Cold Weather Pond Care
Do you have a water feature? Are you wondering what to do with it when the leaves start falling or even what happens to it in the winter. In this blog I will walk you through cold weather pond care. Quick and easy steps to maintain a healthy functional feature that you can enjoy all year round. Fall and Winter maintenance is very important for the waking of the feature in the spring. It cuts down on the amount of debris and nutrients that algae feeds on when the water temps start to rise in the spring. It’s Fall, the trees are going to start shedding their leaves, and the temps are going to start dropping. What does this mean? It’s time to winterize your water feature.
Plant Care
If you have any aquatic plants in your feature, now is a good time to get in and cut back the plants about 6 inches above the water surface. Doing this now before they go dormant makes it easier to handle them. If you have any tropical plants such as water hyacinth, you want to go ahead and remove them from the water feature.
Netting Your Pond
Netting your feature is always a good idea, even if it’s not under trees. This will help eliminate debris build up in the bottom of your pond. When the leaves have finished falling for the season, you can go ahead and remove the net.
Fish Care
If you have fish, you want to stop feeding them when the water temperature drops below 50 degrees. They will settle to the bottom of the pond and hibernate until Spring. It’s important to keep a hole open in the ice so that gases can escape and not build up in the pond. If you live in an area that freezes, you have two options:
- You can unplug your pump for the winter and use aerators to keep a hole in the ice.
- You can leave your pump on, you just need to make sure that the ice doesn’t create leaks and you will have to fill your pond from time to time.
