New Year Gardening Jobs

Now that it's 2013 and we've all hopefully had great New Year's celebrations and wonderful Christmas too, it is time to get back into the swing of things and prepare the garden for the coming Spring.

Clean Up Your Greenhouse 

 

This is definitely the best time to clean your greenhouse out ready for when you begin growing in there. The same goes for cold frames or mini growhouses too. The easiest way is to wipe the glass down with some warm soapy water and then squeegee it off and it should be clear.

Doing this will mean that you will be prepared and the job will be done ready for you concentrate on sorting out your plants to be grown.

The Compost Bin

 

If you don't have a compost bin, then you should set one up now, there are many available from simple wooden slot together composters to the more durable plastic composters, you could even build your own if you wanted to. It's a great place to put all the waste from the garden which will be created throughout the year like for example weeds and grass cuttings.

Feed The Birds!

 

If you are a bird lover, then you will want to put out some bird feed for them, as food is scarce at this time of the year, so put out some fat balls for the birds to graze on during this hard time for them to get some much needed nutrients.

Plan For The Year Ahead

 

If you start planning now, you will make it easier on yourself for the rest of the year as you will know what to do and when, there's no better time than new year to do this as it's like a fresh start for you. Planning will also mean you are more likely to carry things out as you will have a routine and will be more likely to stick at it, it's also a good reminder if you do forget soemthing.

January Pond Maintenance

A common question that we're asked here at UK Gardener's Blog is what do I do with my pond during the winter, especially New Year time, so we thought it would be time to give you an idea of what to do.

The first thing you will want to do is make sure you have some sort of pond heater available if you have aquatic life in the pond. These will not heat the entire pond, so don't worry about them being costly, they will just keep a small area free from ice depending on their size and this allows for oxygen to enter the water and harmful gases to escape too.

There are many pond heaters available on the market, and we aren't going to advise a specific one, but we do advise to look out for the ones with a thermostat built in. The reason that we say this is because these heaters will switch off when they know that the water isn't frozen, so you don't need to worry about switching it on and off, especially in the UK where we seem to have ice one day and the next it could be raining.

Sludge Removal With a Pond Vacuum

The next job that can be carried out during January is to vacuum your pond, this may sound strange if you are new to ponds but bear with us, a pond vacuum works by removing silt and sludge from your pond. The most common way a pond vacuum works is by sucking through an inlet hose into it's main chamber and then running through an outlet hose which will normally have a finely netted bag to catch the debris but let you pond water run back out.

The great thing about this is that you can vacuum your pond without having to remove the water permanently as it will be going back into the pond. The reason you vacuum your pond is to remove the silt and sludge which will build up and release toxins into the water leading to water pollution and this can cause harm to your aquatic life and plants too.

Pond Pump Maintenance

The final job of this month is to get your pond pump out and give it a good service, there are plenty of how to videos out there which will show you how to do this but you will want to do the following:

• Disconnect from the power source. This is vital, you do not want to be shocked.
• Remove your pump from the pond.
• Open the strainer cage, this is the cage with small holes to prevent large debris from damaging the pump.
• Once opened, give the cage a rinse through to remove any stuck on debris or blanketweed.
• Remove the impeller, this will usually depend on your make of pond pump, but there is normally a cap, also known as pump housing which holds the impeller in place and this will usually twist off.
• Take out the impeller and wipe it down to remove all algae and clean inside the pump where the impeller sits too.
• Now put the pump back together and place back into the pond and reconnect.

It's as simple as that, we advise that this kind of maintenance is carried out on your pond pump every couple of months just to ensure that it's running efficiently and will last for a lot longer too.

These are the jobs that we advise are carried out during January, of course if you'd like to there are other jobs that you can do, but these are the ones which are going to keep your pond running nicely into February and hopefully will stay that way all year round too.

Pond Winter Care

It’s very important as a pond owner to be prepared for winter, especially when the freezing weather arrives as it can cause big problems if certain things are not prevented.

We always advise that you prepare in advance, that way you are preventing problems as opposed to treating problems, as catching it early can be a lot more beneficial.

First things first, remove any dead plants, during this time of year aquatic plants start to die off, and it’s extremely important that any rotting leaves or plants are removed, if not dealt with they can release harmful gases into your pond which is bad for plants, fish and other aquatic life.

