Spring is here, and summer is just around the corner. Spring is time for cleaning out your house and clearing up your property from the winter damage. Your pond is one thing that should not be neglected during spring cleaning, here’s a guide to help you get your pond back in shape and ready for spring!
1. Check your equipment for maintenance – whether you have electric, solar, or windmill powered aeration system, spring is the perfect time to ensure all your equipment is running properly and up to date on its maintenance. Check your aeration equipment, fountains, and any other pumps, tools, or products to make sure everything is in working order. Before you plan on adding to the aesthetic of your pond this year you should make sure the basics are covered first.
2. Aeration is the best way!! - After the winter depletes your pond of oxygen, aeration is the best way to make a full recovery. Many pond owners will see dead fish in their pond. This is because of a lack of oxygen. Winter is a time when oxygen levels are at its lowest and the water is at its coldest. Not a healthy environment for fish or for ponds that need to decompose algae, weeds and other nutrient run off that have found their way into the pond and are now lying at the bottom of the pond needing to decompose. As the sun heats up the pond, this nutrient load sediment will mix in with the rest of the pond which will lead to rapid algae growth and more problems as the temperatures get warmer. Aerating “the process of dissolving additional oxygen into water” is the best way to avoid pond stagnation. You can read more about aeration here. For best results use bottom up aeration vs surface aerators, they are 8-10 times more efficient at dissolving oxygen into water. (naturespondcare.com).
3. Spring cleaning – clean out unwanted algae and weeds with the Nature’s Pond Cutter n’ Rake. Lots of toxic chemical products will advertise as the best way to get rid of unwanted plants is to kill them off. This is simply not true! All you really do when you treat a pond with a herbicide or algaecide is kill off this unwanted aquatic vegetation. This dead organic debris sinks to the bottom of your pond and zaps all the oxygen from the water as it decomposes. Causing much more harm than good. Always read the labels and ingredients on a treatment bottle and not just look at the pictures. Removing unwanted vegetation is a critical step to a healthy body of water.
4. Condition your pond for a healthy spring – Nature’s Pond Conditioner’s Spring & Summer blend is formulated to make spring pond cleaning easy for you. This natural all-in-one formula of beneficial bacteria, enzymes, plant extracts, and food grade dye feasts on excess nutrients that cause pond problems in the first place. It reduces muck and sludge instead of adding to it and promotes a natural and healthy eco-system. Nature’s Pond Conditioner Improves water quality for healthier fish, people, livestock, pets, birds, wildlife etc… and creates a natural looking blue/green colour that adds to the beauty of your pond.
5. Plant new vegetation – rain gardens and planting vegetation around the pond is a great way to protect it from nutrient pollution and run off. Spring runoff entering your pond is very rich in nutrients and can increase the nutrient load in the water, leading to more algae, muck and sludge problems. One way you can protect your pond from run-off is by planting vegetation around the edge of your pond to filter the nutrients out before the water flows into the pond. Make sure to do your research on which species to plant that are good for your area and that are non-invasive.
6. Have a pond plan? Spring is the perfect time to think about how you plan on taking care of your pond and adding to its aesthetic this year. Thinking about adding aeration? Need to restock it with fish? Maybe some pond dye will freshen up its look this year? Now’s the time to start thinking and planning so that your pond can be ready to enjoy this season. Perhaps you want to look at a sustainable, environmentally friendly way to take care of your water? If so learn more by visiting naturespondcare.com
Koenders Water Solutions Inc.
We have been aerating our pond on the farm with a Koenders Windmill Aeration System for 15 years and it has been maintenance free all this time. So when we were looking to augment the aeration in the water about three years ago we decided to stay with the Koenders products because of the brand quality and reliability. We installed a Koenders HD 250 Electric aeration system along with the windmill to help provide more aeration in the really hot months of summer because of all the trees that had grown up around the pond which had cut down the pond's wind exposure.
Our fish have always been in pretty good health from the aeration, but we were still having to spend hours raking out weeds. We do not believe in the use of toxic algaecides to kill off aquatic vegetation for a number of reasons, the least of which, we don't like the idea of catching fish out of a chemically treated pond and eating them. Nothing we tried seemed to work.
Finally, we learned about Nature's Pond Care program powered by Koenders Water Solutions. The process of bottom up aeration, nature's pond conditioner treatments and removing unwanted aquatic vegetation with a tool called "Cutter N Rake" made alot of sense so we started on the program 2 years ago. Last summer was the first time in years that I did not have to rake out weeds. Our water is clean, clear and healthy and even the deer like to drink from it.
We are also using your Nature's Pond Dye in between our Nature's Pond Conditioner treatments and it has done a great job as well. Thanks for your commitment to the environment and to your customers.
Robert Goetz, Blissfield, MI
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