Ready for autumn and the dumping of the leaves! Canopy shown is what is directly above the pond. It's a lot of maple leaves. I have my cold water beneficial bacteria in and we're ready to wait the final month of pond season out before freezing my hands off to shut down the waterfall and pull/drop plants.
I just have to get out one more time this year after the end of mosquito season to turn off the waterfall, drain the line, bring in the pump for the winter, drop the sedge and lily plants to the bottom, and pull out the cattails (since I can't babysit them under solid ice and I don't want them exploding out of the planter and ruining the liner). I'll also bring in the creeping jenny. It could survive outside, but I like having one well-established plant to start off the pond with in spring and it's a lovely winter houseplant. Those steps will be about a month from now when the water is ice cold.
This will be the last season for this net. It's feeling brittle and I had to patch it together in a few spots. Not a bad 3 year run for the cheapest net on Amazon. A neighbor donated these black net loops: they are support members from fiberoptic lines. They are not quite as rigid as the fiberglass driveway stakes I was using before, but I think they will work for leaves and they look a lot better. I'm sure they will not support snow, so I'll have to get the net down at that perfect time between leaves falling and snowfall/ground freezing, which, if you've ever been in Vermont, you know is anytime between September and November. We'll see if I manage to hit it right this year. Last year I missed ground freeze and the net had to stay on all winter, which is how I shattered my previous fiberglass net support rod.
I just have to get out one more time this year after the end of mosquito season to turn off the waterfall, drain the line, bring in the pump for the winter, drop the sedge and lily plants to the bottom, and pull out the cattails (since I can't babysit them under solid ice and I don't want them exploding out of the planter and ruining the liner). I'll also bring in the creeping jenny. It could survive outside, but I like having one well-established plant to start off the pond with in spring and it's a lovely winter houseplant. Those steps will be about a month from now when the water is ice cold.
This will be the last season for this net. It's feeling brittle and I had to patch it together in a few spots. Not a bad 3 year run for the cheapest net on Amazon. A neighbor donated these black net loops: they are support members from fiberoptic lines. They are not quite as rigid as the fiberglass driveway stakes I was using before, but I think they will work for leaves and they look a lot better. I'm sure they will not support snow, so I'll have to get the net down at that perfect time between leaves falling and snowfall/ground freezing, which, if you've ever been in Vermont, you know is anytime between September and November. We'll see if I manage to hit it right this year. Last year I missed ground freeze and the net had to stay on all winter, which is how I shattered my previous fiberglass net support rod.