If something has died off, then remove it. We also advise cutting back any plants which have thrived during the spring and summer as this will begin to die off as the sunlight is rarer and the cold sets it. Doing this will mean less work when it happens as you have already removed the bulk of it.

Use a pond vacuum or net to remove any leaves from surrounding trees and plants because if these are left in the pond then over the winter period they will rot down too, turning into silt and sludge, holding pollutants and releasing their own into the water, causing bad water quality.

To stop leaves and other debris getting into the pond in the first place, we’d advise using a pond cover net over your pond, this will catch everything before it gets into the water, making for easy removal.

Track The Temperature

Always keep a check on the temperature of your pond too, as fish should not be fed at very low temperatures. This is because their digestive system shuts down when it’s cold, so even if they do eat (which they normally won’t) the food will sit in their stomach and rot down, causing internal bacterial problems.

If food is uneaten and not removed, which is more likely the case then this can pollute the pond, leading the fish disease, so either way we advise to not feed once the temperature has gone below 5 degrees.

You can either remove your pump and filter from the pond, or raise the pump up from the bottom of the pond, this stops your from taking warmer water at the bottom and circulating it around, the fish prefer the bottom due to this slightly higher temperature.

Your Pond and Ice

Ice is something which can plague a pond during the winter, especially the last few we have experienced. Ice will trap gases in your pond, it will also prevent oxygen from getting into your pond water. If snow also falls onto this ice then your pond will also have been blocked from light entering, which means the plants you have left will die off.

Our best advice is to use a pond heater, they come in many sizes, from 150 watt to 300 watts and more, they higher the wattage the more efficient they will be at their job. They will keep a small area free from ice, this means they gases will be able to escape and your fish will have oxygen in their water to breathe!

Create a Bird Friendly Garden

The siting of bird features is very important, is you site features poorly it makes the birds you want to attract vunerable to predators.

The winter months are vitally important and food and water are in short supply due to freezing conditions. Once you start feeding, you will need to continue regularly as the birds will start to rely on you during this time and if the supply is cut off they could end up dying, so to start then stop is worse than doing nothing in the first place.

Bird Tables

Bird tables are common and basic bird feature, you should place it close enough to your house to be seen, but 6 feet from any brand or wall. Make sure that the table is 5 feet high or more. Always try to get one with a roof, this keeps food aswell as the birds out of the rain and stops falling leaves too.

            If you want to stop squirrels and cats from climbing the bird table then use a plastic drainpipe over the top of the wood, this should prevent them from being able to grip stopping them getting up. 

Nest Box

Suitable for all hole-nesting species of birds such as tits, nuthatches and sparrows. Mount it around 6 feet from the ground and camouflage too. Do not situate too close to the house or south facing. The hole should be around 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches from the base. Make it about 4 inches square or more.

Bird Baths

Birds require water to drink and to bath in, this is especially true during hot dry summers or very cold winters. Don’t fill the bird bath too deeply and change it regularly. If using a ground level bird bath always use a wading stone so birds are able to walk in and out.

Give Birds a Variety of Foods

Birds enjoy to eat a variety of foods not just seeds, this includes:

• fats
• peanuts
• cheese
• bacon
• cereals
• fruit
• suet
• wild bird food
• and wholemeal bread too

Spread it out so a number of birds can graze at the same time and avoid foods such as uncooked meat, salted peanuts, white bread and spicy foods!

Feeding Birds at Ground Level

Robins and Thrushes like to feed at ground level, so spread food out in a shallow tray or on your lawn so plenty of them can feed at the same time, but remember to take it away before nightfall to prevent vermin.

Hozelock Bioforce Revolution Update

Hello everyone, we just thought we would let you all know that we have discovered more information regarding the Hozelock Bioforce Revolution.

At present we have only found one company which has listed the Bioforce Revolution on their website, and they have a wide variety of information available for us to read on the product too.

They have 3 models of the revolution which are going to be available, these sizes are a 6000, 9000 and 14000. These numbers are also relevant to the volume of water that the pond filters can handle, interestingly though is that the numbers stated are what the filter can do WITH fish, which is a first. Normally you find that a pond filter will be called for example a 3000 but when you take fish and sunlight into account it can only handle half of that number, and this has how it has been for years which has always confused people, especially beginners. 

Don't worry, you are not alone, there have been plenty of people who have worked out they have 5000 litres in their pond and bought a pond filter which says it can do 5000 litres, and found out afterwards that this is without fish.

