It’s already the middle of winter, but if it slipped your mind, it’s not too late to winterize your water features. Winterizing will protect them from damage, and improve their life span. So, if you haven’t already here’s tips on how to winterize various water features.
Fountain
Fountains are the easiest water features to winterize. To winterize a fountain, you simply have to drain the fountain. This should be done before the first freeze, as water expands when frozen and can seriously damage the fountain. If your fountain is concrete or plaster, you should take the extra precaution of carefully drying it, as concrete and plaster are both porous and moisture in the pores will expand when froze and could cause cracks.
Ponds
Winterizing a pond is a bit more complicated and difficult then preparing a fountain. When winterizing a small pond without fish, you first remove your water plants, transferring them to buckets and storing them somewhere inside your home. With the plants out you can then clean out the inside of the pond, make sure you get the bottom of the pump vault. If there’s an over abundance of algae, you can use algaecide to kill it, but if that’s the case, you should drain the water feature and refill it. It’s important to make sure your pond is filled during the winter, otherwise uneven freezing will cause the pond to be warped. Also, be sure to remove the pump and store it in water in a warm place. Freezing can seriously damage it, and if it gets dry it could damage the seals.
If the pond has fish, then the fish should be placed in buckets with water from the pond while cleaning. If you decide to replace the water the fish need to be gradually reintroduced to the fresh water, mixing the new water into their bucket water a little bit at time over the several hours. You should also make sure to stop feeding fish once the temperature drops down below 50°F. This is because the fish’s metabolism slows in the cold weather and too much food can make them sick and make the tank dirty. Finally, make sure you have either a pond de-icer, or bubbler to keep a break in the ice for air to circulate with the pond.
Waterfalls
If you’re water fall is part of a pond you should shut it down and remove the pump, to store in warm water. If your waterfall is a pondless waterfall you can keep it running, but it requires being frequently looked over. If an ice dam forms, water can spill out of the basin, and if the water level drops too low the pump could be damaged.
Have Questions About Your Water Feature?
Call Lehnhoff’s Landscaping. We can help you make sure that your water features are properly winterized. With our maintenance plan, you’ll never have to worry about any landscaping related problems. If you have any more questions about increasing your property value via landscaping in Baltimore, contact Lehnhoff’s Landscaping by Calling 443.921.5789 or visit LehnoffsLandscaping.com today!
Help us grow! Follow Lehnhoff’s Landscaping on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+