Ponds and water features are the ideal way to enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home as well as add peace and serenity to your home’s outdoor area. Unfortunately, maintaining a pond or a water feature in areas, such as Oakland County, MI, where snow is a yearly visitor is a challenging task. However, if you start your preparations early, you can easily prepare your pond and water features for the winter ahead.
In this article, we give you some handy tips on how to prepare your pond and other water features for the winter ahead.
Prepare Your Fish for the Winter Season
The first thing you must do as part of your preparations is to take care of the life inside ponds. If your pond has fish, switch to wheat germ-based food ahead of the winter season. Wheat germ food is much easier to digest compared to other foods and therefore, will help your fish store food for the season ahead. As the temperature hits 50 degrees, your fish will reduce their daily food intake and the fish will stop eat altogether after the temperature hits 40 degrees. During this time, they will depend on the food they have stored in their body.
In your attempt to bulk up your fish, do not overfeed them. Just give them enough food that they can finish in 5 minutes or so.
Next, Move Your Attention to the Plants
Aquatic plants are resilient and will be able to survive the harsh weather conditions of Oakland County, MI. However, there are a few things you can do to better prepare them for the winter season. If you want to rearrange your aquatic plants, make sure to do this during the warmer months. Once you are done rearranging the plants, remove all debris and dead leaves. Lastly, make sure all the plants are completely under the water. This will keep the plants from freezing solid during the harsh winters.
Do not Change the Water During the Winter Season
Fall is considered the ideal season to change the water in your pond. However, while changing the water, make sure to clean the pond of all kinds of dirt, debris and sediment. The dirt and debris eventually decompose over time and changes into Hydrogen Sulfide, a toxic gas that negatively affects the life within your pond. However, keep some of the old sediment and mud as fish often burrow into the sediment and mud during the winter season.
Install a Net During the Fall Season
Yet another thing that you must do during the fall season is cover the entire pond with a net. The net will protect your pond from the falling leaves and completely minimize the amount of debris in your pond. This simple exercise will, in turn, also reduce your maintenance and upkeep workload.
Last-Minute Preparations
Lastly, all your preparations are incomplete without a floating de-icer. A floating electric de-icer will create small gaps between the ice. These gaps will serve as the spot from where harmful gases can escape into the environment, thereby ensuring that the water is safe for fish and aquatic plants throughout the winter. That apart, also remove your motor pump and store it in a cool and dry place. A running motor pump will further decrease the pond’s temperature, making the pond inhabitable for fish and plants.
Key Takeaway
Caring for your pond and various water features during the winter season is not as hard as you think. If this particular reason has been behind your decision to not get a pond or water feature installed in your Oakland County, MI, home, do not worry. If prepared well, your pond and the life within it will easily survive the harsh Oakland County, MI, winters.
Looking for a Professional Hardscape Company for your Oakland County, MI Home?
Contact Sinacori Landscaping today. Call us at 248-651-5400. We hope to chat with you soon!