Your pond pump and your pond de-icers. Both essential parts of your backyard water garden. Both incredibly important to you. Both necessary for your pond life’s health and happiness.

So why can’t they just get along?

Well, as it turns out, it’s not that pond de-icers and pond pumps don’t want to be friends. It’s just that they are not designed to work together.

Pond de-icers are thermostatically controlled. They produce heat to keep an area of your ponds’ surface free of ice. This allows critical gas exchanges to occur, without which your pond life would suffer and possibly die.

So how does your pond pump get in the way? It’s by no fault of its own, but pond pumps are designed to keep water constantly moving in your pond, and this causes problems for pond heaters.

Think about it. If your pond pump is consistently moving cold water around, your pond heater is going to go crazy trying to heat that water. It will use up tons and tons of electricity/energy, but there will always be more cold water coming at it. It will be a never-ending cycle, and you will not get the results you are really looking for.

Basically, you need to choose one or the other. If you live in an area that doesn’t get incredibly cold during winter, you can probably get away with leaving your pond pump running year-round, which will keep your pond water moving and eliminate the need for a de-icer. However, if you consistently get ice forming on the surface of your pond, using a pond de-icer during the coldest months is your best bet for keeping your pond life healthy.

7. Russian Sage: Russian sage is a sturdy plant with cheerful blue flowers. Added bonus – it smells amazing.

8. Sedum: Sedum waits until summer is over and then blooms, giving you a pleasant end-of-season treat.

9. Leadplant: The leadplant shows off its beauty twice in the fall, with bright blue flowers and then leaves that change from green to red.

10. Sweet Autumn Clematis: It even has autumn in the name. This vine sprouts white flowers at the end of the season.

Don’t let the end of summer bring you down, there are still plenty of opportunities to enjoy the colorful flowers and foliage of fall. For more information on these plants or for additional ideas for planting flowers in your fall garden, check out BHG and Sunset.