I'm planning to never net my pond.

[GBBUDD]

I strongly suggest thinking about the flight path of birds. Now i may have gone a bit over board and installed a 20 foot tall telephone wood pole. from there a cable goes to the garage and another to the house . With a third cable trung across the two over the center of the pond. a growing hedge under one side and the other has the golf net. this gets slid back to the side like a swaged curtain and pretty much left that way . I to did not want a net over my pond while i was sitting on the patio.

 

[seandelevan]

I stopped netting my pond after I got tired releasing trapped birds from it everyday. Some cases they were already dead...caught and then drowned. Tons of birds use my pond to drink and bathe in. And then all of a sudden there’s a net there? But the last few years has been a pain netting up literal pounds of wet rotting leaves from my pond almost every day...and I still had to spend a day in spring trying clean up the mess. I dunno. Im at a loss as well what to do.

 

[Lisak1]

@seandelevan what if you built a more solid structure with tight screening instead of loose netting? I've seen people build almost a hut type structure out of PVC and then put netting or even screening - very taut - over that. The birds might run into it but they wouldn't get caught up in the netting. I guess much depends on the shape and size of your pond. The best idea I've seen for catching leaves is a tent shaped net over the pond so the leaves that fall on it slide right down. I can't imagine trying to haul a net full of wet leaves off the pond without creating even more of a mess than I had to start with! Luckily this isn't a real big problem for me... yet. The neighbor behind us planted two pin oaks, and we are starting to see more and more oak leaves in the fall. So far we do fine with the scooping in the fall and again in the spring.

 

[Janne]

No net = no fish for my urban pond. The feral cats, raccoons, and hawks daily scout the netted pond that also has a small shade-providing pergola in what otherwise would be a concrete inferno in my urban environment. The pond is small, 4000 gallons, 5' x 20' with 15 large (12" to 18") koi and several gold fish that I've had for 17 years. (After last year's spawn, there are also smaller fish that we're trying to catch for rehoming.) I wish there was a more attractive way to protect them...the net is unattractive. We do leave the bog (5' x 3') unnetted.
By the way...does anyone have any experience with floating pond protectors that can be found on eBay, the hexagonal plastic grids that connect to cover a pond?

 

[GBBUDD]

Hawks are looking at your fish . At least they won't be catching one. But they will gladly take a frog or a snake

 

[GBBUDD]

I don't know from having all kinds of fish over the years I'd lean toward fat bellies from over feeding before I see parasites. Spitting out the food can simply meanI thar piece was bad or stale .

 

[Lisak1]

does anyone have any experience with floating pond protectors

Not personally but I feel like someone once posted about something similar here. It's an idea worth pursuing for sure!

 

[addy1]

I stopped netting my pond after I got tired releasing trapped birds from it everyday. Some cases they were already dead...caught and then drowned.

I net mine anti heron, 3-4 feet over the surface of the pond, 4 inch wide weave gill net. The birds fly through it all of the time. Nothing trapped, even the bigger doves.

 

[Gingersherwood]

We're building our pond to be something beautiful and enjoyable all year round. I feel like netting it in the fall/winter would spoil that enjoyment.

What that means, I believe, is that I will have leaf debris—and a lot of it—to manage. No trees close by right now, but I'm going to plant some.

I wonder if the reason so many folks net their pond for fall/winter is because they also shut down the pumps and, therefore, no skimmer?

My plan to avoid having to net the pond is:

1. Don't turn off the pumps. I will plan to have a current in the pond, running towards the skimmer all year round.
2. Redirect the waterfalls. I will plumb my streams/waterfalls in a way where I can shut off the falls and redirect the water directly into the pond to act like big jets. That way, no risk of losing water to overflows from ice, but still keeping the water moving.
3. Negative edge skimmer. Once debris is out of the pond, it can't get back in. And the collection area is massive, so no need to tend to it constantly.

Is this enough? Anything I'm missing that would make the no-net plan stronger?

I net my pond simly to stop the large Heron's that I get regular visits from scoffing all my fish they are very determined buggers especially if they have joung to feed. Mines a small whole black net pulled tight on a frame so it doesn't really effect lthe viewing & watching my fish. At least I can rest and sleep without constantly watching my fish from the window. My babies are safe thats why I use a net there not that ugly if you fit them properly

 

[poconojoe]

Funny, we ended up talking about two types of (net) protection here.

One to keep leaves out, one to keep out/deter predators.

Both great subjects and all the ideas are very helpful.

 

[KeeperOfThePond]

I live out in the country in NW Arkansas. We have trees! I built my pond in 2014. The first year I used a vertical net on the southwest side of my pond to catch leaves blowing in from the ground. I now have yucca, zebra grass, and irises on the SW side. They help tremendously in catching the ground blowing leaves. I an retired and live being outdoors puttering around my pond. In the fall I'm out there daily scooping out leaves. One thing that I've found helpful is a mass of parrot feather plants floating on top of the water. They catch and hold the leaves until I can scoop them out. I have a skimmer and biofalls which, sadly, I can't run continually because I slowly lose water when it runs.

 

[Janne]

We're building our pond to be something beautiful and enjoyable all year round. I feel like netting it in the fall/winter would spoil that enjoyment.

What that means, I believe, is that I will have leaf debris—and a lot of it—to manage. No trees close by right now, but I'm going to plant some.

I wonder if the reason so many folks net their pond for fall/winter is because they also shut down the pumps and, therefore, no skimmer?

My plan to avoid having to net the pond is:

1. Don't turn off the pumps. I will plan to have a current in the pond, running towards the skimmer all year round.
2. Redirect the waterfalls. I will plumb my streams/waterfalls in a way where I can shut off the falls and redirect the water directly into the pond to act like big jets. That way, no risk of losing water to overflows from ice, but still keeping the water moving.
3. Negative edge skimmer. Once debris is out of the pond, it can't get back in. And the collection area is massive, so no need to tend to it constantly.

Is this enough? Anything I'm missing that would make the no-net plan stronger?

My small (3500 gal) pond is netted for the safety of the fish...to keep out feral cats, raccoons, opossums, and avian predators such as hawks. The net would have to be very fine to keep out the willow oak leaves in the fall and the catkins in the spring. i also run a skimmer pump year round...in hardiness zone 7b.

 

[JMJ]

My wife and I were just discussing how it’s constant combat against our neighbor’s live oak and our native evergreen holly tree with year round leaves falling. I half jokingly told her it would be so much easier having a screened frame or even building a greenhouse around the pond area.