Here is what I do for our little pond (near our patio and much much
smaller than yours). Adjust as you see fit for your much larger
pond.

For the first few times it gets near freezing (below 35F), I cover
the pond with a tarp at night. Around here (northern Colorado)
there are usually at least a few weeks of good weather after the
first good freeze or two.

When some of the WH start to look a little bit wilted, I grab a few
stronger looking ones and put them inside our glassed in patio.
They get to sit inside some large plastic containers next to south
facing windows for the winter. They also get fertilizer and soapy
spray on a regular basis. A tropical water lily is brought in at the
same time.

So far, I have been very fortunate with the inside plants during
the winter. The water hyacinth, tropical lilies, and parrot's
feather have all done well inside. About every other month during
the winter, I have removed about a third of my WH and put them
in the compost pile.Last year my water lettuce all died, but they
have survived in the past.

I have moved some parrot's feather inside as well. That stuff
grows like weeds in the warm sunny windows. Last year I also
left some outside below the surface, and I think it survived as
well, but I can't remember for sure. Either way, I ended up
pitching a lot of it out in the spring since the inside stuff did
so well.

At that time, I trim back the rest of the water lilies and other
plants, making sure that they are all fully submerged. This is
often the time that I get to see some of the new small goldfish
that might have survived so far, since they have hidden in the
plants all summer.

When the temperatures will be well below freezing or below
freezing for a few days in a row, I turn off the pump to the water
fall, and drain the upper pond. I leave the pump in the water
so that it doesn't dry out. I also check the little nightlight bulb
for the air pump is working so that the air will be somewhat
dry to the bubbler. (keeps moisture from freezing in the airline).
The bubbler keeps at least some air escaping either through
a hole it keeps in the ice, or around the edge somewhere. It
makes some cool looking volcano type shapes when it is
very cold.

Jerry

wrote in message
...
I been doing a slow down of the water into my veggie filter when the temp
starts to
mostly drop below 45 at night. actually, once the water temp gets below
55oF for
more than a day or two it is time to stop the waterfall and start
preparing the pond
for winter, including putting up a cover and dropping in a heater. snag
the hyacinth
and lettuce out when they start to look pathetic. start a bucket filter
going now so
it will be able to take over bioload if your waterfall is part of the
biofilter.
Ingrid

(WilsonKKW) wrote:

When is the best time to shut down pond?
And how?
I have 5000gallons with waterfall, 9 Koi, water lettuce,water
hyacinth,lily
pads,parrots feather,water lily,
Thanks
Kathy...in Maryland



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