I have a 50' by 120' by 7' deep pond located about 1 hour north of New York
City. This pond is now 1 year old.

The pond is located under deciduous trees, and picked up a whole lot of
leaves last year. Now that the ice is cleared, I want to clean out the
leaves.

1) What is the best way to do this on a pond of this size?

2) I have heard some people on this group discuss nets to keep the leaves
out. Do they make them in the size I need? Where is a good place to buy
these nets?


P.S. I have also seen some people talk about pond liners floating up due to
high water tables or excessive rain / snow melt. I had this problem myself.
The solution was to get a few garden hoses under the liner, and siphon the
water out. This worked for me because one side of my pond is a dam, and the
ground on the other side is lower than the bottom of the pond. Gravity took
care of pumping all the water out from under the liner, which was good as I
have no electricity near the pond!! Once I got siphon started, I let it run
for a few weeks, and the liner went right back down without any pumps or
plumbing.

We have a much smaller pond and a net was such a pain. Plus you have to
worry about birds flying into it.

Jeff Kessler wrote:
I have a 50' by 120' by 7' deep pond located about 1 hour north of New York
City. This pond is now 1 year old.

The pond is located under deciduous trees, and picked up a whole lot of
leaves last year. Now that the ice is cleared, I want to clean out the
leaves.

1) What is the best way to do this on a pond of this size?

2) I have heard some people on this group discuss nets to keep the leaves
out. Do they make them in the size I need? Where is a good place to buy
these nets?


P.S. I have also seen some people talk about pond liners floating up due to
high water tables or excessive rain / snow melt. I had this problem myself.
The solution was to get a few garden hoses under the liner, and siphon the
water out. This worked for me because one side of my pond is a dam, and the
ground on the other side is lower than the bottom of the pond. Gravity took
care of pumping all the water out from under the liner, which was good as I
have no electricity near the pond!! Once I got siphon started, I let it run
for a few weeks, and the liner went right back down without any pumps or
plumbing.

On Sun, 30 Mar 2003 18:24:21 GMT, Michael Shaffer wrote:
We have a much smaller pond and a net was such a pain. Plus you have to
worry about birds flying into it.

Wrong kind of net, bird netting only works if it can be pulled tight, birds
will avoid it regardless, why it's safe to use on fruit trees. Try window
screening or shade cloth and use boards or pvc (arched or laid flat) to
help support it above the water. (See my website
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ )

Jeff, regarding covering the pond against falling leaves:

Is money no object? ;o) If money were no object I'd look into those pool
covers that they stretch taunt, course they probably only work if the outer
part of the pond area is mostly level, plus they'd have to put in concrete
footings to hold the spring hooks.

Otherwise you could use shade cloth, but as adavisus pointed out you'd have
to have some way to support it so it doesn't end up in the pond.... but
then again, the leaves would be gathered and removed when you remove the
net, even if it did sag into the pond. Doubtful that would be a one man
job. ;o)

Nurseries and hardware stores carry shade cloth and you can probably order
made to the size you need. ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website


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I use a product sold at Lowe's, Home Depot etc called Deer netting.
Keeps the leaves and birds out of my pond. Has quarter inch mesh.

--
--
D. Wain Garrison
If you can read you can learn anything, for
there are those smarter than you who can
write, however, not everyone who can write
is smarter than you.
"~ jan" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Mar 2003 18:24:21 GMT, Michael Shaffer
wrote:
We have a much smaller pond and a net was such a pain. Plus you have
to
worry about birds flying into it.

Wrong kind of net, bird netting only works if it can be pulled tight,
birds
will avoid it regardless, why it's safe to use on fruit trees. Try
window
screening or shade cloth and use boards or pvc (arched or laid flat)
to
help support it above the water. (See my website
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ )

Jeff, regarding covering the pond against falling leaves:

Is money no object? ;o) If money were no object I'd look into those
pool
covers that they stretch taunt, course they probably only work if the
outer
part of the pond area is mostly level, plus they'd have to put in
concrete
footings to hold the spring hooks.

Otherwise you could use shade cloth, but as adavisus pointed out you'd
have
to have some way to support it so it doesn't end up in the pond....
but
then again, the leaves would be gathered and removed when you remove
the
net, even if it did sag into the pond. Doubtful that would be a one
man
job. ;o)

Nurseries and hardware stores carry shade cloth and you can probably
order
made to the size you need. ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website


-----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News
==----------
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the
World!
-----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers
=-----

Just a thought. As big as the pond is, it may only require a net fence
around it to keep the blowing leaves out. Some will still get in, but not
as many, and it would be much easier to remove, and install. As
inconspicuous as the netting is, it might could be left up around part of
the pond.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"D. Wain Garrison" wrote in message
...
I use a product sold at Lowe's, Home Depot etc called Deer netting.
Keeps the leaves and birds out of my pond. Has quarter inch mesh.

--
--
D. Wain Garrison
If you can read you can learn anything, for
there are those smarter than you who can
write, however, not everyone who can write
is smarter than you.
"~ jan" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Mar 2003 18:24:21 GMT, Michael Shaffer
wrote:
We have a much smaller pond and a net was such a pain. Plus you have
to
worry about birds flying into it.

Wrong kind of net, bird netting only works if it can be pulled tight,
birds
will avoid it regardless, why it's safe to use on fruit trees. Try
window
screening or shade cloth and use boards or pvc (arched or laid flat)
to
help support it above the water. (See my website
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ )

Jeff, regarding covering the pond against falling leaves:

Is money no object? ;o) If money were no object I'd look into those
pool
covers that they stretch taunt, course they probably only work if the
outer
part of the pond area is mostly level, plus they'd have to put in
concrete
footings to hold the spring hooks.

Otherwise you could use shade cloth, but as adavisus pointed out you'd
have
to have some way to support it so it doesn't end up in the pond....
but
then again, the leaves would be gathered and removed when you remove
the
net, even if it did sag into the pond. Doubtful that would be a one
man
job. ;o)

Nurseries and hardware stores carry shade cloth and you can probably
order
made to the size you need. ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website


-----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News
==----------
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the
World!
-----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers
=-----