article: Draining Debris and Maintenance

Draining Debris and Maintenance

The water garden is an area that is going to attract debris, leaves, sticks, and grass cuttings because the water garden is deeper in the earth than anything else in your landscape. Just as a slope in your landscape is a place where leaves and things will accumulate, the water garden is an attraction that debris will fall into. Maintenance and cleaning the debris from the water garden will be important so that you can keep the water balanced and cleaning the debris will keep your fish safe from some types of bacteria and fungus that can grow from such debris. Small amounts of debris can be good for your water, as the decaying process is natural, but large amounts can be disruptive.

For both the largest and the smallest pools, the spring months are usually the best time to consider cleaning the water garden because this is the time of year when any debris that is falling or blowing is going to be finished. Sometimes cleaning the water garden in the fall months can only mean that you are going to have to ‘do it again’ in the spring months because of the winds of winter.

Draining a water garden can be difficult if the water garden is large or huge, and you should only consider this for the largest water gardens when you have a major balancing or debris problem occurring in the water pond. Water gardens that are over twenty foot in any measurement could flood your landscape or possibly someone else’s if you are to drain it entirely so you must be careful if you must drain the largest water gardens.

Draining a water garden can be important if you have a small water garden and the entire water garden will freeze over the winter months. When the water freezers entirely over the winter, your pond liner, your concrete and other things in the water garden can be destroyed if you are not careful.

Installing a net over your smaller water garden is going to help you keep debris from falling into the water garden during the fall months. If you can’t find a net that will suit your use over the water garden, check your local fishing and hardware stores for a net that you can order in so you don’t have to drain your water garden as often.

When you finally do make the decision to drain your water garden, you will need to protect the fish and the plants in the water garden while you are draining it and while you are filling it. Fish can be kept in a large holding tank if needed. Siphoning pumps are some of the easiest ways to remove water from the water garden if you don’t have a drain, or if you don’t have a removable section from the water garden. Some water gardens that are made of soil, the bridge, or the sidewall can be broken so that the water garden can drain easily and then you can scoop out and clean out the debris from the bottom.

If the soil around the water garden is too level, and the water will not siphon out, you can use a vacuum pump or a vacuum pumping system to pull the water out of the water garden. Sometimes actually bailing the water out by hand with a bucket may be needed until you have lowered the levels of the water to catch the fish in the water garden safely.