The Home Depot
Winterizing a Pond in colder Climates
For cold weather gardeners, water gardens need to be outfitted for winter weather. You can either close them up for the winter or add a deicer to keep the water garden up and running through cold weather.
A rushing waterfall surrounded by snow and ice and crusted stones is a beautiful site in winter. You can enjoy your waterfall or stream in all seasons by designing for this result. First of all the water depth in the stream with the re-circulating pump should be at least four to six inches deep so it doesn’t freeze.
This is especially important because a single chuck of ice or snow can create a damming effect. The deeper the stream the less likely this is to happen. In the pool portions there should be a deep zone where the pump is set. It should be at least 24 inches and regions where temperatures drop to -20 and 36 inches where the temperatures get to -40. The pump needs to stay in the water or it stops pumping and the freezing temperatures can ruin the seals as well. Even your fish can take the coldest of winters if the water is deep enough in the surface does not totally freeze over. In climates where winter temperatures can plunge to -30 or lower, water gardeners can over winter their fish and some plants by using a deicer to keep the surface open. If your water garden is small you don’t want to run it over the winter you can simply close down the water garden for the season. Simply, bring the pumping doors per storage and let the water garden freeze for the winter.
If you have fish you can remove them and keep them indoors for the winter in a small tank. Depending on the plant your climate in your pond you can over winter plants in a couple of different ways. Keep in mind that tropical plants will not over winter outdoors and will have to be replaced like annual flowers in your gardens in spring. The easiest method of over wintering plants is keeping them right where they are in your pond. Your pond must have enough water volumes so that all the water does not freeze solid. If your pond has a 100 gallons in area where temperatures don’t dip below -20, its going to be fine; you’ll probably be okay, in colder zones your pond must have at least 500 gallons to ensure that the bottom of the pond wont freeze in winter.
Second your pond must have areas that are deep enough to stay fluid. As a rule of thumb your pond should have about an inch of depth for every degree below zero of the temperature falls. In areas with an average minimum of -10 the deep zone should be 20 inches. In areas with average minimums of -20 the deep zone should be 24 inches. In areas with average minimum of -30 the deep zone should be 30 inches. In areas with average minimums of -40 the deep zone should be 36 inches.
If your pond is large enough and deep enough you can then cut back plants that are cold hardy, such as hardy water lilies and many marginal plants. And set them into the deep zone for winter keeping. If your pond is smaller you can run the deicer in the pond for the winter. Tropical water plants must be brought in doors well before you're regions expected first frost if you want to over winter them. They can tolerate freezing temperatures. Some plants will do just fine indoors in a cool space such as an attached garage or a basement with no light just bring them indoor in their pots and set them in a large tip of water that comes half way off the pots.
Don’t cover the top of the soil surface with water, since it will encourage the crown to rot. Change the water at least every two weeks, taros, umbrella palms and other water garden plants that prefer light shade do especially well in this situation. You can also over winter your water gardens residence. Koi and goldfish can spend the winter indoors if you decide to let your water garden freeze, but if your water garden is large enough and has an appropriate deep zone or if you're willing to run a deicer all winter in a small pond cold hardy fish will do fine left outdoors any tropical fish the type you would normally keep in an aquarium will definitely need to be brought indoors.
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