Most important month in UK

Hi, t’is me and the water garden Chronicles,
This is probably the most important month in the UK for keeping on top of things water garden and gardening wise, and here I’ve with my head stuck over this keyboard trying to get the next book finished. The deadline for it was for last Wednesday, and that was an extension. It’s written, it just needs the photos organised and a few drawings, which is more work than it sounds. Then it will be published in springtime in time for the start of the UK pond season. Meanwhile the season that gives you a small open window to get everything right and ready for the following year is flashing by.
Anyway, what should be done? It is getting noticeably colder by the day and I been watching the leaves fall for the last 4 weeks now. With the really dry weather we’ve had this year this has meant an early fall, therefore for ponds surrounded by trees the leaf nets had to come out earlier. For those ponds too big to be netted, a bit of netting off the surface and a bit of investigative dredging all helps to delay the day of a big clear out. Of course if the smell and the evidence on the dredging is that that day has now arrived then this is probably one of the most opportune moments to clear out – as long as it stays mild that is, I spotted a couple of toads marching down the middle of the road last week and they definitely had that air of having ‘packed up the old sleeping sack’ and off they were to get their heads down somewhere for the winter. If you leave it too late all the frogs in the bottom of the pool will resent the upheaval and the plants, particularly the oxygenators wont get settled in properly before it gets seriously cold.
If the marginal plants in the baskets don’t look too over grown you can trim off the adventitious growth poking out the sides and try growing these on in separate containers, either to replace your old stock at a later date or a as present for someone. Any serious replanting can be left to spring.
Also if contemplate a big clearout, if the water is good save as much of it as possible. Keep any fish or good beasties in it until then operation is complete.

Netting the pool or pond may be a bit difficult if the marginals are still at full height, so this is the time to cut them back. Wild life and conservation pool owners usually prefer to leave the growth of poolside plants as cover for the wildlife ‘toing and froing’. A quandary for fishkeepers is that, although the tall poolside fronds of grasses and reeds waving in the autumn gales look attractive, they are also the perfect cover for herons. There is a perfectly acceptable compromise, however, cut the plants back to one third. This is good gardening practice because it means that those plants that were setting seed, now divert their energies into food storage for next year. It reduces any risk of disease or over-wintering of pests, but also of course it diminishes the spray of unwanted seed all over the pool and garden. For instance did you know that there are between 175,000 and a quarter of a million viable seeds in your average Cats Tail/Reed Mace/Typha latifolia seed head and every teeny weeny little flower on a Water Plantian produces something like 40 or 50 seeds, which adds up to a quite a few thousand for every inflorescence stem.
With the plants cut back to one third, they make quite useful support and grip for the net.
As the temperature starts to approach 10°C feed the fish less and less. Koi need only have special high protein winter food or wheat germ. This is more easily digestible. At 7°C cease feeding altogether. They may still take food, by force of habit, but it wont be digested, only sit in their gut for the rest of the winter. Any uneaten food remains a time bomb of pollution ready to be set off in the spring as it begins to warm up and when the fish are at their lowest ebb.

Back to plants. Any soppy frost tender plants need to be rescued. You can plant up water hyacinths into soil and keep them in a frost-free greenhouse. Water Chestnuts and Frogbit need to be saved in their little nut form, particularly important to watch out for if you are having a bit of a cleanout. Any fancy frost tender lilies, like the Lotus, need rescuing too.

If you have seriously been considering building another pool, a waterfall, stream or such like, now is the time to get it done. Plan it and do it in one great swoop and you will have forgotten the pain of it by Christmas and all the evidence of the turmoil will be gone by spring. So what about it? This is the season for sorting. After Christmas, forget it. It all becomes a bit too much effort then until we are kissed by the faint, fair flickers of spring.
All the best,
Pete