Peter May's secret to the perfect pond maintenance

Pond Filters

Trouble shooting filters ... But you've got a filter and its got problems. The problems are generally as a result of the original reason for resorting to a filter rearing its ugly head again.

Do I need a biological filter? ... If you live in a warm country, have small pools well stocked with fish, prefer to see your fish than have masses of plant life in the pool, a biological filter system with an incorporated Ultra Violet Clarifier is pretty much essential.

Water garden calendar for the month of May ... The Malvern Spring Flower Show is in the first week of May, but the gem of gems of all flower shows in the world is the Chelsea Flower Show usually starting in the third week of May.

Water garden calendar for the month of August ... So what should you have been doing in the water garden in August?

Water garden calendar for the month of April ... The wildlife pool at the beginning of April seems very quiet

Water garden calendar for the month December to January ... Get into the Christmas spirit and brighten your house and the faces of your friends and neighbours with a few of the indoor plants that we have come to associate with this time of year.

Water garden calendar for the moth of June ... June into July is the time for the most elegant of plants, the Irises in all its forms

Water garden calendar fir the month of March ... Uneaten fish food is probably the biggest pollutant that regularly gets into the average pool, so this months big tip is to arm yourself with a thermometer and a net fine mesh.

Water garden calendar for the month of November ... A hot summer and a rapid temperature change produces a spectacular autumn display of colour. With the oncoming cold, the pools, ponds and water gardens will have definitely gone to sleep.

Water garden calendar for the month of October ... This is probably the most important month in the UK for keeping on top of things water garden and gardening wise, so what should be done? It will be getting noticeably colder by the day and leaves will have been falling for some time.

Water garden calendar for the month of September ... September is a time for clearing off decaying vegetation.

Water garden calendar fro the month of February ...You would think the little world that seemed so active during the summer months was completely dormant. Not so, it is in February that a local district council near to where I live puts up its road signs warning of Toads Crossing.

Netting the garden pond ... Slightly stretchy netting material specifically retailed for the purpose of covering ponds in winter is available as most garden centres and all aquatic stores.

Outside: All tidied up and battened down for winter? ... Pond-wise, if you are cleaned out, dredged up, cut back and neatly netted for winter, now is the time you can appreciate another role the water garden can play in your garden, and that is as a source of light and reflection.

Conservatory water garden owners pleased ... If you were one of those people that decided to build a conservatory over your water garden as a result of being lured into the delights of exotic water garden plants then things are possibly still up and running.

The mucky mystery of ponds sludge: the theory ... The accumulation of dark slimy gunk in the bottom of your pond or filter system seems pretty evil stuff, and one of the most evil things about it can be its smell.

What to do with the muck? ... The process of organic matter in the bottom of a pool being digested starts with a metamorphosis in part (especially the fish food and fish excreta) into ammonia and ammonia compounds