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New to each store are the expanded water gardening departments. Our pond experts can assist you in designing and assembling a pond from the ground up or help you to add onto your existing structures. Forms, heavy liners, pumps, water treatments, fountains, aquatic plants and live fish (in season) are plentiful. Among those varieties stocked are koi, butterfly, ghosts, comets, moores, fantails, shubunkins, snails, tadpoles and crayfish. Our water gardening staff offers seminars to help you to put your pond to sleep for the winter and wake it up for the next season. More questions? Email an expert at strawberryponds@optonline.net.
Strawberry Blossom Presents:
Water Garden Seminar - Spring Pond Startup
Saturday, March 29
Strawberry Blossom: 10 AM
Plochs Garden Center: 1 PM
Preparing Your Pond for the Season
- Clean up
- Inspection
- Equipment Startup
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Using Liquid Treatments for:
- Algae Control
- Fish Health
- Water Quality
- Plant Health
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*Questions and Answers
*Free Gifts
*Free Raffle
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Spring Time in the Water Garden
All winter our ponds and fish have set in a dormant slumber but now its spring again and its time to bring our ponds back to life.
To start, once the ice has cleared, we need to examine our liner for rips and tares that may have occurred over the winter and repair them.
Next, using a net or skimmer net, remove all left over leaves and debris from last fall getting the floor of the pond as clean as possible.
This tends to stir up a lot of muck and silt so restarting your filter at this time is a good idea.
Before you do that, you need to inspect all of the equipment for ware. (Hopefully your filters and pumps that were removed in the fall or winter have been cleaned and stored in a safe place out of extreme weather.)
Examine them for cracks, damaged and worn seals; replace as needed.
Next check pump, paying close attention to the water inlet and impeller then, put it back into the pond.
Check all hoses and tubing for cracks and kinks (it's a good rule of thumb to replace every few years) then reattach to pump and filter and or spillway. Plug in pump. If your pond has a skimmer it may be necessary to add water to pond to increase water level to midway on the skimmer opening. (Always add a dechlorinator and fish stress reliever when adding water to pond.)
Now that your pond is up and running, it is time to attend to the water quality and fish health.
First adding beneficial bacteria to you pond and filter will help brake down what sludge is left over and start to clarify your water. And once your fish start to eat the bacteria will help break down harmful fish and food waste. (Additional clarifiers may be needed)
Fish can be feed a cool water food once the water temperature reaches 40 F then at 50 F and up a staple food can be used.
A 20-50% water change is recommended, but the drastic water temperature change from adding large amounts of water can be dangerous to fish so do it over the coarse of a few days to a week 10-20% a day.
Remember to add a dechlorinator when adding water and once finished add pond salt. Pond Salt helps the fish fight off bacterial and parasitical infections by thickening the slime coat and increasing gill function.
Observe your fish for cuts, abrasions and other signs of health problems, treating them now can ward off larger problems as the water temperature rise.
And finally water plants need to be brought back to life. Most hardy marginal plants should have been put into the deepest parts of the pond for the winter and can now be separated if needed and repotted. One this is done replace them around the ponds margin again.
Water lilies may need to be divided and repotted spring is the time to do this. Be sure not to put lilies to the bottom of the pond until some leaves have grown. Set them on a rock or an over turned pot just below the surface until the new growth has started the lower them slowly to the bottom over the course of a few days. Now your pond is up and running so enjoy it.
Click here to see information about AUTUMN / WINTER WATER GARDEN PREPARATION.
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