Prepare Your Landscape Water Features for Fall and Winter

It is important to prepare your landscape water features for the coming fall and winter. You must perform your maintenance and preparation well before the coming frost. Much of your preparation will depend on the exact type of water feature you have in your landscaping, but these steps will help you determine the basic concern so you can prepare your own water feature for the cold weather of fall and winter.

Landscape water features usually involve a pump to recirculate the water in the pool, pond or waterfall. During fall's breezes, leaves from deciduous trees can be blown into your water feature. These can turn to muck as they disintegrate in the water, and that muck can be sucked into your pump, causing costly repairs or replacement. While filters will keep out the sizeable leaf particles, the sludge and muck often slips through.

Removing Your Water Pump

If you live in a region when winter arrives with freezing weather and the associated icing, you should remove your pump in fall, preventing the clogs from organic matter decaying as well as preventing freeze damage. As you remove the pump, clean the pump's exterior and clear the filter system or strainers using pond water since tap water can cause filtration systems which include sponge or foam to deteriorate due to the chlorine and other chemicals used to purify drinking water.

Be certain the impellor (pump blades) is clean and free of debris. Check any rubber seals to be certain they are still intact and flexible. You can purchase any replacement seals you need and have the pump prepared and ready to go for next spring.

If your filter system uses an integral ultraviolet clarifier to keep algae from forming, you'll need to replace the UV bulb each year. Do not be misled by a UV bulb that still lights up. The actual UV output of these bulbs is only effective for about 12 months and it must be replaced regularly to operate properly. Since these clarification bulbs work hard the through months of use, the fresh bulb will still be effective next spring, so why wait until then to replace it? If, however, you have no pond fish, you can choose to leave your pool or pond unfiltered and let hardy plants overwinter.

For pools or ponds, drain about half the water from the water feature so you can more easily remove plants and, if applicable, fish during fall and winter preparation. Next, remove potted plants from the water feature. Most water plants should be pruned so that about one-third of the foliage is removed. This prevents the foliage from dying and falling into the water, creating sludge, muck, and even methane gas.

If your water plants have grown too large, do not divide them in the fall or winter. Instead, leave that task for the spring so they plant is not weakened before the onset of winter. The plants should be cut back enough to allow them to be well beneath the top of the water when the water feature is refilled for winter survival.

Caring Of Fish And Plants

Catch all the fish you may have in the pond, placing them in a bucket filled with pond water. Then remove mulch and debris from the pond bottom. If debris is not removed, it will decompose under water and, if the water is covered with an ice layer, produce methane gas, killing plants and fish.

Replace the plants into the water feature, ideally so that their tops are a minimum of 1 1/2 to 2 feet below where the water will be when the water is at normal level. If you have no fish, you can allow the pond to freeze without replacing the pump because hardy plants will overwinter well.

Replace the pump, placing it 1 1/2 to 2 feet below the water surface. This will ensure the pump doesn't freeze. The pump should, ideally, circulate the top one-third or less of the pond water so that the deeper areas where fish hibernate remain undisturbed.

After the pond is refilled with conditioned water, put your fish back into the pond. Change your fish food from a high protein choice to one that has lots of carbohydrates. After the fall temperatures reach 50 degrees Fahrenheit, stop feeding the fish because they will have gone into hibernation and their metabolism will have slowed. Once the temperatures return to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, you'll need to return to feeding your fish.

The fish will need to have an opening in the ice over of the pond to survive. In moderate climates, simply place a pan of hot water on the ice. It is a really bad idea to beat on the ice with a hammer because the resultant shock waves can kill fish quite easily.

If your water feature is a fountain or small waterfall which recirculates the water, simply drain the water from the fountain, clean the pump, replace any deteriorated seals, and store until spring returns to your area.

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