Cleaning the Pond (Sept-Nov)
Clean out any debris that may have fallen into the pond and sunk to the bottom. Decaying materials, such as leaves and twigs, release gases that are harmful or fatal to fish, should the surface become covered with ice. You may have to drain the pond to accomplish this task. Should you decide to drain the pond, just follow these steps:
1. Pump pond water into a container large enough to house your fish for a time.
2. Put an aeration device in holding tank and put fish into tank.
3. Pump out 75-80% of pond water, then turn off pump.
4. At this time, scoop out as much debris as possible. A fish net makes the job fairly easy.
5. Turn filter back on to clean out any fine material, rinsing pad often.
6. Fill pond with water, adding a dechlorinating agent, such as Aqua Safe, if your water does not come from a well.
7. Add salt to the water at a rate of 5lbs./1000, (use rock salt, pond salt or kosher salt).
Note: only add salt for the amount of water you are adding back to the pond.
8. Let water sit for a day for temperature to adjust, add a product such as Treats-all to help reduce
chance of disease, as the fish will be somewhat stressed, then reintroduce fish to the pond.
Ideally the pond cleaning should be done after the leaves have fallen off the trees. If you wish to clean it before leaf drop, you can place a net over the pond to catch any leaves. Cleaning the pond is a very important step to proper pond health.
Winter Care of Plants
1. Hardy Lilies and Lotus- When lilies and lotus have finished their season, and the leaves have died back, pick off the brown leaves and sink the plants in the deepest part of the pond.
2. Tropical Lilies- While not the easiest plants to winter, their beauty makes it worth the effort. When the plants appear to have gone dormant (usually mid-November), remove them from the pond. Unpot the tubers in a container of moist sand, keeping them at a temperature of 40-50 degrees. Check periodically to make sure tubers remain moist. Tubers can be started again in April in a sunny, warm tub, inside.
3. Tropical Marginals-Most of this group can be kept as houseplants in a window, as long as the pots are submerged in water.
4. Hardy Marginals-This type of plant can be left on the shelf of the pond, or submerged for extra protection. Remember to raise up in early spring.
5. Tropical Floaters-Plants in this group should be scooped out as soon as they turn brown from frost. Don’t leave them in too long or they will sink, making them more difficult to remove. If you wish to try to save these plants for next year, place them in a container of water and keep in a warm sunny spot, inside, although due to the lower cost of these plants, it is not usually worth the effort.
6. Division-Lilies and certain other aquatic plants can be divided in the fall, though most water gardeners prefer to do it in the spring.