Hello everyone! I was looking at my pond today and thinking it needed pond maintenance! It’s not looking very beautiful at the moment. Last fall I forgot to net it before leaves began dropping so the water is a tea color and there are bits of plant matter stuck between the rocks. Lucky for me though- my hubby does pond maintenance for a living!

Springtime for pond owners means pond maintenance. Cleaning a pond is a simple process but rather nasty at times. Here is the basic process, step by step to maintain your pond.

1. Have your hose spigot turned on so you can get water!  (It’s hard to clean and refill the pond if the outside water source is still in winter mode!)

2.  If you have fish, start pumping water into a container of some sort.  After its filled a few inches, catch any fish you may have overwintering in your pond.  Keep pumping the water into the container. Remember to acclimate them to the new temperature and water parameters.

3. As the water is removed, you will be able to check the rocks around the edges and bottom. Scoop out dead plant matter, trim plants back, remove excess root masses etc.  This is a good time to separate and cut back cattails. 

4. Flush your rocks, stream, and filter mats.  Pump this nasty water out of the pond.  Only on extremely dirty ponds do we pressure wash them. 

5. Start refilling the pond using your garden hose.  You can recycle the water in the storage container too.  Add some beneficial bacteria to the pond to kick start a good ecosystem.

6. When the water is deep enough, reintroduce the fish to the pond. 

7. Fill the pond completely.  Put the filter mats in place, check the skimmer for any floating debris, and sit back and enjoy!

​For more information, check out Aquascape’s Pond Maintenance tips here.   Watch the Spring Clean out video to see how Aquascape technicians power wash the pond rocks.

For those of you who don’t stomach the smell of rotting vegetation or relish finding dead frogs, please contact us!