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Winter pond care

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• For pond's stocked with fish, a pond surface heater can be installed to prevent freezing. It is important to never break/smash the ice, as the shock waves can harm fish. 

• Circulating the water with a pump improves oxygen levels which benefits both amphibians and fish. This is particularly the case in deeper ponds where oxygen does not diffuse readily through the water. 

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Summer pond care

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• It is important to maintain your ponds water level, as water evaporates during windy or hot weather. This can cause a reduced surface area, which can be damaging for fish as there’s less oxygen available. If you need to top up your pond, you should ideally use rainwater from a butt, as tap water is rich in nutrients that causes algae to prosper.

• If you do have to use tap water and you keep fish, it is important to top incrementally to prevent rapid temperature change, which can shock the fish in the pond. When a large amount of tap water is required tap water conditioner should be used to neutralise any harmful chemicals in the water.

• On hot, humid nights it is important to break the surface of the water to maintain suitable oxygen levels. This can be achieved by simply spraying water over the surface of the pool from a hose. Alternatively we can install a water feature or air pump to keep the surface bubbling gently.

• Floating weeds can quickly cover the surface of a pond. If they're in the process of being removed, they should be left to the side of the pond overnight, so that creatures such as newts can return to the water. On removal of the weeds, rinsing them in a bucket of pond water can help release smaller creatures which can then be returned to the pond.

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Pond plant care through the seasons

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• It is important to ensure plenty of light gets to the pond. Pruning back overhanging branches and brushing off snow allow submerged plants and algae to continue to photosynthesise, replenishing oxygen levels in the water. You should consider adding more oxygenating plants in the spring if there aren't many.

• Mid-spring through to early summer is the best time introduce new pond plants as the water is warming up and plants will respond by growing rapidly.

• Aim to keep around 50 percent of the surface free of vegetation by thinning out plants occasionally during the summer.

• Deep water aquatics with floating leaves, such as water lilies, benefit from regular dividing and re-potting in spring. Place containers on raised bricks lowered in stages as the plants grow, so the leaves can always reach the surface until the final depth is reached when the plant is mature.

• If not being potted on, water lilies benefit from a supplementary feed in the spring with a specialist aquatic plant food that encourages better flowering

• Snip off any tatty leaves, along with any fading flowers in summer. Remove dead leaves and debris from plants early in the autumn to avoid decomposing vegetation build up in the pond.