ponds- water lilly question

[exasperatus2002]

I bought one of those water lilies at home depot going on 3 yrs ago. It still has small leaves & despite being in full sun, has yet to bloom. When do they usually bloom? I used to just use a wild lily from the lake but now that I have moved & didnt take it with me, I tried to use a colorful one (red). This will be my 3rd year in my new house and I see young leaves starting to come up already. I just have a few feeder goldfish in the pond & they've spawned every year for me. I dont add supplemental fertilizer beyond what the fish provide for it. I clean the pond out twice a year. early spring & Fall. I live in PA, growing zone 6.

[dounoharm]

i have mine planted very shallow in playsand that i washed out....they bloom fine, just with fish poo...could yours be too deep?

[lmartiny]

We are thinking about adding a small pond in our back yard. I worry it will be too much work.

[dounoharm]

well it is a lot of work....and heartbreak too when your expensive and large old koi get eaten by scavangers....i lost my last koi this winter to a racoon i think....there are still common goldfish in the tank, they dont seem to be attractive to herons and racoons....i must have gourmands for pests around here! and i dont seem to keep a pump running for more than a year anymore...i keep buying new ones and they last a little while and pfht they quit....gl with yours! they are very zen and calming....

[orchids4me]

I was going to restore the one in our back yard that my grandparents and uncles built before my time... But I grew up with it there.... The tree roots managed to crack the concrete and its going to be a major project to under take. So last year decided against it being my mom won't be able to care for itit and take care of its twice a year cleaning and up keep.
But how it was set up my grand father had a pump and built a 3 tier water fall on one corner area of its clover shape. That's how he circulated the water he would run it for a few hours every day. He also used this pump to drain it whan cleaning it watering all the fruit trees and yard areas. The clover areas were 2 feet deep and the rectangle in the middle which he had a pipe that came up into a dish for a bird bath was also how he added water. And a 2 way to refill the pond after cleaning it. In the center rectangle he had smaller half wine barrels sunk with large rocks for weight and water lillies planted in these. So from where the plant set in the planter to surface of water was about 3 feet deep.and center area actual depth was 4 feet. In one of the clover shaped pebecorners he had toolies growing again in a long wooden box to contain them. He had misquito fish and all kinds of different gold fish not koi... They laid their eggs in the toolie roots. And for the babies that were born he added a ledge around the edges of the pond aprox s inches to 5 inches for the babies to seek refuge from being eaten by the adult fish.
Now because of the resons mentiond for not restoring it. I will be redoing the patio concrete. Put old concrete in pond and dirt, rebar and concrete it over and put a gazebo there instead where my mom can sit and relax in the yard and re lanscape the yard also . Its a big job but will be starting to tackel it
I recall the water lillies I have in fish tanks which are not deep enough... The package said like 42inches deep. Hope that helps
Emmaye