Trees and Sunlight in the Koi Fish Pond

Sunlight plays an important role in your Koi fish pond.  Too much or too little sunlight can both cause their own problems.  For a small pond, you will find that while trees that provide a  little shade can reduce evaporation and algae growth, not having enough sunlight will discourage many pond plants from thriving.

If you want flowering plants as an important factor in your Koi fish pond, you will need to place your water garden where it will receive at least six hours of sunlight daily.  Water lilies, especially, do not do well with less sun.  There are some varieties that will bloom in partial shade, but most prefer sunlight.

Of course, there is also a downside with too much sunlight.  In the summer, or in warmer climates, water will evaporate very quickly from a Koi fish pond that is placed in an area of full sun.  Not only does sunlight cause problems with evaporation, it will also encourage algae growth, and if your pond is small, will heat the water too much for your Koi fish.   I use the pond fil-float shown at right.  You can connect it to a garden hose and it will filter out contaminates from your tap water while keeping your pond level.  Small ponds will need a site with less sunlight.  For larger ponds, provide them with floating plants, or perhaps a small tree situated nearby can give some shade to part of the Koi pond's surface.  The use of rocks to create an overhang where fish can cool off, will help as well.

If you decide to use trees to create shade for your Koi fish pond select and also site them carefully.  You do not want them to cause other problems, such as dropping leaves or fruit into your water, or damaging your Koi pond's liner with their roots.  Before you plant your trees, learn about their growth rate as well as their mature size.  If you have existing trees in your yard don't be overeager to remove them.  Just be mindful of their location to your Koi fish pond.  When adding new trees near your pond, make sure you do your homework and that any tree you add will stay small.  It is a good idea to avoid trees such as willows and others with thirsty roots.

Trees can add substantially to your cleanup duties by dropping berries, leaves, twigs, nuts, etc.  This debris may rot and cause changes in your water chemistry.  Pine needles from trees contain tannins that will turn your water brown and is toxic to your Koi.  As mentioned earlier, some trees such as willows, have thirsty roots that can punch through pond liners and cause leaks.  Again, study the species of trees you want to plant.  Be aware of how wide it will eventually be and make sure it is planted far enough away from your Koi fish pond so that its branches will not end up hanging over the water.  Use the Little Giant Watermark Series Skimmer in your pond shown at right to pick up debris such as leaves from your pond's surface and will help to reduce pond maintenance chores.