Our Pond #24: Winter Water

I think it is wonderful how you have fixed your winter-pond challenge. The dips in temperature this winter have been a good test of your pump/filter system. Is the reason you are trying to keep your pond from freezing because you want to keep your fish in the pond all winter? All our ponds are frozen solid this winter; it has been great for skating and sledding.

-- "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." M. Gandhi

Yes, the fish stay in the pond all year. I took them out one year and that wasn’t fun so never again.

My pond isn’t big enough to do any skating and most backyard ponds that I’ve seen remained as water until a few days ago and then tomorrow it is supposed to turn “hot” again and they will all melt … again.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

We might have the same growing zone (5b), Debbie, but our winters are definitely different! Our ponds have been frozen solid since the end of December, with no signs of thawing in sight. The snow has melted on our southern slopes where the winter sun shines brightest, but everywhere else we have snow on the ground that began accumulating back in December.

-- "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." M. Gandhi

that’s the winters we used to have.

We had such a winter about three years ago but other than that I bet it’s been 10 years before we have seen a “typical Canadian winter”.
Our “typical” is now green, cold, and once in a while an abundance of snow that melts within a couple of days.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Last year was abnormally warm and dry for us. Although the surfaces of the ponds were frozen, you couldn’t walk on them for fear of breaking through the ice. When we have such warm winters, I think there are more problems with insects in the garden than in summers that follow long, cold winters. Have you noticed this same trend? This winter feels right, so perhaps it predicts a bountiful harvest next year. : )

-- "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." M. Gandhi

lots of problems following a mild winter. . I haven’t paid attention to insects though. Actually, we’ve had some rather non-mosquito-y years except one which was really bad. Perhaps that was the “typical” winter?
We used to say that this area was the mosquito breeding ground for Ontario. It was always so bad. It was one of the reasons for the cabin – some place to sit outside, protected from the mosquitoes.

There are many negative effects of lack of snow: low water table, lack of insulation for plants; perhaps not enough “cold days” for some fruit trees to do their thing.

The worst part of this is that come spring we will get those frost dates that stop us from lengthening our growing season. It’s like we have a cool spring during winter, a warm spring during spring and then a typical winter at planting time. Very annoying! haha

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Learning through trouble shooting, a great way to gain permanent information. Glad to hear you got your pond cleared up and you learned that you can and should leave your filtering system in place.

-- My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Ale

thanks.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)