Over Wintering Pond Plants

[Kale]

What Do You Do?
I usually remove/clear out all leaves and debris from bottom of Pond then place a bubbler down at the lowest point (about 19inches) then cover real well with my mini greenhouse and added plastic and bricks all around the pond.It is a small preform 90gal.Fish survived.
I lost most plants because they were not in pond but in buckets with water that froze.that was 2007-08.
Fall 08 I took all water out of pond, couldn't control the green water properly, was insulted by who I though was my friend so I took it apart feeling like a failure.No matter how hard I tried algae .I need to keep the pond going (it is still nearly Crystal clear!) I have fish in there and frogs that think they need to go in there in the dead of winter.Besides I sure couldn't catch all those frogs*LOL
Main plants are Iris, lily pad (tiny root ) grass that doesn't bloom, and a tall plant (name escapes me now) that blooms purple flowers.(I just like the foliage)

Any input will go noticed!
How do you over winter your plants?


Thank you !
Kale

 

[Scarez]

Gosh, you really work on yours, huh?

Not me. lol (surprised?) I'm too tired and in pain too much to spend time anymore on anything out there. Last winter I managed to clean out any dead leaves (*pats self on back) and threw a broom handle into each pond (to keep an air hole in case it froze). On the rare occasion that I 'knew' it was going to reach freezing temps, I covered the pond with a tarp. Didn't own a bubbler.

All in all, it worked just fine. My Iris and Water Lily plants grew again, my little fish were happy little campers. And all despite my fretting through the whole winter that my pond wasn't going to make it

 

[Kale]

Scarez,
I bet your pond is deeper then 19 inches!
Do you just leave all plant life in your pond?
Have you posted pics of your pond that I can see?
I can't recall what we have spoken of in the past and pressed for surfin time. It is BEAUTIFUL outside NOW!!!!!!!!!! And my meeting was canceled (found out after I got there UGHHHH but..I'm going outside and will look when I come in
Catch you when the sun goes down...soon...
Kale

 

[Carolyn22]

Kale

We cut all of our plants back so they don't fall into the pond when they die back. If they were to fall into the pond, they would rot and foul the water. The waterlilies are also cut back and a good vacuuming is done before everything is shut down. Your plnats should survive if they are hardy to your zone - Yes, our pond is larger than yours, however the jist is still the same. You will want to keep a hole in the ice if you have any fish in your pond - a cattle trough heater will do fine.

 

[Kale]

WELCOME CAROLYN22,
I plant to close the pond up and as stated above, I place a bubbler, (plug enclosed in a container) one has to be careful not to pop a hole in ice and force the gases downward,you will end up killing all your little buddies.
I wasn't sure as to where to put my grasses and such.I have cut everyone down but didn't want the Soil and sand to get my clear water (YES! Still clear even today YIPPIE!)
Wonder if I can just pull the plants out of the pots, bag them in my large zip locks and sink them, even thought they weren't sunk during the season? I have a large shelf they reside on, just the bottoms are in the water.I do not have a vacuum for the pond
My pond doesn't usually freeze solid one spot where the bubbler is stays releasing the gases.


Not certain what to do with those plants..sink them pots and all?

AGAIN..Welcome!
Thank-you.
Kale

 

[Scarez]

Hi Carolyn22, and welcome from me too!

My plants are all sunk. Yes, I do reach in there are pull of any yucky stems, until it gets too cold to do so, or my body screams at me "omg, what are you doing woman!"

Hmm, gonna find some pics for ya. Back in a while. My hands are hurting right now.
And if I ever find my yardstick, I'll measure that puppy, but I'm pretty it's around 2 foot, less when the water evaporates.

 

[Scarez]

I'm at the wrong computer, but this one's the only one that goes online.
So I found an old photo, from last September. Will need to wait until our computer situation is solved b4 I can find pics from this summer, sorry!

