4 Steps To Prepare Your Pond For Winter
Posted on: 2 February 2016
Having a pond adds great aesthetic value to your yard, but one of the biggest pains involved with having a pond is preparing it for the winter months. You need to adequately prepare your pond for winter so that it will stay healthy. There are a number of different things that you should do in order to properly prepare your pond for the coming cold winter months.
Cleaning The Pond
The first step that you should employ before "shutting down" your pond during the winter months is to clean it out. If you're a pond owner, you're probably quite familiar with how this works. You simply need to remove any dead plants, excess algae, trees, or other foreign debris that is present in your pond just as you would during any other rigorous cleaning of your pond. Remember to remove any rotting foliage that is present in your pond during this time. Although innocuous during the warmer months, during the wintertime, they can release gases that can be fatal to your fish and create an unbalanced ecosystem.
Vacuum and Clean Pond Filter
These steps can be accomplished in one fell swoop but should be done after you have adequately cleaned the pond itself. Give your pond filter a vigorous cleaning, as you would during any serious clean of your pond, and then make sure you move it closer to the surface of the pond. This is so that your pond will not freeze completely during this period of time. The oxygen bubbles the filter releases will ensure that this is the case. This will also ensure that the filter itself does not freeze. After you are finished with this process, it's time to vacuum the entirety of the pond out. This is so you can remove any excess foliage or dead plants at the bottom of your pool so they do not create noxious gases that will be fatal to fish and harmful to the entirety of your pond's ecosystem.
Feed Fish Less
As your pond grows colder, you will want to reduce the amount of times you feed your fish, as well as the amount that you feed your fish. Once the temperature drops below 40 degrees, however, you should stop feeding your fish completely. This is so that your fish do not produce more waste than the plants in your pond's ecosystem can handle cleaning up. The fish will be in a semi-hibernative state during this time, so it is not necessary to feed them an ample amount, and there will be enough nutrients in the water to sustain their livelihood.
Check Liner And Cover The Pond
Before you cover your pond, you want to check your pond liner to ensure that it hasn't been torn. Look for torn areas around sharp rocks and objects that could tear the liner. If your pond liner is torn, the water will leak underneath the liner and freeze during the winter months. If you do notice a tear, replace your pond liner using a company like Billboard Tarps.
Next, you should cover the pond with netting, landscape fabric, shade cloth, or anything else that is specifically designed for covering ponds. Make sure that the edges around the pond are sufficiently secured.
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