We were lucky enough to speak with someone from Hozelock who told us that they have been testing the Bioforce Revolution for a while now, and they have decided that making things more simple for the consumer was the best option all round. They have also tested these filters on ponds without fish and they can handle up to double what their figure says so for example the 14000 could handle a 28000 litre pond maximum without fish.

The filtration will be a mix of mechanical and biological, by using foam cubes with the mechanical filtration which will be stirred up when using the winding handle and Kaldnes K3 media which will house millions of colonies of live bacteria which will be your biological filtration, breaking down waste in the water.

They have also started using a PLL UV Lamp in the Revolution's too, these lamps are a lot better and stronger than PLS or G8 UV lamps, so green water will be a thing of the past for your pond. The 6000 will use an 18 watt lamp, 9000 will use a 24 watt lamp and the 14000 will use a 36 watt lamp.

To coincide with the release of the Bioforce Revolutions pond filters, Hozelock are also releasing some new filters which includes the Bioforce 3000 (which can do 3000 WITH fish), which replaces the Bioforce 5500 (which can only do half that volume as per our info above)  and the Bioforce 4500 which again can do this volume with fish in the pond. These smaller Bioforce's will not have the winding handle and will use a PLS lamp as they are designed for smaller ponds.

They will also be releasing these filters as Bioforce Filter Kits which will come with a pump which is optimal to the size of the filter and better value to purchase too.

It looks like the future is bright for Bioforce pond filters with this revolutionary (excuse the pun) new design. Hopefully other manufacturers will follow Hozelock and start to brand their filters with the size it they can handle with fish. One of Hozelock's main reason for doing this is because of extensive market research, in the UK you rarely find a pond without fish, so it makes sense to brand the products with the volume of water which it can handle with fish. 

Duckweed in a Pond

Duckweed has featured at the Chelsea Flower Show in the past, but this doesn't mean it's desirable to everyone, nor does it mean it's easy to look after. 

When duckweed starts to thrive it will literally cover the entire surface of your pond if left untamed. Eventually your pond could look like the image, which almost looks like a surface you could walk on. (Once when walking the dog, she thought it was a solid surface, and did she get a suprise!)

Some fish will eat duckweed, but not at a fast enough rate to hold it back.

Duckweed is not necessarily dangerous to your pond, it will make your fish and wildlife difficult to observe. Dead and brown duckweed though, should be removed from the pond as soon as possible, as it can sink to the bottom of the pond and pollute  the water.

The ideal solution to get rid of duckweed is to use a pond skimmer, a pond skimmer works by "skimming" the surface of your pond and removing any excess waste, this includes duckweed.

There are difficult types of skimmer available, you can buy stand-alone skimmers, which have their own pump built in and will float around the pond. You can also buy a skimmer which will fit onto your pump, sending the debris to your filter, but please note, your pump must have a sucking option for this to work.

To begin with, we'd advise to remove as much of the duckweed as possible yourself by hand, then to add the skimmer, this will prevent the skimmer from clogging up too fast and means it will work more efficiently, hopefully preventing it from growing back.

Frost In Your Garden

Frost can cause many problems in your garden, and a lot of people are usually caught out by early or late frosts.

The best way to tell if a frost is possible is to check outside at night, if it’s cold and there are no clouds, it’s very likely, especially during the late Autumn and Winter months, even into early Spring.

The moisture that your plants hold will freeze when temperatures go into minus figures, this will normally affect just plants outside, but if the temperature gets very low then even plants in your greenhouse could be affected.

Always avoid placing plants which are tender to frost where they will catch the morning sun, if their moisture freezes and the sun then hits them, it can rupture the plant cell’s walls.

Try not to feed your plants until the warmer months either, as they will start to grow green and soft which is more vunerable to frost. 

You are best to protect crops with a layer of fleece, like the fleece tunnel in the image and place a thin layer of fleece over greenhouse plants too.

Bubble insulation is a good investment at this time of year, it will help to keep the air in your greenhouse warmer for longer, so if you use a heater, it will also be more cost effective.

If you’ve been too late and frost damage has already happened, then don’t panic. You can still help your plants. 

First of all make sure to cut off and brown stems or foliage, next set up some protection by wrapping with fleece if the icey weather has been forecast to last a long time.