Advice needed on leaf net, please!

[Phaewryn]

I bought this leaf net (the smallest size sold) and as you can see it's still quite a bit larger than my pond. I'm torn between trimming it to fit better and leaving the extra on it so I can stretch that extra bit over to the edge of my retaining wall and just lift the other side and do a little flicky-flick from the front side (the side the first pic is taken from) and off the leaves go (in a perfect world). Should I resist the urge to trim it and just tuck it under somehow (like roll it up maybe)? How do you guys with rock edges anchor these nets down? How do you manage extra net? I'm just putting a rock on top of the net every foot or two around the edge, but a little worried about sharp rock edges cutting the net. Am I doing this completely wrong? It's my first leaf net, and I'm just guessing. That's a pool noodle with an extra tall fiberglass reflective driveway stake in the middle to make the arch to keep the net out of the fountain.

 

[bagsmom]

I roll mine kind of neatly and pull till it is taut. I tuck the rolled part underneath and use lots of rocks. I was more casual about it the first year I used a net and it was terrible for birds and chipmunks. They could get into the net but couldn't find their way out, then they got tangled up in the excess. I got everyone out in safely, but boy was it stressful and traumatic!

 

[Phaewryn]

I roll mine kind of neatly and pull till it is taut. I tuck the rolled part underneath and use lots of rocks. I was more casual about it the first year I used a net and it was terrible for birds and chipmunks. They could get into the net but couldn't find their way out, then they got tangled up in the excess. I got everyone out in safely, but boy was it stressful and traumatic!

Oh thank you! I would feel terrible if my neighbor's cat got tangled in the net! I hadn't even considered that animals might get trapped in it!I will be more careful about securing the excess!

 

[mrsclem]

I stopped using the bird-x netting as I was having snakes and frogs get tangled in it

 

[Phaewryn]

I stopped using the bird-x netting as I was having snakes and frogs get tangled in it

If I ever see a snake around here I will never go outside again. I don't think I have snakes or frogs, thankfully. But if I do find a snake trapped in it, it's getting the shovel and then the whole net idea is going in the trash and the pond is getting drained for the rest of the year and I will deal with reseating it back into the ground come next spring if the frost heaves it out of the hole (a thing I have heard can happen if you drain your preformed pond over the winter).

 

[addy1]

When I had preformed they both cracked over winter and even with some water in them they heaved. I heaved them that next summer dug a bit deeper and put in liners. Could not make the bigger ie wider due to space limitations.

 

[poconojoe]

You are doing great!
I wouldn't cut anything. Roll, tuck and lay rocks on it.

I like the noodle idea! Very creative and functional.

I use the same exact driveway markers!
Only my pond is much bigger, so I use pvc pipes in an arch, like your noodle. The ends of the pipes get slipped over the driveway markers.

One year we had a family tragedy and I didn't get the net on. We have a lot of trees. What a mess come Springtime.

 

[Phaewryn]

When I had preformed they both cracked over winter and even with some water in them they heaved. I heaved them that next summer dug a bit deeper and put in liners. Could not make the bigger ie wider due to space limitations.

Last two winters (have I had this two winters now?) I left it filled and heated it with a 300 watt aquarium heater and it was fine all winter. I was thinking of maybe not bothering doing that this year, but if yours cracked when they froze solid, perhaps I should bother. It's just a pain draining it come spring because inevitably something will have crawled in it and died by then. The rotten mouse carcass the first year was... ugh. It's a pain once the heater goes in and it's freezing outside because if the fountain malfunctions at all and the water freezes in a way to make an ice dam the pond drains itself and then the heater burns up, risks melting the pond liner, pump, or catching things on fire (the prefilter has a nice melted area on it from that exact thing and I already went though one heater). Maybe I will just fully cover it this year with pinkboard and take the fountain out and try just the heater alone, but I worry about having a fully covered pond with a 300 watt heater just cranking in there where I can't see if the water level is good or not and I'm not sure it will work with no circulation. Before I was using an old storm window (I know, I know, glass over the pond) but I got rid of that so I have to devise a new cover before it gets that cold this year. The storm window:

 

[Phaewryn]

You are doing great!

I like the noodle idea! Very creative and functional.

Thanks! The pool noodle also matches my chair. I figured that was bonus.

 

[addy1]

I left it filled and heated it with a 300 watt aquarium heater and it was fine all winter

I would get a pond heater, one that only turns on if it is cold enough. I put one of them in my hot tub pond as a just in case.

 

[bagsmom]

Just for fun, I'm sharing my net - now covered with tulle to keep acorns from falling in. We got it on just in time!

 

[Phaewryn]

I would get a pond heater, one that only turns on if it is cold enough. I put one of them in my hot tub pond as a just in case.

A pond heater would also probably run all the time in Vermont and uses 1200watts, and only makes a hole in the ice. My 300 watt aquarium heater keeps the whole pond open most of the winter. If my goal is to keep the liner from cracking, the more open the better, so why pay more money to do a less effective job? The GFCI it is on is shared by my microwave, if I put a pond heater on it, it's going to trip every time I use the microwave and the pond heater is on at the same time. I just need to secure it better this year so it stays away from the plastic things and in the water and manage the fountain better so the pond water stays in the pond.

 

[Phaewryn]

Just for fun, I'm sharing my net - now covered with tulle to keep acorns from falling in. We got it on just in time!

Now I am really glad I got the small net that is already acorn-proof!

 

[addy1]

A pond heater would also probably run all the time in Vermont and uses 1200watts, and only makes a hole in the ice.

Mine is not that type. It only turns on if the water gets below xx temp, like high 30's it sits on the bottom of the hot tub pond. It uses 300 or less watts need to look. Never keeps a hole open in the ice. We use it in the tub due to two things, we never drained all the lines and plugged them ie they could crack and it is insulated but can freeze up in a bad winter. So it is a just in case of a real bad winter heater.

I run a pond breather in that pond, since it has fish, fan tails. Also a pond breather in the 1000 gallon pond and the big pond. The rest are on their own, no fish unless some wandered in via eggs.

 

[bagsmom]

Now I am really glad I got the small net that is already acorn-proof!

Absolutely!!!!!! Those acorns are no fun to deal with!