GIVE PONDS AN AUTUMN M.O.T.
Don’t wait to clear out your pond – you’ll only regret it later! Do it this month, with a little help from Tamsin Hope Thomson’s foolproof how-to guide
Our guide to clearing out your water feature
By the end of summer, most ponds are looking a little tired – full of overgrown plants and weeds. And now is the ideal time to clear them out, as pond wildlife is less active when temperatures start to fall in the autumn.
It’s essential to clean your pond regularly to keep the water in a healthy condition. When there is a lot of debris in a pond, it falls to the bottom and creates sludge or silt, which reduces the levels of oxygen. This is not only harmful to wildlife and plants, but the pond will start to smell, too, as rotting vegetation releases methane gas. A thick layer of sludge also creates high levels of nutrients, which will help algae such as blanketweed to thrive in the spring.
In autumn, the main aim is to clear the water of all decaying vegetation, to improve the look of your pond and prevent problems next year. Tidy up plants to prevent any more foliage falling into the water and cut back spring or summer-flowering pond plants that have gone over. For most small pond clean-ups, you can simply remove weeds and sludge without taking out all the water.
However, if your pond has been neglected and requires a complete clearout, you will need large containers to hold some of the water – along with any fish you have. Once you’ve cleared out weeds and debris, return as much of the original water as possible to the pond, then top up the level using rainwater. If your pond is too large to drain using a bucket, you can hire a pump. Scoop up from the bottom, but don’t ditch all of it; save some to replace later. Clean the liner and then refill, carefully replacing plants and fish.
The good news is: once you’ve done your complete clean, as long as you keep up regular maintenance there shouldn’t be any need to do it again for another five years. Simply keep an eye on the balance of plants, water, fish and other wildlife, and you will have an attractive – and clear – garden pond to enjoy all year round.
“The aim is to prevent problems next year”