Now I can't seem to get the picture small enough to load.


back later

 

[Trax]

Scarez: That's a really great looking pond setup! It looks similar to my friend's pond. I helped with his pond last summer (mostly water hyacinth with light purple flowers) and now I'm wanting to setup a pond myself.
I tried to overwinter the hyacinth but didn't know what I was doing and it died. Since your broom handle and tarp method seems to work, what I'd like to know is what kind of lilies did you grow? Also, what kind of fish did you keep in it?
Thanks for any information.

 

[Gloria]

I have a hyacinth problem..Hubby and I had a pond dug a few years ago. I'm not talking the cute little gold fish pond..we dug a 35 ftX 65 ft pond! I wanted a natural pond with catfish, brem, bass and a load of ducks swimming around. RJ brought home a small bag of hyacinth from a friends pond and now we can't see the water for the hyacincth. It doesn't die because our winters are not cold enough to kill it. It continues to multiply. I read about a poison that will help control it but it sounds too dangerous to try. We tried scooping it out but there's too much of it and it's very heavy with all the hairy roots that have grabbed the water like a sponge. Any suggestions besides filling in the pond and growing a garden there?

 

[RonsGarden]

Well Gloria!
What can I say?
Taker beware!
Now you know why they were being given away!
Hmm?
You can start a very large compost pile just for them!
Just keep pulling them out until you have them under control!!!
Good luck!
Maybe you can hire some kids to do the dirty job! They will have fun and get paid for having fun!

 

[Crabbergirl]

I have a hyacinth problem..Hubby and I had a pond dug a few years ago. I'm not talking the cute little gold fish pond..we dug a 35 ftX 65 ft pond! I wanted a natural pond with catfish, brem, bass and a load of ducks swimming around. RJ brought home a small bag of hyacinth from a friends pond and now we can't see the water for the hyacincth. It doesn't die because our winters are not cold enough to kill it. It continues to multiply. I read about a poison that will help control it but it sounds too dangerous to try. We tried scooping it out but there's too much of it and it's very heavy with all the hairy roots that have grabbed the water like a sponge. Any suggestions besides filling in the pond and growing a garden there?

Here we have them naturally, so the state sprays for them which by the way I hate, We just drg them out of the water with a long handle rake. Watch for snakes of all kinds, they love hyacinths. If you leave them out of the water and dry them in the sun they can then go to the compost.

 

[Trax]

Re-copy, edit, and paste: Okay, I'm convinced! Maybe a small pond for hyacinth and a bigger pond for water lilies and stuff (other side of the yard). I hope it attracts some interesting snakes cause I love taking photos!

 

[Gloria]

Sorry that this pic is so blurry, I'll remove it later. It's so humid here that my lens fogs up and I can't get a good pic right now. But here is a glimps of my problem. RJ and I have decided that as soon as possible, we'll hire the track-hoe man again and dig it out. Sure hate that cause we'll lose all the fish.

 

[Treva]

Gloria Get Muscovey ducks!!!
They eat them!
I had a few in my small pond and the ducks ate them along with all other water plants and a few goldfish!
Needless to say I know longer have muscovy ducks!
But looks like you could use them!

 

[Trax]

Gloria: Omg! That's a jungle! Treva has a good point, though. Every plant has definite enemies. If you can find one with a huge appetite (maybe the ducks), that might be easier. Best of luck with that project and please keep us posted!

 

[Crabbergirl]

Muscovy's are dirty little birds! Gloria , that's alot of weeds! Looks like our river bank. Goto Watergarden.com they have all kinds of orgainc agua safe weed control. Might be cheaper than the backhoe guy. Just a thought.

 

[Gloria]

I've heard about the ducks and I'll do more research, it can't hurt. So you know it wasn't always this bad..here's a pic when we first added the Hyacinth. I liked my back yard and pond..now it's awful. I've moved most all the flowers because snakes will hide under them and I just don't care to look at the pond.

 

[Treva]

Gloria i am sorry you have had to go through this!
I know the ducks will work...i did not have one piece of one water plant left! lol

 

[Gloria]

Treva, I'd gladly give up all the water plants and fish for the return of a Hyacinth free pond. I could always restock and start over and with the things that's non-invasive. Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to look into it.

 

[Treva]

The ducks wont bother any fish except gold fish...we have brim and bass inthe big pond they never touched!