Winterizing

[~ jan jjspond]

Zone 7, koi ponds are now completely screened. Cannas are out of the pond
and in containers waiting for frost to knock them back. Taros up on the
patio to be debugged before bringing in. D.pond closing got pushed back a
week, hope that doesn't bite us in the butt. Lily pond will be closed down
as soon as I've saved enough milk bottles to help support the screen. ;o)

How about you, what is your zone and what have you done so far to
>>prepare<< for hibernation? ~ jan

[Gale Pearce]

> Zone 7, koi ponds are now completely screened. Cannas are out of the pond
> and in containers waiting for frost to knock them back. Taros up on the
> patio to be debugged before bringing in. D.pond closing got pushed back a
> week, hope that doesn't bite us in the butt. Lily pond will be closed down
> as soon as I've saved enough milk bottles to help support the screen. ;o)
>
> How about you, what is your zone and what have you done so far to
> >>prepare<< for hibernation? ~ jan
Hi Jan - you are heading for hibernation and I am thinking about installing
a skimmer! - but, yes , I am dialing back the pond for the winter - cut all
my lotus pots back , ready to be dropped into the pond for winter - still
have to "fish " out the rest of the water lettuce and trim back the hardy
lilies to the crown - I don't "net" my pond anymore - I scoop out the leaves
until it freezes over and will have my airstone in in a couple of weeks -
then I just have to clean and dry my filter media for next year
Gale :~)

[CanadianCowboy]

I plan on covering the pond with a plastic liner.
Do I need to have some kind of open hole somewhere for oxygen ?

~ jan jjspond wrote:
> Zone 7, koi ponds are now completely screened. Cannas are out of the pond
> and in containers waiting for frost to knock them back. Taros up on the
> patio to be debugged before bringing in. D.pond closing got pushed back a
> week, hope that doesn't bite us in the butt. Lily pond will be closed down
> as soon as I've saved enough milk bottles to help support the screen. ;o)
>
> How about you, what is your zone and what have you done so far to
>
>>>prepare<< for hibernation? ~ jan
>
>

[Gale Pearce]

> I plan on covering the pond with a plastic liner.
> Do I need to have some kind of open hole somewhere for oxygen ?

That depends on your pond volume/depth and fish load as well as amount of
decaying plant material in the pond - it is best to keep a hole open either
by heater or airstone to allow gas exchange - in T.O. where you are (I
believe) you have a colder winter than me in the "sunbelt" (35 mi east of
Windsor) and may need a heater as well. Large fish suffer the most from lack
of o2 and if you have large fish (~12"), I would make sure the pond floor
was as clean as possible and a hole was open with either an airstone or
heater- If you use a heater, you can cut down on the hydro bill by using a
timer or manually plugging it in and unplugging it as needed to maintain a
hole open at least every other day
Gale :~)

[///Owen\\\\\\]

~ jan jjspond wrote:
> Zone 7, koi ponds are now completely screened. Cannas are out of the
> pond and in containers waiting for frost to knock them back. Taros up
> on the patio to be debugged before bringing in. D.pond closing got
> pushed back a week, hope that doesn't bite us in the butt. Lily pond
> will be closed down as soon as I've saved enough milk bottles to help
> support the screen. ;o)
>
> How about you, what is your zone and what have you done so far to
>>> prepare<< for hibernation? ~ jan

So far, I've done nothing except cut back on the feeding..... but I must
start.

John (zone 9 - yes folks, there's a sone 9 in the Great White North)