A Delicate Balance

We love our backyard retreat, especially the water feature.  It gives us such a feeling of peace and tranquility when we sit out back on our patio and listen to the calming sounds of the flowing water.

Add to that the normal other sounds of nature - the birds chirping, the insects buzzing, and maybe even a frog croaking - and well, it's pretty easy to lose an hour or two out there without really noticing.

We even thought for a while that we were developing quite a wildlife refuge of sorts, but apparently we've hit a snag.

Here's the sequence that led up to our present dilemma:

Late Fall 2012 - the water falls and pond were installed.  There are two sets of waterfalls and a "pond" at the bottom of the lower falls.

Early Spring 2013 - we took notice that a frog had made the area his home.  We could easily hear him croaking on most days.

Late Spring 2013 - the frog croaking was noticeably absent, and there were no frog sightings.

Early Summer 2013 - snake sighting.  (I hate snakes.)  We think the frog was snake dinner.  It appeared to be a well fed snake.

Middle Summer 2013 - we relocated and "re-purposed" the snake.

Late Summer 2013 - several sightings of a different snake.

Early Spring 2014 - a new frog is residing around our waterfalls.  We hear him croaking, too.  He is about four inches long.  So far, no snakes.

Late Spring 2014 - a pair of mallard ducks made a stop and hung out in our waters for a while

Today - huh?  What happened?  It looks like someone took a bubble bath in the lower pond.

Recently we had the creative team come and do a complete overhaul of the waterways, rocks and pond.  Did they disturb the delicate balance of the ecosystem?

Within days of the cleaning, the entire waterway was a bright green color, with algae growing in abundance.  And we've had the foam problem ever since they cleaned.

The guys came back, gave it a treatment, and now it seems worse than ever.  More foam than before.  Maybe it's just me, but that amount of bubbles does not look normal, nor natural to me.

Something's definitely off.  And if it takes having a snake come back to bring things back into order.......

Then no.  I'll deal with the bubbles some other way.

Period.