Pond Winterizing Tips from Pond Care & Aquatic Connections

The Pond Care Brand of pond supplies, by Mars Fishcare Inc, includes winterizing products and Fall fish food. Aquatic Connections carries Pond Care pond products in its water garden center and on its website. The following article about pond winterizing tips can be found in its entirety on Pond Care's website www.pondcare.com.

Why can't I just let nature take care of my pond?

All summer long, you've enjoyed the tranquility of the water garden-beautiful foliage, sounds of trickling water and colorful fish eagerly awaiting a handful of food. The water garden didn't get that way by itself. You added the right kinds of plants and fish to create a balanced ecosystem. The water gardens we create look beautiful and sustain life because we follow nature's rules. It's the same during the winter months. Despite all outward appearances, the pond is active even when the water is cold or even frozen. Dead leaves, algae, insects and solid fish waste that have accumulated over the summer slowly break down during the winter months. This natural decomposition uses oxygen and produces small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas that normally never reaches a harmful level. Few water gardeners realize that the pond must be balanced in winter too. Fish, frogs and other aquatic life are especially sensitive to poor water quality in winter. A build-up of leaves and other organic matter can cause an imbalance, reducing oxygen to dangerously low levels and releasing poisonous hydrogen sulfide. One autumn I decided to see how well nature would take care of my two ponds. I let the lily leaves die back naturally, falling into the pond. Leaves and sludge covered the bottom of the pond. What could go wrong? It looked natural. Come next spring when the ice melted, I was shoveling out black, stinky ooze garnished with dead snails, frogs and my prized fish. I learned my lesson well. Now I use a coarse net to remove dead leaves. I also use a fine weave aquarium net to remove sludge. You can reduce sludge build-up with bacterial "cleaning" products for water gardens. These products contain bacteria that digest dead algae, plants and sludge that accumulate in filters and at the bottom of the pond. Bacterial products are completely safe and help keep water gardens clean. While your stirring things up, why not change some of the water? Algae promoting nutrients, dissolved organic matter and natural acids build up in all water gardens. These substances can stress pond life and lower oxygen and pH levels. Partial water changes flush out these substances and improve water quality. I change 50 % of the water in my ponds in autumn. If a pond has a lot of suspended matter or the water is tinted yellow from dissolved organics, I'll make two water changes a day apart. While I'm pumping out the water, I stir up the sludge. Pump out the sludge and old water at the same time! Remember to add Stress Coat to the pond before refilling it with tap water. Stress Coat will condition the water and add a protective slime coat for the fish.

Too much of a good thing
This may seem contradictory, but you want to leave a little bit of debris in the pond when preparing it for winter. Some water gardeners net out the fish, completely drain the water and scrub out the pond, refilling it with fresh water. Frogs, tadpoles, snails and microscopic pond life need to burrow down into mud and leaves to survive the winter. Fish also hibernate on the bottom, settling in around a bed of leaves and mud. I remove about 90% of the leaves and silt that have accumulated over the summer. Leave the rest as "bedding material." You'll be amazed at the diversity of pond life that emerges in spring. Keep in mind that tree leaves will continually blow into the pond as long as the water isn't frozen. I recommend covering the pond with bird netting. This black plastic netting is almost invisible and prevents tree leaves and debris from getting into the pond.


Note: The Pond Care brand is manufactured by Mars Fishcare, an industry leading manufacturer and international supplier of a complete line of aquarium and pond products. Mars Fishcare manufactures and sells hundreds of products across many different product categories, including Aquarium and Pond Treatments, Aquarium Equipment, Aquariums and Fish Nutrition. They produce just about everything to meet the needs of aquarium owners and pond keepers.

Which Perennials should I divide in the Fall?

September and October are the best months to spruce up your perennial garden by dividing and transplanting some of your perennials. During these months the temperatures are cooler and rain is more likely. This gives the transplanted perennials time to take root and do well in their new surroundings. You should try to divide and transplant perennials about six weeks before the first hard frost in your area.

Some Perennials to Divide in Fall would include:
Astilbe
Asiatic Lily
Oriental Lily
Lily-of-the-Valley
Bleeding Heart
Siberian Iris
Japanese Iris
Veronica
Peony

Generally, bloom time determines when you should divide and transplant perennials. Spring and early summer flowering perennials can be transplanted in fall. Late summer and fall bloomers are better suited for moving in the spring.

For tips on dividing and transplanting perennials, click here, to visit P Allen Smith's Website.

Aquatic Connections Water Garden Center carries a beautiful assortment of perennials, ornamental grasses and shrubs through the Spring, Summer & Fall months. Perennials planted around ponds and water features help soften the landscape and blend the aquatic plants and pond edges with the garden. Click here, for directions to Aquatic Connections showroom and display ponds.

Why use a Pond Aerator in your pond?

Pond aeration is vital in the winter months as pond water begins to freeze. In order for fish to survive, a hole needs to exist in the ice for the exchange of oxygen and the release of harmful toxins that can build up. A pond aerator is an inexpensive way to keep the water circulating near the surface of the pond and preventing a small area from freezing over. Pond aeration can be used year round to raise the oxygen levels in the pond water providing a healtier environment for fish and plants.

The Aquascape Pond Aerator 2 is a small, inexpensive pond aeration system that can easily be added to any pond. Click here, for more information on pond aerators. Visit www.aquaticconnections.com for upcoming pond winterizing seminars.

Prepare your pond for winter

Even if the leaves aren't falling in you pond yet, there is one thing you could do now, in September, to help get your pond ready for winter. The first step is adding a cold weather bacteria, such as Microbe Lift Autumn Prep. Microbe Lift Autumn Prep is specially formulated for pond winterization. Autumn Prep helps accelerate the decomposition of leaves, sediment and sludge that can accumulate in ponds during the Fall and Winter months. Four monthly doses are recommended, so that's why Aquatic Connections suggests starting the first application of Microbe Lift Autumn Prep in September. When used according to the manufacturer's directions, Microbe Lift products are safe for fish and aquatic plants. Click here, for more information on Microbe Lift Autumn Prep cold weather bacteria for ponds. Visit www.aquaticconnections.com for upcoming pond winterizing seminars.

What's the Most Unusual Wildlife you've seen in your pond?

My son called me to the kitchen window because he saw a hawk sitting on the top of our patio swing. He wanted me to get my camera and take a picture of it. I told him we needed to go to the dining room window for a closer shot. What we saw when we got there was unbelievable! The red-tailed hawk was still sitting on the swing, but THREE of his friends or family members were taking a bath in the stream of our pond! It was amazing! They hopped in the shallow area, got their feathers wet and then perched on a rock to shake the water off. One at a time they flew to the top of the swing to dry off. I just had to go outside and get closer. Three of the red-tailed hawks were perched on the swing and one was taking a longer more luxurios bath. I snapped some great shots before they flew away. We have seen frogs in our pond, a flock of robins take a bath in our pond and now Four Red-tailed hawks stop by. What is the most unusual wildlife you have seen in your pond?

More wildlife pictures are posted on our website www.aquaticconnections.com.

Learn how you can certify your yard as a backyard habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.