Diy Garden Pond Care
It is not enough to populate an artificial pond with plants, snails, frogs, and fish. It is important to know how to care for the pond in the country, so that he, as in a song from a famous film, does not “drag on brown mud.” Caring for a decorative pond, of course, is different in different seasons. In spring, the main attention should be paid to thinning and activation of plant growth, and in autumn it is important to properly prepare the reservoir for winter in order to protect it from freezing.
How to Care for a Pond in the Country in Spring and Summer
In the spring, from March to May, it is necessary to free the pond from the shelter, which was carried out in the fall. Then you need to check the pond waterproofing, and if necessary, repair it. Care of the garden pond during this period includes cleaning the bottom of the pond from silt, and the walls from algae.
Plants growing in the coastal part must be put in order (cut old parts, order, etc.). At the same time, you can plant new cultures and transplant those that winter at home.
At the very beginning of spring, when aquatic plants have not yet had enough time to develop, it is recommended to use chemical agents for cleaning water bodies – algicides.
However, they can be used only as a last resort and used in small doses, since these funds are dangerous both for plants and for humans.
How to care for the pond during the summer season? Summer (June to August) is the main time the pond is operated, and therefore more time and physical costs are required for caring for the pond during this period.
It is necessary to closely monitor the growth of pond plants, thinning them as necessary. You can plant new plants and replant old ones that are very overgrown. Do not forget that nymphs and water lilies need to be fed.
You also need to monitor the water level in the pond and, if necessary, add fresh water if the pond dries quickly. It is necessary to add only pure and settled water. If it is not possible to control the height of the water, for example, you have to not come to the cottage for a long time for any reason, and after arrival, it is found that the pond has dried up, do not despair. Typically, aquatic plants in an artificial pond tolerate short-term “drought” normally. In this case, it will be enough just to pour fresh water into the pond, and the plants will quickly move away and give new green shoots.
In the summer, when caring for a pond in the country, it is important to regulate the growth of algae. It is necessary to regularly clean the pond from excess algae using a rake or manually. The algae taken out of the reservoir should be carefully checked for the presence of snails because they are important for the artificial reservoir, and if they are found on the removed plant, the animals should be returned to the reservoir.
In general, the natural balance of the reservoir is formed quite quickly, and to maintain it, it is only necessary to regularly remove the debris and fallen leaves caused by the wind so that this mass does not settle at the bottom and does not begin to decompose.
Remember that caring for the pond in the country with your own hands is a great responsibility. In summer, the main problem for water bodies becomes their flowering. It is caused by the active reproduction of protozoa algae. Typically, this phenomenon is observed in small shallow reservoirs, as they quickly heat up water under the influence of sunlight.
How to contain a pond to protect it from blooming water? Natural protection for such reservoirs can be aquatic plants with large floating leaves (water lilies and egg caps), as well as crops that fill the pond water with oxygen (Canadian Elodea, hornwort, swamp). Algae, unicellular or filamentous, provoke bloom of water, which is abundant in hard tap water and nutrition, and bright sunlight, and heat.
To protect the reservoir from flowering, it is necessary to use natural stones and purifier plants in its design. Otherwise, you will have to periodically drain the water, replacing it with a new one, after the bowl is completely cleaned.
When caring for a large artificial pond, you will have to use special chemicals, although some experts recommend that you have patience and wait until biological equilibrium is established in the pond.
You can speed up this process by running several snails in the pond that cleanse the water perfectly. One can also note planting in the pond plants with floating leaves, which deprive algae of nutrition and light. And to acidify the water you need to use special peat tablets or bags of peat, hanging them in it.
How to Keep a Pond in Autumn and Winter
When caring for the pond on the site in the fall (September to November), you need to carefully monitor the plants and remove dead in time. For winter, some pond crops must be removed from the reservoir in a warm room.
They need to be dug and transplanted into pots or tubs before the onset of the first frost. At the same time, all equipment located in the pond should be removed. The bottom of the pond must be cleaned, eliminating bottom debris. You can use a bottom pump for this. Before the beginning of leaf fall, it will be necessary to pull a fine mesh over the pond so that fallen leaves and other garbage do not fall into it.
During frosts, the main danger to aquatic life is ice. If the reservoir is covered with a stable ice shell, then in a day this will lead to the accumulation of toxic gases in the water, which will be formed as a result of decomposition of the remains of vegetation. And if fish live in the reservoir, then this phenomenon will cause their partial or complete death.
How to keep a pond in winter to protect its inhabitants? It is important to ensure that part of the pond is always free of ice. To do this, the best option would be to use a special small heater. It is impossible to break the ice with the use of force – blows on the ice layer can stun and even kill fish. If the pond is deep enough, then you can use the pump to supply warm water from a depth to the water surface.
This measure will protect the pond from the formation of ice. In extreme cases, if all the methods described above are not available, you can arrange an exhaust hole in the ice shell – wormwood. To do this, put a pot of boiling water on ice. The main thing – after the formation of wormwood, do not forget to remove it.