Member of the Associated Koi Clubs of America (AKCA).
The Great Smoky Mountains Koi Club
Ode to Koi!
Koi pond masterpiece brings joy to family |
| By: GAIL CRUTCHFIELD, Community News Editor |
August 11, 2007 |
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KODAK - When Paul and Judy Larson moved into their Hilltop Lane home in 2004, Paul Larson said relatives encouraged him to build a pool in the backyard. At the time, he had a clean slate of sloping lawn. |
Instead of a swimming pool, the Larsons chose to commission a landscaped garden complete with aquatic plants, waterfalls and a large koi pond. Now the property echoes with the sound of falling water, the flutter of birds wings, the croak of frogs in the evening and the occasional splashing of dozens of koi that race up and down the length of the pond.
"Koi is a fancy carp," Larson said of the fish. Larson started with 11 last year, with the school growing to more than 100 through their natural breeding process. "I need to give a few of these away," he said. But not the named ones, he added. Larson named the first 11 fish and a few of their offspring.
There's Sunshine, Dreamcicle and Kai, three solid yellow koi. There's Sidewinder, so named because of his distinctive feature of a blunt-shaped head with his mouth situated to the side rather than in front. There's Romeo and Juliet, and then there's Angelina, an orange and white koi with red lips.
"That's why I named her Angelina, after Angelina Jolie," Larson said.
Of course, unless you know what you're looking for, it's almost impossible to tell just by looking if the fish is male or female.
"So Angelina may really be Angelo," Larson said.
While the project has turned out to be more work than mowing the lawn would have been, Larson said he and his wife enjoy watching the fish in the pond and all of the other wildlife it has attracted.
In the morning and evening Larson will feed the fish, scattering the food across the width of the pool to make sure the koi get a little extra exercise. They're pretty active already.
"When I go upstairs, I can see them racing across the pond," Larson said. He's seen the fish jump up several times and once he saw one jump out of the water and skate along the surface on its tail, like a dolphin.
The pond itself is 4 1/2 feet deep at its center, surrounded by aquatic plants the fish can hide in for shade or to escape larger fish. The pond is the pooling site for the approximately 30,000 gallons of recirculating water. There are about 11 waterfalls in various sizes that help add oxygen to the water, making it a healthy environment for the fish.
The garden has also attracted other wildlife, including frogs which hang out around the biofalls - waterfalls out of which aquatic plants grow - and hummingbirds that have built nests in the seams of the rock walls to take advantage of the ambient warmth the rocks retain into the night.
Sheb Masters, president of the Great Smoky Mountains Koi Club, calls the Larsons' creation the organization's "flagship pond," mainly because of its panoramic view of the mountains and lakes in the area and the landscaping surrounding the garden.
"I just get mesmerized when I go out there," Masters said. "It's huge and impressive."
Larson humbly agrees it's the size of his garden rather than the fish that might make it a "flagship."
Larson said he didn't stock his pond with what would be referred to as show-quality koi, though he said Masters told him at least one of them could be considered as such.
Masters said show-quality koi have characteristics such as well-defined colors and no defects, such as having one fin bigger than another.
Show-quality koi can cost as much as $3,000 to $4,000. Masters said he knows one man who paid $50,000.
"If I paid $50,000 for a fish, your next interview would be with my wife's attorney," Larson joked. He said the average price for the koi with which he stocked his pond is from $40 to $60, up to $100.
gcrutchfield@themountainpress.com |
| The Larsons' pond will be featured in the Great Smoky Mountains Koi Club and Pond Society's annual pond tour to benefit Children's Hospital. |
The tour will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 15 and 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 16. There is no set fee to attend the tour; donations will be accepted.
Lists of the homes will be available at the Larson home, 1030 Hilltop Lane, the day of the tour, as well as at Thress Nursery , 7343 Old Clinton Pike, Knoxville, and at www.gsmkc.org.
The club meets Saturdays at varying locations. The location is posted on the club's Web site or can be obtained by calling (865) 692-3882.
The Web site also offers downloadable membership applications. Membership is $25 a year for a family and includes a number of books about koi ponds as well information from the local club.
"Buying the books separately is more than what the membership costs," said club president Sheb Masters.
Masters said several charter members also share information from previous meetings.
Established in early 2005, the club seeks to promote education about koi ponds and help the general public with their ponds.
"So if someone is having issues with a pond, we will be happy to come and tell them what to do to correct the issue," Masters said |
| ©The Mountain Press 2007 |
Congratulations to Karen Faulkner our 2006-2007 AKCA Koi Person of the Year
Dr. Richard Strange a fisheries biologist from the University of Tennessee gave a presentation at our March meeting.
The Great Smoky Mountains koi club
Gift shop is now open
Click the hat to go there.
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