From the first dragonflies in May to the autumn tidy in October, here is what a natural pond asks of you through the year.
A natural swimming pond has no chlorine and no heater. The water is cleaned by plants growing in a shallow regeneration zone beside the swimming area, and by a slow pump that draws it through a bed of gravel. It is a living thing, so it changes with the seasons, and it is lovely to watch it do so.
Spring
In March and April the water is cold and very clear. We come in to cut back last year’s dead stems in the planted zone and check the pump and skimmer. By late April the first shoots are up, and in a sunny year there may be a short green bloom while the plants catch up. It always clears on its own within a few weeks.
Summer
From May the pond is at its best. The water lilies open, the dragonflies arrive and the water warms to the low twenties in a good spell. There is very little to do beyond skimming off the odd leaf and keeping the pump running.
Autumn and winter
In October we net the pond if there are trees nearby and clear the leaves before they sink. Over winter the pump runs slowly or not at all, the plants die back, and the pond becomes a quiet, dark mirror. A few hardy clients swim all year round.
“By the second summer, the pond looks after itself.”
Through the year
- March to April
- Cut back, check the pump
- May to September
- Swim, skim the odd leaf
- October
- Net and clear the leaves
- Our visits
- Two a year, spring and autumn
