We have a pond, my husbands domain. No, he doesn’t live there but he loves it and looks after it. He dug the hole, built the hypertufa brick edging installed the pump, filter, fish (Goldfish) and plants. We both love the sound of the water and the peacefulness it brings, as well as the dragonflies, critters and the odd duck but along with the rest of the garden there are chores that go with it, including prepping it for winter. There is no doubt the ambience a pond provides far outweighs the seasonal chores however.

The plants in and around the pond are like the rest of my garden, packed in and very organized chaos.

First the water is lowered a little. The Lilies have pieces of styrofoam attached to fishing line on their pot . They are tidied up and are lowered to the bottom – about three feet. The styrofoam makes it easy to raise the pots in the spring. The Iris, Marigold and other plants that sit below water line at the edge of the pond are tidied up and put on a lower pond shelf that was built into the form and shape of the pond under water.

It is no fun when pots go to the bottom and you don’t know where they are. More than one dog has jumped enthusiastically into the pond taking plants and and pots with it. My dogs have accidentally stepped too far on occasion but large dogs love the sight of a big water hole in the garden and it is usually the first place they head when visiting. We are able to have a good laugh as they try to get out taking more plants to the depths, pond weed straining between their teeth but finding the pots is not quite so amusing. You may think it easy but between all the oxygenating green pond plants and a dark lining, they are very hard to find. It is sometimes a matter of wading in, the easy part. Climbing out of a slippery, slimy three feet deep, sloped edge pond with old legs is no easier for the human than the dog!

The filter and pumps come out for a good cleaning and are then stored for the winter.

As we have small dogs we don’t want to see them going through the ice in winter so a protective screen is placed over the top. Before this is done however, a stock tank heater is placed in the pond ready for when it tries to freeze over. This is very important to keep oxygen in the water for the fish. We know fish are cold blooded but watch them in winter as they cosy up to the heater going round in circles! The fish are not fed in winter and remain fairly inactive but they love that heater.

So that’s it until Spring when the reverse happens and the Marigolds bloom.