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| Ecosystem Pond with Stream |
At Poseidon Ponds & Landscaping we are often asked by our clients, "Do I need to clean my water feature this year?" (Water Feature can mean a pond, waterfall or fountain) There are certainly many factors that could bring about a yes or no answer to this question.
Typically many of the concerns people have before purchasing and having a pond installed revolve around the topic of how much maintenance will be involved. To be completely honest, from years of trade shows, garden tours and other events when I am face to face with potential clients the first reaction when they see a water feature of any kind is, "That looks like way too much maintenance for me." The good news is they are less maintenance than the lawn or garden they replaced. Better yet, manufacturers like Aquascape, Inc., have developed and tested many revolutionary tools to reduce the already low maintenance.
The topic of this article often creates a level of confusion because two terms are often used to describe the maintenance preformed in the Spring months. One term is cleaning and the other term is opening, so lets shed some light on this.
What Does A pond, Waterfall Or Fountain Cleaning Mean?
At Poseidon Ponds & Landscaping we define the cleaning of a water feature as the process by which we restore the overall look as if it was just recently installed. The cleaning of your pond, waterfall or fountain may include the following:
- drain the feature completely, remove the wildlife (Fish, Frogs, etc.) and safely place them into a holding tank.
- wash the feature with a heavy spray of water (sometimes a power washer is required)
- vacuum loose debris from the feature and trim back aquatic plants
- re-stack rocks, check lighting and install equipment
- begin refilling the pond
- safely acclimate and release wildlife
- turn system back on and check overall performance
What Does A Pond, Waterfall or Fountain Opening Mean?
At Poseidon Ponds & Landscaping we define the opening of a water feature as the process by which we simply get the system up and running without a full cleaning. Technically the opening process is included in the cleaning process. The opening of your pond, waterfall or fountain may include the following:
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| A very beautiful and healthy green frog being added to a holding tank for safe keeping during a pond cleaning performed by Poseidon Ponds & Landscaping |
- remove debris from skimmer, pump chamber, or waterfall vault by skimming with a net
- install equipment and check lighting
- turn system back on and check the overall performance
- trim back aquatic plants if requested
As you can see they are typically one in the same, one just has more steps involved. So now that we have described the difference between a cleaning and and opening of a pond, waterfall or fountain we should look at the reasons for and the reason for not cleaning the water feature.
Reasons For Cleaning Your Pond, Waterfall Or Fountain
Typically the top reason our clients request for their pond, waterfall or fountain to be cleaned is simply because they would like for it to look like it was brand new or recently installed. Here are some other reasons that you would want to clean you water feature.
- The water color is brown from the breakdown of leaves or other organic debris (Looks like a giant cup of tea)
- The water color is green throughout from excess nutrients causing an algae bloom (Looks like pea soup)
- The water color is almost black with very little visibility, possibly from the death of wildlife (Looks almost like cola)
- When standing by the pond you smell a noxious odor similar to ammonia
- It was a very harsh winter and all wildlife, including your fish have died
- The size of the water feature has seemed to have shrunk from either excess plant growth or too much debris build up on the bottom of the pond
- You are constantly having to remove debris from your pump or filter media
- The flow of water in you fountain, waterfall or stream seems weak.
- You prefer to have an annual cleaning to keep the maintenance of the feature during the season as low as possible.
- It makes you feel much more comfortable to have a professional clean the pond, waterfall or fountain each year to make sure the equipment is functioning properly, the feature is in good condition and to fix an issues before they become much worse.
- You would like a new look, maybe redoing a waterfall or changing out some rocks
- And as stated above you really like when the pond, waterfall or fountain looks like it was just recently installed.
Reasons For Not Having Your Pond, Waterfall Or Fountain Cleaned
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| Blue Flag Iris next to a waterfall in a pondless waterfall feature |
There are certainly many reasons that you would have for wanting to clean your pond, waterfall or fountain, so what are some reasons for not having the feature cleaned? We honestly prefer to have our clients do an annual cleaning, but we fully understand that not every one does. It is important for us to be completely open and honest, take our business hat off per say, so here are some of the reasons we hear for not having your pond, waterfall or fountain cleaned.
- The pond or waterfall is well balanced and we do not want to disrupt the ecosystem
- The fish are extremely important and the cleaning might harm them
- The washing may damage the plants, rock or liner
- Everything looks fine and we don't see a need to have it done
- The cost of the cleaning is too much
Many of our clients choose to have the cleaning done biannually instead of annually and we are happy to help in any way. We offer our best recommendations for the water feature and then the rest is up to you. We keep detailed records of all our water features and the factors that may change the ability to keep the maintenance low.
What Do I Do If I Just Want To Have A Conversation About My Pond, Waterfall or Fountain With A Professional?
Each and every year we are contacted by homeowners that have owned a home or just purchased a home with a pond, waterfall or fountain and seek us out for guidance. The typical inquiry that we get is, "help! we have this water feature and have no idea what to do." So here are some helpful tips to get you started with our consultation services.- Take pictures of the pond, waterfall or fountain for us to see while we are talking with you. (Typically we like a couple wide view pictures from different angles, shots of equipment, the closest electrical outlet or water faucet. Take as many as you think will be helpful for us to see.)
- Try to take some measurements of the feature or be able to relate the size to something familiar. (i.e. It's about the size of a mini van)
- Try to have some measurements of the distance between the water feature and the power source and or water source.
- Let us know what the access to the pond, waterfall or fountain is like so we know how easy it is to get to your water feature.
- The more information you can provide to us the better we will be able to advise you on what needs to be done.
Owning a pond, waterfall or fountain certainly doesn't need to be difficult, so be sure to contact us to see what we can do to educate you and set your mind at ease. For more educational information be sure to visit www.poseidonponds.com or for more inspiration visit our Facebook page and start following us!
Appreciatively Yours,
Cory Mann
"Poseidon Pond Mann"
Great post.
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