my pond

kearyl

wintertime!
Time to winterize.
I let my plants just go dormant, pull all the dead stuff. Unfortunately, my hyacinths freeze and die, but I have a good supplier for next spring. I also pull my pumps out of the water, and plug up the lines to keep the little fish out of them.
If I have a lot of roots in the water, I will cut them back to make more room for the fish. Oh, I also drop a pellet for the fish to eat on. That is about it. Any other suggestions? I am more than open to them.
Thanks! kearyl

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TreeBay

Hi Kearyl,

Ponds are a nice accessory for a bonsai garden. Helps keep the humidity up in summertime too. Koi are incompatible with malathion though, so I have to be very careful with any insecticides.

concerning the winterization process, In the past I had left the pump going during the winter just to keep the water above the freezing point. Exposed water tends to freeze down an inch or so here in January. This year, however, my pump burned out mid November, and I didn't feel it was a good investment to drop a brand new one back in the water in winter. So we will see what happens. I don't think a small amount of ice is a problem unless the pond itself can't withstand the expansion, but mine's fiberglass and it's very rare to get more than 1" of ice. In the past, I would shut down the waterfall and redirect the water straight back into the pond, and the pump would do a good job of keeping the water temperature above the freezing point.

I understand it is a good idea to keep part of the surface of the pond clear for oxygen to diffuse back into the water.

I don't feed the fish (7 koi from about 6 to 15 inches) at all from December through February, but do feed heavily in the fall as the fish are putting on weight to insulate and body fat to take them through the winter.

Regards,

Matt

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