A: We may have another month or two of winter ahead of us, but that doesn't mean you can't head out to the pond on sunny days and get a jump-start on your spring cleaning and maintenance chores. Here are a few ideas:
Tidy Things Up
Rain, snow, wind and winter precipitation do a number on landscaping, so take some time to clean up the foliage around your pond. Remove fallen branches, rake leaves and debris, cut down cattails and pull out any pond weeds you can reach. Two great all-purpose tools to use for the task are the Weed Cutter and the Razer Rake. The cutter slices through floating debris like aquatic vegetation, weeds, cattails and phragmites; the rake, which works on land and in the water, allows you to mechanically remove those cut weeds, algae, muck and debris.
Inspect Mechanical Parts
Sunshine is a perfect excuse to tinker with outside toys, like your aeration system. Head out to the pond and check your Air Filters. Do they need changing? How's the airflow from the lines? Is it what you expect? Is your air compressor operating properly? If needed, install new air filters, clean out your lines, and tune up your air compressor with a Maintenance Kit. Keep your system performing optimally – even if it's still winter.
Add Pond Dye
Pond Dye can be used all year long. Even though the sun isn't as strong in the wintertime, some UVs still get through – and they can fuel algae blooms that could affect your water quality. Pond Dye shades the water and prevents those blooms from happening.