How to Maintain a Water Feature
Maintenance for the Water Feature
Keeping your water feature maintained all year around is important. The spring and fall maintenance is the most important because of the winter in between. We will start in the spring and go to winter with the discussion on maintenance.
Spring- The first thing that you need to do is remove the netting or and other mechanical devices used to protect the feature for the winter. These will be used to catch leaves and debris from the late fall and early spring. Now is the time to replace bog plants and marginal plants that may have not survived the winter. It is a good time to divide some of your plants if they have gotten to large for the area. You should check your fish for disease and problem now so that they can be taken care of now. You can start to feed the fish again when the water temperature is above 50 degrees Place the filter and pumps back into place and fill the feature with the recommended amount of water and start the pump. Clean all around the feature so that it is clean and looks good. If you need to clean the entire pond because of a bad winter remember to remove the fish form the water before draining. Clean the entire feature with clean water and refill and replace the fish to there new home. You do not want to fertilize you plants at this time wait until after flowering.
Summer- This is the time of rapid growth of you plants and you will need to trim and deadhead the plant on a regular basis to keep them under control and healthy. At this time you can add new lillies and other exotic to the garden. After the plants flower you can give them slow release fertilizer mad for the water plants. You can trim the oxygenating plants so that they will grow more vigorously and keep the fish happy. Remove the algae with a stick by twirling it around the stick and discard. If you need to clean the filters use pond water so that you do not kill the beneficial bacteria that lives in the water. Start to feed the fish two to three small meals a day not just one large one you will save on the amount of food you buy. During storms and bad whether do not shut off the feature keep in running so that the water does not get depleted of oxygen.
Fall- Cut the foliage of the lillies and the marginal plants back hard and remove all debris form the feature. Remove the tender plants at this time and store in a warm place until the spring. You can fertilize the plants at this time and they will be ready for quick spring growth when the time comes. Remove filters and pumps, clean, and store for the winter. This is a time to feed the fish well so that they over winter in the pool. After the water temp falls to 40 degrees the fish will stop feeding. The last thing to do is cover the feature with netting to keep leaves and debris out.
Winter- After the fish have stopped feeding and the temperature of the water is below 40 degrees you will need to cover you plants with mulch so that the crowns do not freeze and kill the plant for the winter. Place a heater in the water to let the toxic gases out and some oxygen in. to place a heater in the feature do not strike to ice to make a hole you will kill the fish from the shock. Use warm water to melt a hole in the ice. The heater will keep a hole in the ice for gases and let the ice expand towards the hole so it does not damage the feature itself.
For more information on maintenance of the plant you choose ask your local retailer.
