I noticed this morning a big yellow leaf float down into my waterfall at home. Mind you it's not from a tree in my yard but from a neighbor's tree. Here at work we've already netted most of our ponds for the season. If you haven't it's time. If you don't have a net, we have plenty in stock right now but they go fast. Call ahead with your pond size or desired net size and we'll have one ready when you come it. Netting your pond now while the weather is still nice will not only benefit you now but in the Spring you'll be glad you had the net on early enough to keep leaves out of your pond. if you allow those leaves to get waterlogged and sink to the bottom you create big problems for your pond health and fish health in the Spring. They will decompose and that will add nutrient to the water that will cause algae to grow prolifically in the Spring. It also produces an unhealthy layer of muck in the bottom where bad bacteria will grow. Your algae problems will begin to lessen as our temperatures drop lowering your water temps. I still think you should continue to treat with beneficial bacteria. There are always enough warm days throughout our Winter to allow algae to continue to grow. Remember your plants are going dormant and are not using much nutrient from the water so the bacteria is your only defense against your pond falling out of balance. We keep this up all Winter. If you use barley extract you might consider continuing its use throughout the Winter as well.

To the right is a picture of one of the nets we stock in two sizes, small and large. The small, like this one, is for a pond approximately 7 x 9. The net is actually a 15 x 20 in order to cover the waterfall and surrounding area sufficiently to keep all the leaves out out. The large is for a 9 x 12 pond and has a 20 x 20 net. Other nets are all flat and require some sort of support to keep them out of the water.

The big news for this newsletter is our change over to Winter hours. This year we will begin November 1st with 8-5 Tuesday through Friday, closed Saturday through Monday. Be sure to call before you drive out during inclement weather or around the holidays. I try to keep our closings posted on our Facebook page but sometimes the weather catches me by surprise.

This is the last tropical lily of the season

These are the last Hardy Lilies of the season

Make note of our new hours effective November 1. We will be closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday, open Tuesday through Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Please call around the holidays and during inclement weather to insure we are here.

Always be humble and kind,

~~~Mike