Five Steps to a Great Fall Water Feature Season!

Maybe it's because I fell in love with my husband during fall, but it is definitely my favorite season. The leaves are of course beautiful, there's a crispness in the air, flowers are still blooming, and it's not too hot out to enjoy an evening campfire. BUT... with the leaves falling and the air becoming cooler, it could be a real pain too. Here's my "how to" so that fall with your water feature can be a pleasure instead of a pain.

Step 1 -- If you do one thing... install a net over your water feature. Keeping the leaves out is super important to having less algae, a healthy ecosystem and if you have fish, important to them too. Without a net over it, it is impossible to keep enough falling leaves out. And don't just lay the net flat over your pond, you need to "hoop" it. Check out our displays in the backyard area of our store in late September. Laying a net flat over your pond is no better than not netting it at all. The leaves are still in the water, deteriorating. You can also watch our video below:

Step 2 -- Remove aquatic vegetation as it dies back. Discard tropical plants like water hyacinth and water lettuce. Cut back hardy plants.

This is another thing I like about fall -- this photo is from October
and this Tropical Lily is still in full bloom. I counted 4 blooms and
12 buds. It doesn't know winter is coming! 

Step 3 -- Keep treating ponds with beneficial bacteria. No matter how diligent you are, some debris and leaves will get in. It's important to keep adding beneficial bacteria to break that debris down. This will also help keep your water from becoming dark colored. Our BioClear and Clean can be used as long as the water temperature is above 50 degrees. Once the water dips below fifty degrees, we use our favorite cool water beneficial bacteria found here.

Step 4 -- Change your fish food. Speaking of water temperatures, while you're watching the temps for your bacteria, watch for fish food as well. If you feed your fish, when the water temperature falls to 65 degrees, switch to Cool Ponds Low Temp Fish Food. Read more about why here. And of course stop feeding for the season when the water temperature drops below 55 degrees!

Step 5 -- Take some time and enjoy your water feature. It's so easy to get busy with day to day life and forget to stop and enjoy your water feature that you have invested so much of yourself in. I know I plan to -- with my husband, of course!

Want to know more? Check out this post Favorite Fall Products for Your Water Feature.

Steve and Staci Wicker -- Celebrating 40 

years together November 2024!