Care & Maintenance
Just thinking about owning a water garden can be a headache in itself. With all the information and misinformation that has flooded the hobby, your head may be spinning. Hearing this may cause stress instead of soothing you.
Allow us to share a little of our water gardening information...the key to a low maintenance water feature is to keep your ecosystem in balance.
General Care and Maintenance Tips
While your water feature is designed to be one of the lowest-maintenance items in your landscape, it does occasionally require some attention.
Spring Cleanouts 2008!
Spring…. Get it while it’s hot! Or at least unseasonably mild that is. I can hardly believe we are entering springtime this early. The weather predictions call for an early warm up so we are beginning our cleanouts now. The way we determine when it is most appropriate to perform this essential duty is that we look at the long range forecast and measure the water temperature in the pond. When the temperature in the pond is within ten degrees of the water supply, you know it’s less stressful for the fish.
Clean Your Filter Components
The filter components in the ponds we install are as low maintenance as possible. If your pond is equipped with a skimmer, you should empty the debris basket as often as needed to maintain good water flow.
The filter pads and brushes in the skimmers and biofalls are designed to be cleaned out no more than once a year. The sensitive bacteria populations can be damaged if disturbed more often than that.
The bog systems that we install are truly the best filters available. They need very little care and have no pads to replace. They work just like Mother Nature!
Keep Your Bacteria Healthy
Keep your bacteria healthy and well-populated by inocculating your pond regularly with Aquaclearer Bacteria. I can always tell when I go to someone’s house whether they have been using the bacteria. It’s like being a dentist and knowing whether the patient has been flossing. You don’t even have to ask.
You also can keep the bacteria more healthy if you always run your waterfall. Aeration is critical to keeping your pond healthy.
Add Fish Gradually
When adding fish to your pond, add no more than two or three at a time about every six weeks. This will allow your ecosystem to adjust to the change.
Choose only fish that are healthy. Also, make sure that your fish can live together. That means, don’t add bass to your goldfish pond…gamefish will eat your koi and goldfish!
Balance Your Ecosystem
The key to working with Mother Nature is to develop the right balance of plants, fish, and bacteria. Keeping it simple, the more plants you have, the better. But, don’t over do it. You will want to be able to see your fish.
Too many plants in the pond may crowd the stream and divert water over the sides of the liner, causing a leak. Too many plants may also compete with each other for the available nutrients in the pond. If this happens, the blooms may not be as plentiful.
Too few plants can cause algae blooms.
Seasonal Maintenance
Fall Maintenance on Your Pond
We’ve recently experienced a record breaking hot and dry summer but fall is quickly on its way. We are already experiencing crisp cool nights followed by cobalt-blue skies during the day. This also means that you may need to do some fall maintenance on your pond to get it ready for winter. A little maintenance now will go a long way and keep your pond healthy and ready for spring.
Is Your Pond Ready for Winter?
Our ponds experience a change of seasons just like the rest of our landscaping does. What we do to our water gardens as they adjust will affect the health and enjoyment of our pond.
But you’ll be happy to know that a little preparation now will pay big dividends in the coming seasons. We are not talking about vast lists of time consuming chores that will disrupt your already busy autumn. The job of winterizing your pond is shortened even further if your water garden takes advantage of the new technology available such as flexible EPDM rubber liners, biological waterfall filters and skimmers. Continue reading »
Additional Information and Resources
- Contact Vought Water Gardens for more information about maintaining your water garden.
- Order pond supplies and fish care products.
- Visit Kloubec Koi Farm to purchase fish for your pond.