Koi

Andrew Staib runs Glorious Gardens, which is a garden design company based in Brighton. Below he talks about Koi.

Koi (Japanese for Carp) is a wonder fish if you have the space and time to look after them. You need good pumps and a good size pond with a depth of at least 1.5 meters so they can survive a long, cold winter. They were originally bred for food in China 2,500 years ago but over the centuries started being selectively bred for their amazing colours. In fact the humble goldfish was originally a Prussian Carp until the Chinese started breeding it 1,000 years ago. They can live up to 50 years and a very select few can cost thousands of pounds each.

The biggest trouble in the UK is herons taking them, in one session an entire pond can be cleared. So make sure you don't have shallow areas where a heron can wade in and start fishing. If the water is deep enough a heron won’t be able to stand comfortably. Having said that, another precaution is to string wire across the pond. It is not very attractive but if you've ever lost your precious fish to a bird you take any precaution you can.

To contact Andrew, email andrewstaibuk@yahoo.co.uk or visit the Glorious Gardens website. Andrew updates his blog every week with beautiful pictures of nature, you can subscribe to the blog via the website.

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