Leaves are falling early this year due to the very dry summer. This weekend was the opportune time to protect my pond from the imminent garden leaf-fall.
In a small garden it's normally very difficult to find the 'ideal' position for a pond; mine is no exception. The biggest draw-back of my pond's position is its proximity to a number of trees. There isn't a shade problem, but in autumn I get a lot of leaves in the water.
Net supported by battons. (View bigger image.)
A few leaves are nothing to worry about; indeed a certain amount of material like this is needed to keep a healthy pond environment, but too many leaves rotting in the pond will upset the water's chemistry. So for a couple of months in autumn I cover my pond with a light plastic netting to keep the worst off.
This netting was sold at a garden centre for precisely this purpose, but any reasonably fine meshed, light-weight plastic netting will do. I put wooden battens across the pond so that the net doesn't droop into the water when leaves and rain weigh it down. (Yes rain accumulating on the strands of the netting can be surprisingly heavy.) I peg the net down at the margins with old tent pegs and I cut holes for some of the marginal plants. For others I simply gather the net around the stem of the plant or completely cover the plant. This year I have left the 'beach' area of the pond uncovered so that birds will still be able to bath there (if we ever get the rain to bring the pond level up again!).
