I had a new pond installed last summer. It's much different than my OLD pond, which I installed myself about 12 years ago; I only had to replace the liner once during that time. I had two pumps with external filters with pads which had to be changed every 7-10 days. One pump also ran a small fountain also. ....... NEW pond : installed by a landscaping/pond company. Oval about 12' x 14' with a waterfall. The sides and bottom are lined with slate and river rocks between them to fill the spaces. Most of the pond is about 24" deep but there is a deeper part (a circular area about 18"across and 30" deep) where the pump was installed with the pipe attached to run up to the waterfall. I put netting over the pond in the beginning of Nov. I removed the netting in mid-March. I'm ready to get the pond started. There are alot of leaves, twigs in it. I used to be able to use a pool net on a pole to clean everything out, even able to step into the pond to get things the net would leave behind. Now, since the pond is lined with rock, I can't net because the net could catch on the slate and rocks, pull some out and collapse the sides. The pump is hard to get to also. The pipe for the waterfall is attached to the pump (no external filters like my old ones) so I can't pull it up if there's a problem with it. I can't step into the pond because the rocks will put holes in the liner. Any suggestions on how to clean out the pond and, if needed, get to the pump? Thanks.