Hi Marcia,

This is a subject I know a bit about, as I have a pond too. Mine is a rubber liner, 300 gallons. For winter, I usually leave the water in because, at least for the rubber liner ponds, they say that keeps the ground around the pond from shifting and the sides from caving in (water puts outward pressure on the liner).

I spring I usually just drain the pond almost completely (my Dad has an old sump pump), clean out leaves with a net, and (just my own personal choice) put a pump and fountain in to keep the water circulating. In summer I go to an above ground filter but that's because I keep koi and goldfish in there for summer.

The slime on the sides is natural algae and, unfortunately, almost every pond goes through a period in spring where algae is a problem. You might even get some green blanket type algae lining the sides. If you intend to put water lilies and pond plants in it, they will use up the excess nutrients so algae may not be as big of a problem later on.

I have worms in there too, I think after a rainstorm they just sort of crawl over the soil and fall into the pond.

If you want to do a water lily it's really easy. I just take a black pot, the type shrubs come in, and place a bit of top soil in there. Not regular soil as it's too "peaty" and light. Some say you could use clay soil. Then you place your hardy water lily tuber in and cover with more top soil. Then on top of the soil goes small stones or gravel sized stones (these keep the soil from mixing with the pond water when you sink it into the pond). Slowly and gently lower into the pond. You may initially get a bit of soil coming out of the pot.

Some people also put a spike of aquatic plant fertilizer in the soil close to the tuber, I use a half of a Jobe's tomatoe plant spike on each side of the tuber.

For winter, I actually remove the water lily, clean off the soil and trim some roots, and store in the fridge crisper.

Good luck and enjoy your pond, I seem to have a resident frog as well, though I think he's a tree frog (the kind that overwinters under leaf litter in forested areas). Since I'm in the city that sort of surprised me to find him in my yard. He has a way of hiding among the rocks that surround the pond and jumping out and giving you heart failure.

Glen

Thanks for all the info, Glen. :) So, no bleach or anything like that, eh? That's good, because i didn't want to do it. I'll refill it now and get the pump in. It was hard to find a pump the right size, and i think mine is actually too small for the pond. Most of the pumps say they're for larger ponds. I thought that maybe this year i'd just get another small one and have two going. It came with a pump, but it stopped working and of course i couldn't find any of its paperwork so that it could be returned.

Winter storage of a water lily is what deters me from getting one. A lot of people put theirs in rubbermaid containters and into a cold room, but i don't have a cold room. I wonder how it would do in our minimally heated garage in the area my husband uses for storing potatoes and onions. He blocks a corner off with styrofoam and it keeps cool there. (I don't think it would survive his infrequent bouts of cleaning out the crispers!)

Laughing about the frog giving you heart failure! LOL

Marcia, I wouldn't use bleach in it, just plain water and wipe out the majority of the "stuff". I think you're garage sounds like a great place to store waterlilies for the winter. In the late fall, I just take out the potted waterlily from the pond, drain excess water out of it and then put it in a black garbage bag, tie it and then stick it in the spare frigde in the basement. It's fine just hovering above freezing.

Thanks, Laurie - i didn't want to use bleach anyway so it's good that it isn't necessary. I'll keep my eye out for a water lily. I may have to keep a shovel out - they're cheaper if you find them in the lake!

Yup, those ones are certainly hardy enough!;0)