New fish pond, never a gardener

by Kathi
(Los Angeles)

I just bought my first house in Los Angeles and my son insisted I have a fish pond in the front yard. He dug a hole - 5'X3' by 18" deep, put in a liner and a 250 pump, surrounded it with rocks and a cascading waterfall 18" above the surface. It'S BEAUTIFUL but now what do I do? I've never had a garden and don't know any of the terminology. I would like to have some gold fish and water lilies but I'm overwhelmed by the amount of information available and none of it seems relevant to such a small pond. Do I need a filter? Does the water need to be treated? Do water lilies need to be planted in soil? How many gold fish should I have. Can you help me or direct me to the most simple article with step by step advise and recommendations so this can be a pleasure and not a chore?

Doug says Kathi - start reading every article on this website or pick up a basic book on water gardening. All the answers are on this site but you're asking the "tell me everything you know" question that doesn't quite fit into a single website page (because it's all written here on these pages or in a book - too long for this single page.

So I understand it's all overwhelming at first but you'll get it bit by bit as you solve each problem as you come to it.

As I said, start at the top with your plants and water reading and move from there. :-)

Welcome to the wonderful world of water gardening.