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All summer long, you've loved listening to that babbling waterfall and being soothed by the fish in your backyard pond. But what do you do now that temperatures are dropping below freezing? Here's what to do to put that pond to bed for winter.

Fall cleaning

Just like doing spring cleaning in your house, you need to do fall cleaning in your pond. Remove all the figurines and containers. Wash them thoroughly with a scrub brush and a weak bleach-and-water bath to disinfect them for next year. Take a close look at all pieces and repair or toss anything that was broken over the summer. Once they are fixed and fresh, you can store the pieces for the winter.

Pull the plants out of the pond. Some of them, such as lotus and water lily, can be stored in your garage, wrapped in a plastic bag and packed with wet newspapers to keep them moist for the next few months. Just be sure they are put in a spot that won't permit them to freeze. Take all of the underwater plants out of the pond and save all of the shoots for new plantings next year. Hardy water plants can be set aside and sunk back into the pond after you clean it. Take the fish out of the water while you are cleaning and put them in a bucket while you get their home ready for winter.

Now that you have essentially cleared the "room," you have to do a good cleaning. And that means draining most of the water out of the pond. You can use a pump, or start a reverse suction siphon with a regular garden hose. Pull almost all of the water from the pond, leaving only about a foot in the bottom. You will have to remove the last few stinky buckets of water by hand.

A thick layer of plant goo will be in the bottom of the pond, and you need to carefully scrape it out. It might smell pretty strong. Be gentle so you don't puncture the bottom of your pond liner. This nutrient-rich slime needs to be cleaned up at least every other year to keep your fish healthy. The decaying plant material will draw oxygen out of the water and steal it from the fish that are trying to survive over the winter. The goo is bad for the fish, but fantastic for the garden and can be tossed on the compost pile or worked into your flower beds.

Once you get the bottom slime cleaned out, and the pond's sides have been rinsed and cleaned, inspect the liner for holes, tears, or cracks. Now is the time to fix them, before you refill the pond and cover it to keep leaves and water out.

Frozen fish
Your little buddies will survive the winter as long as the pond is at least two feet deep. You should stop feeding the fish when they don't eat all the food you toss in the pond in just a few minutes. They are telling you that their bodies are slowing down for the winter.

Treat the water with fish conditioning crystals to help them along. Be sure the water isn't too cold before returning the fish to their winter home.

Giving your fish access to more oxygen over the winter also will help them survive. Try to keep one small area ice-free by keeping a small pump running through the cold months. You can also install a water heater or de-icer to keep a spot open. Water lilies and other hardy plants can be left in their pots and set in the deepest part of the pond.

Next year

Don't forget to take pictures of your water garden throughout the seasons. Take time over the winter months to come up with new ideas for next year. Add a few exotic native plants such as the pitcher plant, or even some common perennials around the bog garden such as ornamental grasses, canna, or beautiful hibiscus. Installing an aerator and lighting around the outside of the pond are jobs we can tackle next spring.

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