A pond is a great addition to any garden. From season to season, your garden pond will be a beauty to behold, providing a calming space for you to sit back, relax and watch the world go by. In fact, it’s a great place for a spot of water meditation!

By making space for your very own pond, you’ll be doing your bit for the environment. As One Green Planet reveals, providing a home for nature could just help your garden bloom too:

“The wildlife is a pleasure to have around just for the visual stimulation, but they also serve great purpose in the garden. Beneficial insects, like bees and butterflies, will pollinate the garden, and other animals — birds, toads, etc. — will help to control pest populations. In the end, inviting this type of biodiversity into the garden creates a cool little ecosystem.”

Whatever the size, shape or inhabitants of your pond, undertaking a spot of maintenance from time to time is essential, especially as the seasons change. With autumn officially here, we thought we’d share our top autumn pond care tips so you can carry on reaping the rewards of this fantastic garden feature.

Keep falling leaves under control

The falling autumn leaves create some of the most stunning natural scenes, but dead and dying foliage can cause a real issue for garden ponds. Throughout autumn, dead and dying foliage should be continuously removed to keep the pond clear of debris.

You can net your pond to prevent debris from littering the water and keep your autumn pond care to-do list more manageable.

Trim foliage in and around your pond

If submerged plant life is growing excessively, this should be trimmed regularly during autumn.

Blanketweed is particularly prone to excessive growth. Trim this foliage with caution however to ensure wildlife still has a place to shelter. Blanketweed should be removed and placed at the side of the pond for two to three days to give sheltering creatures the chance to find new homes.

The plants that surround your pond should be kept trim too. Any overhanging vegetation can create shade, and pond plants need sunlight now more than ever.

Prepare to break the ice

During late autumn and winter, plummeting temperatures will cause ice to form on the surface of your pond, which can cause serious issues for pond life.

As well as wildlife being unable to use the pond due to the formation of ice, your resident fish and plant life will suffer. Ice will seal in the methane gas that is naturally emitted from your pond, and this can be fatal to fish and vegetation.

To prevent ice from forming when temperatures drop, place a floating ball on the surface now. It’ll keep your pond free from ice all season long.

Take care of your fishy friends

If you’re the proud owner of a garden pond and fish, there are more autumn pond care maintenance musts to work your way through.

Fish need a different diet as winter draws nearer. Many species need to be fed less often due to the lower water temperatures the cooler seasons bring. A pond thermometer can be used to dictate what your fish should be fed and when.

You may also need to treat your pond for parasites during autumn as the lower temperatures of winter can make parasite treatments ineffective.