Avoiding the big freeze.

For those of you in the north you may want to try to watch for issues caused by a full freeze of the pond surface. There have been times when this can cause low levels of oxygen that can cause mass dealth to your pond life.

It is important to note that the transfer of oxygen into the water mostly occurs on the surface of the water. There are many different methods to help keep some amount of the surface from freezing but the most common is the use of fountains or wind mills. Both of these options require maintenance and some work. There are many variations of both products available, but a couple key things to think about would include do I have enough wind crossing over the pond to push a wind mill or can I get power to my pond to run a pump? There are solar versions of fountains that I have seen for sale, but I can't say that I've ever seen one in use.

When using either, making sure they are anchored securely is probably your toughest job. This can sometimes require the use of ropes or wire that is anchored to objects on the shore line.

A note of caution for you would be to always keep your distance from areas that use any method to keep the surface from freezing as the areas near that object will likely be weaker too and no one wants to fall through the ice.

Luckily for us all, nature helps us out quite a bit by lowering the fish activities and likewise the food and oxygen requirements. However, having a good lasting surface point to transfer oxygen to the water is only going to help the pond life out in any pond.

We do not sell any products related to this topic, but as a pond owner and someone attempting to supply important information related to pond care I wanted to pass this along. I hope someone finds this information useful.

Care for your pond and lake banks...

Remember to take caution in how you treat and care for your pond or lakes banks. Killing off all the plant life can lead to lots of erosion. It is almost never a good idea to spray weed/plant killer around the entire pond or lake shore line. If you have used stone, wood or concrete to firm up your banks then you may be albe to do this without erosion problems.

We always suggest determining the drainage of the areas around your pond and treating to best handle this. It is not the easiest thing to determine, but many times you can look for eroded areas around your pond already, which are likely in lower areas of the shore line. We suggest using a trimmer or mowing those areas and keeping as much live plant/grass life in the high flow areas as possible to help save your shore line. If you have areas that still erode away, use of larger stones can help slow this process and still give a way for the water to flow into your pond or lake. We suggest backfilling areas with dirt and putting down new grass seed after you have effectively handled an issue where erosion was heavy.

Controlling erosion is important for many reasons, including safety when walking or mowing near the pond edges. This will also help to keep from raising areas of your ponds bottom which could lead to increased algae growth by making the pond shallower in places.

If you need a product to control algae or to handle weed control remember to stop over at our website, www.pondcaredirect.com and place your order today.

Cold days still require some work.

It is important to understand how to keep your pond in the best shape year around. All the weather is getting cooler but that does not mean that your pond does not need care.

In the south where it stays warmer, this is still the best time to try a biological cleaning checmical additive. Your time for this product to be effective is very limited due to the warmer water conditions. This hold true in the north too, but applying this before the pond is froze over is the real key. Once the water movement stops then the chemicals tend to become less effective.

Warmer climates need to keep in mind that algae can bloom at anytime, so keep your pond clear with cleated copper sulfate from Sanco. All these products are available through www.pondcaredirect.com and will be shipped directly to your door cheaper than the local shops. Save time and money, shop with us today.

How to more safely apply chemicals.

When adding chemicals to your pond or lake take some care to distribute the product to various locations in the pond. Doing this will make the products disperse quicker and more evenly throughout the pond. It also poses less danger to pond life by minimizing the strength the a chemical in a particular area.

However, you may want to leave some area around natural run off or spill ways. This will make sure that you do not waste your chemicals and also will allow the natural flow of the pond to take chemicals through the entire length of the water area.

If you are willing to take the time to dilute the chemicals then you'll help make the applications more safe and assist in the distribution of the chemicals. Using a boat to move in while applying chemicals also aids in this process.

Best of luck. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at info@pondcaredirect.com.

Determining how much of a chemical to use...

Always take the time to review and follow the instructions with each package of product you use to treat your pond. The results of not following those directions can be horrible. I have seen people kill off all the live stock in a pond and not by some sort of poison effect either. I have seen ponds where to much of a herbicide was used and it killed off all the plant life in and around the pond. This caused a sudden change in oxygen levels which in turn caused all of the pond life to perish.

Treating your pond should always be done in a controlled way. It is always my suggestion to treat no more than half your pond at one time. This is especially true with chemicals that can cause more of an impact, such as a herbicide. This is less true for lake and pond dye unless you are trying to make a very strong color change. You are probably safe to use copper sulfate to kill spot algae around an entire pond all at once too. However, it may be best to wait a few days between each treatment of any kind to see how the pond reacts and to allow your pond life to acclimate.

At Pond Care Direct we sell only products from Sanco Industries. They have various documents and web links available to help with application and dosing of these products. If you should have any questions, please contact us at info@pondcaredirect.com anytime.

Fall pond care thoughts.

For those of you in the north, this is the perfect time to add bio-clean. This product will help remove muck from the bottom of the pond. This product is most effective when it's cooler (water below 70 degrees) and when there is something to feed on. This time of year for those in the north tree leaves will be falling and blowing. Even the most well kept ponds and yards will have leaves that settle in your pond.

Head over to our website, http://www.pondcaredirect.com/products.asp, and pick up the fall bio-pack or a 4-pack of Natural Pond Cleaner today.

Taking a moment now to add this to your pond will give you a better start and less for algae to feed on next year.

Welcome...

Good day. I own http://www.pondcaredirect.com/ and want to give some helpful hints on what to use for taking good care of your pond or lake as well as note when we have deals that you may be interested in.

First, I appreciate your time and I want you to know you will not find pond care products any cheaper local or online. I am taking a very minimal approach to selling my products to keep my expenses low so I can offer the best deals around. In todays tough economy this should make everyone happy.

If you ever need anything that I do not have listed or a specific selection of products packaged, please contact us at support@pondcaredirect.com to get assistance.

Thanks for your time.