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Pond Maintenance 101-Outside Factors

We have covered some valuable topics in our Pond Maintenance 101 Blog Series. Now that your expectations are in line with what a pond should look like, you know the steps you need to take before you treat, and you have a basic understanding of the products you need; there is one last topic we need to discuss, outside factors. Several outside factors can make or break your pond maintenance efforts: stagnant water, discarding debris into pond, fertilizer runoff, and shoreline maintenance.

While some bodies of water are aerated naturally, most ponds would benefit from mechanical aeration. This will help prevent three factors that will cause an imbalance in your pond’s status. These are stratification, pond turnover and the death of fish stock.

Do not throw debris into the pond. All excess debris floating in the pond will sink and become muck and organic material on the pond floor. This material will become a food source for algae and weeds. Always mow grass away from the pond so the mower doesn’t throw grass clippings on the pond’s surface. As well, do not deposit lawn clippings, weeds, or Christmas trees into your pond.

Take care fertilizing around your pond. Fertilizing your lawn ensures it will be lush and green. The same fertilizer that turns your lawn green will turn your pond green, too. This is because excessive amounts of fertilizer entering a pond will accelerate algae and weed growth and will be very difficult to manage and eliminate. When fertilizing your lawn, keep 5 to 10 feet away from your pond’s shoreline. As well, try to use low phosphorous or no phosphorous fertilizer near or around your pond.

Proper shoreline maintenance. Maintaining the area 5 feet around the shoreline of your pond is crucial to keeping your pond healthy. Reduced mowing will keep the grass longer and this will help filter any run-off that may contain fertilizers or other harmful waste products. To be exact, shorelines should have grass at least 4 inches tall along with rocks and additional vegetation. This will filter any harmful products from the pond and will reduce erosion of its banks substantially.

This concludes our Pond Maintenance 101 Blog series. We look forward to helping you maintain a beautiful pond you will be proud of.

Expectations

Before You Treat

Products

Outside Factors (Current Post)

For more information on pond maintenance contact Sanco.