Pond netting

[teeemkay]

I put the leaf net on the pond today and wanted to share a couple pictures so people can see how I set it up. I hated cutting down the pond plants and pulling out the water lettuce as they were still very green despite the freeze we had last night, but it was time.

Anyway, it took me about 10 minutes to install the net... I shut off the falls so I could walk in that path and get the net stretched past the rocks along the edge, then worked my way around the rest of the edges securing the net with rocks or bricks or whatever was handy (you can see the owl statue on the ground in the first pic) and a couple pegs that go into the ground. The net is about 4-5" from the surface of the pond and 2-3" from the path for the falls. I left enough slack by the skimmer box in case I need to clean off the skimmer net.

Here's a full view of the pond before I put on the net. The net covers all the water surface areas. So now everything is ready for the big leaf drop I expect in the next couple of weeks. I usually pull the net by December 1st as I don't like leaving it on all winter in case I have to put de-icers in the water.

 

[addy1]

Nice, for some reason our huge maple and the apples near the pond dropped their leaves a month plus ago. So no worries about leaves! Every single one missed the ponds.

 

[teeemkay]

Most of time it just depends if we get any really bad windy days once the leaves fall. Once the leaves on the trees that are very close to the pond drop, there's not too much to worry about... but if we get one of those high wind warning days with 40mph gusts, it seems like every fallen leaf from the yard and from a 5-block radius ends up in the pond.

 

[addy1]

We lucked out, they dropped early, the wind blew them away from the pond. The back woods, those leaves never get that far.

 

[Limeymotors]

A good source for free nets is athletic clubs . most soccer ,lacross goals netting are replaced often and the old nets are tossed out. I work for a private high school and get all my nets this way. -Duncan

 

[Faebinder]

My three trees covering the pond are still in early stages of dropping.

 

[qclabrat]

larger leaves starting to fall is this weekend. I'll need to do a better job covering the pond on the waterfall side as the they are getting in and making their way onto the bottom. Mine is a knotted heron net as we've got them by us and are protected/endangered in NJ. If pests are not a concern, try the plastic deer netting which are 8 ft x 50-100' for almost nothing. Each year toss them as they are hard to store due their tendency to tangle.