{"id":5043,"date":"2016-10-13T09:18:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T13:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smithtowntodaynews.com\/?p=5043"},"modified":"2016-10-13T09:18:31","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T13:18:31","slug":"closing-pond-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/closing-pond-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Closing Up Your Pond for the Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet the\u00a0Long Island Pond Whisperer<\/h4>\n
By Maureen Rossi<\/a><\/p>\n
Robert Riccardo is a professional pond builder who says he absolutely loves going to work.\u00a0 He has built thousands of ponds, waterfalls and gardens all over Nassau and Suffolk.\u00a0 He actually owns the title of building the most public displays in the country.\u00a0 \u201cIt all started with one gas station,\u201d laughed Riccardo.<\/p>\n
But truth be told it all started at age ten in his parents Long Island backyard when he designed and built his very first pond.\u00a0 When asked what he wanted to be as a little boy \u2013 he said it never occurred to him \u2013 the pond building started so soon in Riccardo\u2019s life it\u2019s as if the career chose him.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI come from a family of artists, some drawer or paint, some build ponds,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
He established his business Pond Paradise Designs Inc. in 2003.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of my water projects are a one of a kind creation with no two a like\u201d, added the H20 aficionado.<\/p>\n
He says the Paradise in the company names comes from what so many of his clients have said after his designs were finished.\u00a0 Over and over again he has heard the words, you have turned my backyard into a paradise.<\/p>\n
$\"pond\"$ <\/a>FALL PREP FOR PONDS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n
With fall slamming into Long Island early this year, Riccardo says it\u2019s imperative to get the required seasonal work done.\u00a0 \u201cIn the fall season, we perform a Fall\u00a0Closing, this service requires\u00a0the removal of a pump and the clipping\u00a0down of any aquatic plants,\u201d he explains.\u00a0 He said an aerator\u00a0bubbler unit is placed on the side of the\u00a0pond with a hose and an aerator stone placed in the pond.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis will prevent\u00a0fish loss over the winter,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
A supported\u00a0leaf net will be installed to keep the\u00a0leafs from dropping directly in the pond, which could affect the fish\u2019s health.\u00a0The fish go into hibernation and do not\u00a0get fed over the winter months until the\u00a0spring when water is above 55 degrees.\u00a0 A deicer unit is placed in the pond to keep a hole in the ice in the winter months. The deicer goes on when the water is 30 degrees and lower.\u00a0The aerator and deicer work\u00a0together,\u00a0and are two required\u00a0items to\u00a0help the fish stay alive.\u00a0 Pond\u00a0Netting\u00a0is stretched\u00a0over the pond and PVC pipes\u00a0or\u00a0cables are used to\u00a0support the netting. The nets edges are stapled down into the ground for reinforcement.<\/p>\n
When asked why it\u2019s so important to prepare a pond in the fall he gave many answers.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happens in winter the fish need tranquility, they go into a deep trance with hibernation, there could be a problem with ice dams and then the water goes outside the liner, that\u2019s not good,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Riccardo is a big proponent of netting a pond to keep the leaves out.\u00a0 The leaves can throw off an acid infiltrating the water which can negatively affect the health of the fish.\u00a0 \u201cNetting also makes it very easy for a spring pond clean out,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
The Islandia native said some people put in twenty-four inches\u2019 worth of water in a yard pond but all of his designs are at least thirty-six. \u201cI like to go deeper, the deeper the water the better the fish will do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
AFTER THE FALL CLEANING<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n
$\"pond1\"$ <\/a>Riccardo heads to Florida mid-January for large-mouth bass fishing in the Everglades.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe two months go very quick and then it\u2019s time to plan the upcoming ponds that have been ordered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Seasonal work is just one service Pond Paradise Designs provides.\u00a0 He designs, builds ponds, builds pond-less waterfalls and fountain escapes.\u00a0 Riccardo does the brick work, the fauna and flora and LED lighting.\u00a0 He can even recommend certain fish to compliment a project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am meticulous regardless of project, when it comes to the finishing touches, I handpick every stone I lay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Riccardo builds ecosystems in suburban yards, in businesses and Long Island parks and gas stations of course.<\/p>\n
RICCARDO\u2019S FAVORITE PROJECT<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t even say what was my favorite, I do one and say it\u2019s my favorite and the next one tops that,\u201d he chuckled.\u00a0\u00a0 However, he confesses his passion lies with the pond he built in his father\u2019s back yard which is an Eastern style garden and pond (photos shown).<\/p>\n
He added that he is enormously proud of the 9\/11 memorial for the Miller Place Fire Department he did with a seventy-five-foot waterfall.\u00a0 He says he also built a smaller but equally beautiful 9\/11 memorial for the Wyandanch Fire Department that had great meaning to him.<\/p>\n
The highly energized Riccardo is excited about talking about ponds and sharing his ideas.\u00a0 Perhaps Whisperer does not quite describe this artist!<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
For more information, check out the Pond Paradise Designs\u2019 comprehensive website that includes advice for maintaining your pond in all seasons.\u00a0 They can also be found on Facebook, Pinterest and the popular home renovation site Home Talk<\/p>\n
www.Pondparadisedesigns.com<\/a>\u00a0Email Riccardo at:\u00a0 \u00a0 pondparadisedesigns@msn.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0or call:\u00a0516.220.6295<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Meet the\u00a0Long Island Pond Whisperer By Maureen Rossi Robert Riccardo is a professional pond builder who says he absolutely loves going to work.\u00a0 He has built thousands of ponds, waterfalls and gardens all over Nassau and Suffolk.\u00a0 He actually owns the title of building the most public displays in the country.\u00a0 \u201cIt all started with one gas station,\u201d laughed Riccardo. But truth be told it all started at age ten in his parents Long Island backyard when he designed and built his very first pond.\u00a0 When asked what he wanted to be as a little boy \u2013 he said it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[340,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communityspotlight","category-scenery"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/closing_pond.jpg?fit=1024%2C685&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6dZB9-1jl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5047,"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5043\/revisions\/5047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5043"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smithtowntodaynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}