Strange weather patterns and abnormal pollutants have made for terrible fall and winter months across the west coast, especially for those of us with garden ponds! This transition brings a lot of new issues with our ponds but we remain diligent and soldier on. We will return our waterscapes to their natural, sparkling state.

With cooler temperatures, especially at night, you can expect that the world teeming beneath the surface of your garden pond begins to sleep and lay dormant. With the onset of consistent warm weather, everything begins to wake up, including bacteria. This is when the dreaded Algae reappear with the aggressive tendencies of Mike Tyson at a buffet of ears. If you're not careful, and you lose your majestic hold on these sacred garden ponds, you'll quickly end up with murky green pea soup.

Kinda makes you want to watch the Exorcist all over again.

Keeping water quality in ponds balanced always starts with planning and strategy. I hope that you made the effort to clean up all the debris that may have fallen during the fall season Don't forget about the things that blew through your yard such as trash or wrappers, dead leaves, etc. If you missed this one, and you let the ponds go on through the "cold" months, then you've got some work cut out for you.

You'll need to get all the debris out of your garden pond as quickly as possible. Use a net or skimmer to clean out the water as best you can. Check all your pumps and filtration systems, replacing and updating anything that needs to be tended to. Either clean the filters or replace them. If you clean them, rinse them in your pond water. Not all bacteria is bad and if you clean the filters too much you can kill off the good bacteria. This can greatly upset the balance in your garden pond.

If you can do so, take the time to vacuum your garden pond with a tool such as the muck vac. If you can't vacuum due to the design of your pond (heavy rock concentration, gravel, sand) then try using a formula like Microbe-Lift SA. This product speeds up the natural, biological degradation of organic waste on the bottom of garden ponds and will prevent increased levels of toxicity. Solutions like this come in a variety of packages designed for different seasons. This allows you to stay on top of the condition of your pond throughout the year. Preventative maintenance means you're not left with such an ordeal each "cleaning" season. Seasonal Microbe-lift is the best approach to maintaining a proper homeostasis in your garden pond.

Your primary focus when you're gearing up and cleaning your garden pond is to get the right bacteria to grow and come to life again. As the water warms over 55 degrees, bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite begin to wake. These species of bacteria can convert deadly, toxic nitrites to harmless nitrate and make the environment much safer if you keep fish stocked in your garden pond.

Just keep in mind that the worst thing you can do is start over from scratch. If your pond becomes overwhelmed by sludge and algae, don't drain it! When you drain a pond out, you destroy all the good bacteria that have come to live in your garden pond. When you reset, the lack of bacteria stresses the aquatic life you have, whether its plants or fish. Stick with working with your aged water, and change no more than 30% of your water if you absolutely must.