Pond winterising.

With Autumn leaf fall in full swing, winds rising and temperatures dropping now the clocks have changed.

The big question.

Leave the pond to take the brunt of the weather, or put it to bed for Winter?

: Half empty Pond, filling up with Autumn leaf fall.

: Half empty Pond, filling up with Autumn leaf fall.

Winterising:

Adapt or prepare (something, especially a house) for use in cold weather.

As one of the projects is yet to be completed due to supply chain issues.

The decision has been made to close down the pond, save the stock purchased for it; and place it in a warmer and sheltered heated greenhouse.

The pond itself will also be mostly dismantled and stored in a workshop.

As can be seen, the leaf fall is already thickening up, daily collection isn’t practical.

So the pond is drained, the sump cleaned out, and the liner and pre liner washed off, rolled up; stored till Spring.

When the remaining materials for the edge and plantings arrive, they will also be stored.

The Plants.

The Aquatic Plant Stock bought for the Pond will be stored in large tubs in a heated Greenhouse, so with water changes once in a while, should fair well and be ready for when it warms up next year.

Any plants that are UK hardy can be left in the pond, they do not need to be brought in over Winter unless you want to fully close your pond down.

We use several of these for a small pond, or a lot more for larger ponds.

Fish stock.

If you have Fish or other stock that requires the pond, then so long as they are UK hardy you will have to leave enough water and plant life or water pump systems set up to ensure they survive.

You may wish to consider Aeration if the pond freezes over.

Liners or Pre Formed.

If you care emptying your pond, now is a great time to inspect the liner or pre formed pond shell.

Looking for cracks, splits, tears, rips or other signs of rubbing or potential punctures.

Give them a good clean and removed the build up of scum and slime, or clear out nooks and crannies you cannot normally get at when the pond is full.

Ensure you give the detritus you clean out, time to drain and any creatures, insects or other mobile pond life can escape.

The remaining pile could be left somewhere close by a water source, and somewhere not exposed, to slowly rot down and feed the area. Or anything left over can be placed on a Compost heap.

The Pond Liner shown in the images gallery can be bought from Amazon.

There is a Pre Liner placed beneath the rubber liner, that can be bought here.