Chores, chores and more chores!

Yes, it has rolled around again. . . . Spring! As exciting as that is, it does bring a "downside" with it. That, of course, is the list of spring ponding chores.

Where do you start? The first thing I do is pull all the plants from the pond. I then clean all the muck and mire from the bottom. That sounds simple enough, but those water logged pots are heavy! As for cleaning out the bottom, if you did a proper fall cleanup and kept with things the gunk or mulm, in the pond won't be too thick. It will clean out pretty quickly with a pond vac or a wet and dry vac. If it is thick, those are still your best tools, but it will be a much more time consuming job. Now top off the water. Be sure you either treat the water or use untreated water. If you don't know what chemicals your water co. uses, call and ask. Chlorine will evaporate from water left out, uncovered for 48 or more hours, but some of the other chemicals used such as Chloramine must be treated or your fish will suffer and/or die.The poisons, Chlorine, Chloramine, and Pollutants by by Norm Meck Koi Club of San Diego ©© 1996 gives detailed instructions on how to treat your pond water for these chemicals.

Now check and clean your filters and pumps. The filters will probably need new medium. Make sure there are no cracks in the pump housing, and no frayed electrical cords. Hook everything up and do a trial run, if it is all in working order you are in business!

This is also the best time to check for leaks in the waterfall or sagging liner around the edges. I like to pull off the finish row of stones and make sure that liner is up where it needs to be. Then I put the stones back and play around with them to achieve the look I want for this year.

Ok, now the pond is all clean and full and the pump is up and running it is time to put the plants back. If you repotted in the fall, just rinse off the pots and pop them back in. If you did not repot in the fall check to see if they need it now, if so, then repot and put them back in the pond. The Water Garden gives some great instructions on how to do just that. Now is a good time to buy any thing new you may want to try or need to replace. We are just now getting temp. high enough to put out tropical lilies, but the hardies have a lot of growth. I just set out the water poppies and pennywort. Both are growing by leaps and bounds. On the subject of plants, this is the time to set out many of your pond side plants as well. The Hostas, ferns, Astilbes, and Goats Beard are up and growing. The Cannas have just started. New Guinea Impatiens, Impatiens, and Lobelia are doing well here in zone five.

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