring Design Consultations with
Robert Nelson Farmer
Designed and Landscaped by
GRISTMILL
LANDSCAPING
410-557-4213 • 410-557-7612
Jarrettsville, Maryland
Display Gardens
Creative Landscape Design
Unique, Hard to Find Plants
Nursery & Field Grown Selection
Fieldstone
N URSERY, INC.
Discover the area’s best-kept
horticultural secret!
19316 Middletown Road
Parkton, MD 21120
I-83, Exit 31, Middletown Rd.
Go west 2.5 miles, just past Wally’s on the left.
410-357-0269
www.fieldstonenurseryinc.com
“Go on a pond tour,” says
Mike Paddy, president of the
Michigan Koi & Pond Clubs
Southeast Chapter. “We use
those to show people different
kinds of ponds they can consider.
It’s a good learning experience.”
Malik built the largest of his
seven ponds – at 8,500 gallons –
by himself for about $3,000. “If
you do it yourself, it can take a
month or more,” he adds. “If you
pay somebody, they can do it in
two days.”
But be careful whom you
choose to build your pond. Paddy
says he knows a number of pond
owners who went to inexperienced
landscapers – and paid the
price.
“You hear a lot of horror stories,”
Paddy says. “What ends up
happening is they don’t get an
adequate filter. Or they put rocks
in the bottom to eliminate the
folds in the liner, which when the
fish waste goes in, it hides there
in the rocks and you can’t get
that stuff out.”
While a realistic budget and a
reputable builder are important,
so is location. Malik suggests
picking a spot on your property
that is easily seen by you (yet not
by others) and where you spend
most of your leisure time. Paddy
adds that it should be a place
where you “can sit in your house
with the windows open and be
able to hear the water.”
As far as choosing features,
waterfalls (which should be facing
you) are not only beautiful,
but they can double as bio filters.
The moving water also discourages
mosquitoes, whose larvae
are also eaten by the fish you
may stock in your pond.
When selecting fish, you have
some financial flexibility. A firsttime
pond owner, Paddy says,
should consider inexpensive, tiny
goldfish from a pet store. You
might even find Japanese Koi fish
for around $7 each. That’s a bargain,
considering top breed Koi
can run into the thousands and,
Award Winning Relaxation
is only a phone call away!
First page: Water features and
fauna, including Black-Eyed Susans,
make this pond inviting. Left: A
garden pond offers the escape you
need with the beauty and simplicity
you crave.
Builders of Quality Pools Since 1974
2066 York Road (One block south of MD State Fairgrounds)
410-252-5116 | 1-800-481-REGINA | www.reginapoolsandspas.com
44 Mason-Dixon ARRIVE | APRIL 2011 Mason-Dixon ARRIVE | APRIL 2011 45
2010
SILVER
AWARD
WINNER
FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT:
• Salt Water Sanitation
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• Water Features
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MHIC #8280