Upcoming Events::
August 25 , 9:00 am, Pond Build

Thus far this summer with all of our rains, each of our free classes have had to be held indoors in the new indoor training facility I mentioned to you earlier. It has been good for comfort’s sake but not exactly good for finishing our outside ponds. Each display we finish has been painstakingly worked in and around rainstorms. Our guys that work in the yard - Jay, Pete, and Juan - have been getting so muddy this season (with no complaints that I’ve heard) just keeping up with the little progress that has been made. It makes us appreciate our good and faithful employees. The PPS yard is looking fantastic with the projects that have been finished and well worth your drive…no matter how much gasoline costs.

We have been able to build several pottery displays both inside and outside, a few bubbling rock displays, and put up a few statuary fountains. We are working on an indoor darkened room that will display ponds and water features with all their “night-lit glory”.

Our goal at Pond Pro Shop is that each time you visit us you will be greeted by informed, friendly salespeople, and be shown great new ideas in ponding.

The flowers and plants that we have planted look stunning. However, over the last two weeks I have noticed overgrowth in my own pond’s stream. With all the rains and now the sunshine, the landscaping plants close by my falls have grown so quickly that the water in my stream has been diverted outside the pond…so now it’s maintenance time! Keep your eyes open daily for any changes in and around your pond that will affect the health and stability of your water garden. Enjoy your summertime and come see us at Pond Pro Shop.

We have two more free Saturday classes: August 25th we will show you “How to Build a Pond” (9:00 a.m.); and October 13th , 10:00 a.m., “How to Winterize your Pond”. Join us, rain or shine.
Alice

Lighting Enlightenment

Water garden lighting can add to the enjoyment of an existing water feature, allowing home owners to enjoy their water feature at night, interacting with the fish, viewing nighttime blooms from lilies, and seeing water cascading down a waterfall. Pond Pro Shop offers three types of lighting; halogen, LED, and fiber optic.

Most lighting is available in low voltage, or 12V, which requires a transformer to convert 120V to 12V. Multiple lights can be run together into a single transformer, as long as the total wattage for all of the lights is no greater than the rating of the transformer.

Halogen lighting is probably the most common form used in water gardening. They are available from 10 watts to 150 watts, they are operational in or out of the water, and colored lenses are available to add extra color to your feature. The average life of a halogen bulb is around 2,000 hrs. Pond Pro Shop carries Savio, Alpine, and Oase lighting.

LED or light emitting diodes are fairly new to the water garden industry, and have a few advantages over halogen lights. The average life of an LED is around 50,000 hrs, and LED emit almost no heat. We have Savio’s Radiance LED lighting available at Pond Pro Shop.

Fiber optic lighting is by far the most impressive and the easiest to work with. A fiber optic system consists of a light source (250 halogen bulb) located in a box called an illuminator, which is easily hidden outside of the pond. One bulb can operate up to sixteen separate fiber optic cables, which are tied together into the illuminator. A color wheel inside of the illuminator allows the user to rotate colors or to stop the wheel on their favorite color (White, Blue, Magenta, & Green). Remote controls are also available to turn the lights on or off and control the color wheel. Pond Pro Shop offers IlluminFx fiber optic lighting, and is available upon request.