8 Spring Maintenance Tips for Ponds
Spring is almost here and it’s time to get a little maintenance done on your pond. These maintenance tasks can help prevent future problems from arising throughout the pond season. Some pond enthusiasts enjoy performing their own maintenance, but you can always hire a professional to take care of it for you.
1. Clean out your pond, whether that means a full cleanout or just picking up a bit and rinsing things off. Enjoy our easy-to-follow spring cleanout instructions.
2. Check pond pumps to make sure that it’s clean and functioning correctly. Your pump is the heart of your water feature and needs to be in tip-top shape at all times. Learn more about water feature pond pump maintenance.
3. Fix any leaks in your water feature. Constantly adding tap water to make up for a loss of pond water means the constant addition of nutrients which will eventually promote algae growth.
4. Remove algae, leaves and other debris left over from the season before. This is crucial because an excess of decaying debris will add to the nutrient levels and the algae in the pond.
5. Start adding beneficial bacteria treatments and continue to do so regularly throughout the season. It competes with the algae for available nutrients, starving the algae of its food source. Use Aquascape’s Automatic Dosing System to avoid the hassle of consistently adding and choosing the correct water treatments for your water feature.
6. Add plants to control algae. Since plants directly compete with algae for nutrients, they are the most important addition to the pond. Using a wide variety of plants will not only add to the natural look of the pond, but will reduce algae growth as well.
7. DO NOT overfeed your fish. Fish food that is not eaten will add more nutrients to the pond, helping feed the algae. See our 5 Tips for Feeding Fish article for more information.
8. Last but not least, have fun with your water feature! Spruce it up with new landscaping, add a fountain within your feature, add lighting or just change up some of the rock work! Get creative because after all, your water feature is your masterpiece to enjoy and show off to others.