Thank you! It is a workout, that's for sure! I got IN the pond yesterday and did the final cleanup before Spring. This just means walking through the center with my net and hands, grabbing out leaves and such that didn't get pulled into the intake bay.
If a coating of biofilm is healthy for the pond, then my pond is HEALTHY! There is a thick, slimy coating of the most interesting stuff on all the rocks. It made being in the pond very treacherous! But I didn't fall down. My leg and core strength is better than I thought it would be. But I am SORE today from all that standing in strange poses to reach and grab.
Ponding is good exercise!
I can't wait to see pictures of your pond this season! It is always so fun to see new ponds grow and develop as the plants mature and the creatures come to visit!
Oh yes, ponding is definitely good exercise. Glad you didn't fall in, though; I imagine it's still pretty cold!
I haven't been in the pond yet (water is still cold!) but I have been very busy with the net, pulling gunk out and fishing citrus fruit out. And biofilm? Oh yeah! But I also had a serious attack of string algae, which I've been pulling out and composting. I hope once the bog is finished, that stuff will find the pond a bit less hospitable.
Yesterday was the first really hot day of the spring, so I decided it was a good time to clean out the pump vault and see how gunked up it is. Big job! Because I used a trash can that's really a bit too short for the pump vault, I had to dig out a large bucket of gravel even to get to the lid. Unhooking the pump was easy, but getting it all hooked back up again was a nightmare. I really, really need to get the plumbing parts I need so I can just screw the pipes together, rather than using rubber couplings at awkward angles... I finally had to rig up a mesh shopping bag to lift the pump at just the right angle so that I could fit the couplings together, and tighten the screws, then disassemble the bag without pulling it all loose again. Note to self: taking the quick-and-dirty route ends up costing way too much time and effort!
But what's really funny is that it was all for nothing; there was practically no gunk built up in there at all! So I guess that means the system is working the way it should.
Oh, and photos... I finally bought a used Nikon digital SLR camera, and have taken a few photos of the pond and assorted critters with it. I'll post a few photos as soon as things calm down at my "day job". At the moment, the pond edges look very green and lush, but that's mostly because of the wood sorrel that grows wild around here in winter. Most people treat it as a weed and pull it up, but I actually plant the stuff. It chokes out the more noxious weeds, attracts bees, and is great in salad. And it's pretty, so what's not to love.
