For those who live in the Canton, Ohio; Youngstown, Ohio; and Akron, Ohio areas, pond winterizing is an important part of water garden maintenance. It ensures the health of your pond, aquatic plants, and—most of all—your fish for next spring. That’s why Hoffman’s WATER X SCAPES Garden Center offers several landscaping seminars focused on pond closing in the early fall. These seminars give homeowners throughout the Portage County, Ohio and Stark County, Ohio areas the opportunity to learn how to clean their pond filters, remove their pumps, install aerators, and more. As an added bonus, the experienced staff members at this Summit County, Ohio establishment also provide winterizing services for their customers’ convenience.
If you have a number of trees on your Akron, Canton, or Youngstown property, the experts at Hoffman’s WATER X SCAPES Garden Center recommend covering your pond with a net to keep leaves out. Leaves eventually decompose to form muck and add nutrients to your pond water. These nutrients feed algae, of which there are hundreds of varieties. To simplify things, they’ve been separated into two categories. The first category, referred to as green water/single cell algae, can turn your water anywhere from cloudy to pea-soup green. The second category is referred to as filamentous, string, or hair algae. This type of algae grows on rocks, liners, plants, and anything else it can cling to. The more nutrients you can keep out of your pond, the fewer nutrients you’ll have to worry about removing.
The experts at this local establishment will tell you that there are five major steps of pond winterizing/closing: 1) stop feeding your fish, 2) prepare your aquatic plants for cold weather, 3) clean your pond filters, 4) remove your pump, and 5) install a small de-icer and aerator. All five should happen around the time when water temperature has dipped below the 50° F mark and is not expected to rise above this temperature for any extended amount of time.
During their seminars on pond closing/winterizing, the staff members at Hoffman’s WATER X SCAPES Garden Center explain that pond filters break down fish waste and aquatic plants then consume the waste. That’s why it’s highly recommended that you stop feeding your fish first. Fish are cold blooded, and as temperatures drop their metabolism slows down. Any food left in their digestive tract can damage and even kill them. When you plan on closing down your pond for the season, make sure to stop feeding your fish when the temperatures get below 50° F and are headed south, but before filtration shutdown and plant winterization.
The next step is to properly winterize your pond plants. If you have water lettuce or hyacinths, be sure to remove them. You should also trim, clean up, and thin any submerged aquatic plants such as anacharis or hornwort. Hardy marginal plants should be cut back to 2” to 4” and returned to their place in the pond. Some hardy marginal plants such as pickerel rush, lizard tail, and chameleon plant should be placed in deeper water so their roots don’t freeze. Tropical marginal plants should be brought inside and treated like house plants. Put them in a sunny window and keep them well watered. If you don’t have a sunny location, keep them underneath a fluorescent/grow light. Hardy water lilies should be trimmed back to the top of the soil level, with the exception of the little sensor leaves. Tropical water lilies are usually disposed of and replaced in the spring.
After that, it’s time to clean the filter material within the mechanical and biological pond filters before storing them for the winter. The pump can be removed, cleaned, and stored for the winter in a bucket of distilled water somewhere that it can’t freeze. The distilled water will preserve the seals and won’t cause mineral buildup on the pump.
Finally, a small de-icer and aerator should be installed to prevent your pond from freezing over for an extended amount of time. Harmful gases from decomposing plant material trapped under the ice can kill fish. Trial and error has taught the folks at Hoffman’s WATER X SCAPES Garden Center that all fish, but particularly larger koi, survive winters in Summit County, Stark County, and Portage County much better using this combination of de-icer and aerator.
If you haven’t started working on your pond closing project yet, this should give you a basic idea of what you need to do in order to shut down the water garden in your Canton, Ohio; Youngstown, Ohio; or Akron, Ohio backyard for the season. However, if you need additional information about caring for your fish and aquatic plants, cleaning your pond filter, or installing an aerator, simply visit www.waterxscapes.com or give Hoffman’s WATER X SCAPES Garden Center a call at 330.896.9811. Though this Summit County, Ohio establishment will not be offering any more landscaping seminars on pond winterizing this year, their staff is always available to offer advice to homeowners throughout the Portage County, Ohio and Stark County, Ohio areas.
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Hoffman’s
WATER X SCAPES
Garden Center
1021 E Caston Rd
Uniontown, Ohio 44685
Ph: 330.896.9811 / 800.870.4479
www.waterxscapes.com