Can you believe it? Father’s Day Weekend is just around the corner!
We’re just starting to see our beautiful water lilies in bloom, and the garden center will be as full of life as you’ll find it all year! Our selection of aquatic plants is in full force, and we have tons of new garden art to choose from.
In this newsletter, we’ll explore how to keep your fish safe as your koi pond gets warmer (it’ll officially be summer in a few weeks!) and look at a few popular plants for the month of June.
FATHER’S DAY WEEKEND
Happy Father’s Day! Almost.
If dad is a big gardener, regardless of if you have a pond at home or not, this is the place to be for Father’s Day Weekend! There’s not much better than a visit to the garden center?
Just because it’s Father’s Day, we’ll have our DRAGONS at 15% off!*
Dads can pick up a free goldfish – and not like the ones you get from the state fair – and can take advantage of some great deals on plants and decor from one end of the garden center to the other! We’ll have refreshments, and you can take a stroll through the grounds to see the varied ponds and gardens.
Sign up on our Facebook event!
We’ll be open all weekend, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.!
*max item price $1000
FEATURED DESIGN
Let’s take a look at the freshest feature at the garden center, our brand-new footbridge!
We’d been working on this one for a few weeks before unveiling the bridge just prior to our big Mother’s Day weekend. It’s located just west of the big koi pond, and serves as a connector to the footpath that wanders alongside the lake and ends up by the new Grotto wedding venue.
The bridge crosses our bubbling garden stream, and is an excellent spot for photos of the lake.
This bridge is just one small example of the varied projects we do for clients! The garden center is a bit of a proving ground, but we install bridges, ponds, water features and gardens for clients almost year-round! If you visit us and see something that inspires you, put in a request for a quote and let us get to work putting your imagination to paper.
Protect your fish when your koi pond gets warm
As we get further into the summer season and the fish are more active, it’s important to make sure your pond is balanced – especially when it comes to ammonia levels. That can be a big risk as your koi pond gets warmer.
Ammonia in ponds is common and can be extremely toxic to your fish, causing illness or death.
Causes of high ammonia are:
- An overstocked pond
- Overfeeding your fish
- An improperly functioning biological filter
- A Biological filter that has been cleaned “too well” or with chlorinated water from the tap
- No biological filter at all
Every time a fish breathes he creates ammonia, just like when you breathe you create carbon dioxide. Other contributors to high ammonia levels are excess fish waste from overfeeding and excess food and plant material decomposing in the pond.
A large pond with only a few fish can deal with the ammonia that is created because it is changed through a chemical/biological system into “fertilizer” that the plants in your pond can use and thus eliminating the ammonia from the pond.
In small ponds or ponds with a lot of fish we add a piece of equipment called a biological or bead filter. We grow beneficial bacteria on the filter media that happens to love to eat ammonia. The bacteria and the fish live happily together both taking care of the other.
In winter much of the bacteria dies so every spring we need to “seed” our biological filter by adding beneficial bacteria to the pond. Falling Water Gardens sells several varieties of beneficial bacteria for you to use. You typically add the bacteria to the pond. It is then pumped through your filter and begins growing in the filter. We suggest adding the bacteria three times in a row with three to seven days between applications.
For more information on how to check your ammonia levels and seed your biological filter, visit our section on pond maintenance.
This month, we’re featuring a koi breed we haven’t looked at in a while – the Kujaku.
Perhaps it’s because the peacocks have been active over in the aviary, or maybe it’s just a coincidence that Kujaku means ‘peacock.’
This variety is a metallic (Ogon) koi with a net-like pattern of the Asagi on its back. This is overlaid with gold, yellow, orange or red Kohaku-like patterns which create a striking look.
Interested in other koi varieties we offer? Visit our koi breeds page, or make plans to visit the garden center in person!
FISH FEATURE
Ornamental Onion
A striking decorative onion, it grows in a tall cluster of glossy green leaves, producing abundant lilac-purple flower clusters in mid-summer. Its beauty amplifies when planted in clusters, and it also serves as an excellent choice for enduring cut flower arrangements.
Ornamental Onion typically reaches a height of 12 inches, extending to 20 inches with its flowers, and spreads to about 15 inches. It grows moderately and can live for around 5 years, regrowing from the base each spring after dying back in winter. It thrives in full sunlight, tolerates various soil types and urban pollution, making it suitable for both garden beds and containers.
Hyacinth
Noted for its prominent lavender-blue flowers and fleshy rounded, floating leaves, water hyacinth grows quickly in warm water. A few plants bought in the spring can easily turn into a few hundred by fall (they are excellent for composting in the perennial border or the vegetable garden).
Plants propagate readily from leaf shoots which develop into new plants, like strawberry plants. It is prohibited from sale or possession in southern states. Where it can be grown legally it is a welcome addition to the water garden for its ability to filter out unwanted nutrients and for its attractive flowers. Although each flower lasts only a day or two, they are borne in abundance.
Water Lily
Paper-white. Cup-shaped blooms of 3-5 inches. Dark green leaves. Can grow 2-4 feet wide in full sun to part shade in 6-24 inches of water. Good for small or medium ponds. Very prolific; blooms well
and multiplies quickly.
GLAMPING
Ever wanted to spend the NIGHT at the garden center? This is your chance!
Get the peace and quiet of the countryside, and the rustic experience of sleeping in a tent but with all the comfort and amenities you’d expect at an upscale vacation rental.
You can enjoy the gardens and ponds after-hours, including the adjacent labyrinth or use the glamping tents as a gateway to the Skykomish River corridor. There’s river access within five minutes by car, and you can easily get to the nearby communities of Monroe and Duvall.
We have two listings: The Huntsman sleeps two, and the Satterley sleeps four.
WEDDINGS AND EVENTS
We’re looking at another busy wedding season here at Falling Water Gardens!
We’ve recently added a new venue option, the Grotto, which sits between the labyrinth and our large koi pond. We can now have weddings at the Grotto, the Sunken Garden, the Upper Lawn or an intimate wedding in the labyrinth.
If you’re planning a wedding and dream of an outdoor garden venue, contact us today for a tour or visit us on WeddingWire.
