pruning lillies from outside the pond??

[koiguy1969]

this year i have the slickest film on my liner... i should bottle this stuff and sell it as an oil additive,puts slick 50 and duralube to shame. found out this morning when i wanted to go in and do some pruning. i sat on the edge put my feet on the floor and tried for 10 minutes to stand up and the only thing i accomplished was sending a couple of edge rocks to the bottom.(lucky they were smooth and round). i did this catching myself from a early morning swim. what do you guys use for pruning when you cant enter the pond? last year i got in and walked around trouble free, this year i cant even get standing up!!

 

[stroppy]

see i told you it was dangerous in them there ponds !!! :icon_smile:
you can buy long handled scissors meant for ponds .... but me i just hang over the egde and cut bits as far as i can reach

 

[koiguy1969]

i was gonna put them all back on the plant shelves this morning but all the stems are inertwined between the plants so i have to be in the pond to untangle them. once theyre on the shelve i can reach in and prune.

 

[DrCase]

I bought the pond sicssors this year ,,,3ft long they will pull the leaves out too

 

[mrsclem]

Try putting just socks on your feet. I have the same problem and was able to walk all around my pond without slipping once.

 

[DrDave]

I wear waders sometimes, especially if the water is cold. They have grippers on the feet that help. I still enter very carefully. A fall could get you a head injury and cause you to drown if you are not careful.

 

[mrsclem]

Waders are great unless you fall and they fill with water! I also make it a habit to shut the power down to anything in the pond if I'm going in. We had a pump develope a low voltage leak that didn't trip the breaker but fried the fish and I've heard of several more cases similar. Not worth the risk.

 

[DrDave]

That is why you should have GFCI. With it properly installed, you cannot get shocked much less electocuted. Any leakage will be seen as a short and the GFCI will immediatley trip.

 

[oldmarine]

I have installed an exterior four outlet GFCI box next to my pond when I was setting it all up. The box that it is in is water resistant, and proved to be a smart investment for my pond. No more extention cords to be moved or in the way. The electricity to my pond is hooked up to a fifteen amp breaker in my garage. That way I can flip the breaker if I have to remove the filter pump or repair anything else electrical.

 

[mrsclem]

We have the same setup here. Not sure what happened but the GFI never tripped. We replaced it after that!

 

[MassKoi]

I took garden shears and attached each handle to a pole. Cheap version of the pond scissors. I can reach about 4 feet into the pond to trim plants.