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Properly preparing your garden pond for winter not only ensures that your plants and fish are healthy and fit in spring, but it reduces the amount of time you have to spend when getting your pond back into shape when the wather warms up. Below is a general quick checklist for preparing your pond for winter:

If you have nearby trees, cover your pond with netting before the leaves begin to drop in the fall. The easiest way to fish leaves out of your pond is to never let them get into it in the first place.

Prune and cut back any dead material on plants. Lower the pots of your hardy water plants into the deepest part of the pond.

Once the temperature is consistently in the mid 40s, stop feeding your fish. They’ll be fine. They basically hibernate during the winter and won’t eat any food you add to the pond anyway once the temperature stops dropping and their metabolism slows.

If you’re going to turn your pump off for the winter, shut it down and disconnect and drain all pipes. If you’re going to run your pump throughout the winter, it’s business as usual, except you can reduce the water flow. Many pond owners choose to keep their pumps flowing at a reduced rate, as this keeps alive the necessary bacteria in the biological filter.