If you want to get a lot of pleasure from your garden pond and the fish should feel comfortable, it is essential to clean the pond regularly. Only when the water is clean, the fish and the plants can develop healthily. You avoid algae formation and tilting of the water with cleaning. If you are a beginner, you may not like to do the pond cleaning by yourself. You can hire a professional pond cleaning service. You will have to pay for it depending on the region, the size of your pond, and the scope of work ordered.
Make an Appointment in Time
The garden pond should be cleaned in spring and in autumn. In spring, make it fit for the new season. Mud and various dead plant parts must be removed. It’s time to divide plants that have grown too large or replant the pond. You do this after the pond has been cleaned. In the fall, you should clean the pond to make it winter-ready. Since this is the time when many pond owners hire a professional pond cleaning service, you should make an appointment well in advance.
Work That You Can Order From a Professional Pond Cleaning Service
The professionals perform the actual pond cleaning by getting to the bottom of the mud with a powerful pond vacuum. You can also order other work as part of the professional pond cleaning:
- suction of the sediment layer with a mud vacuum cleaner
- if necessary, cleaning of the regeneration area
- cleaning and rinsing of the pump.
As part of professional pond cleaning, you can also order repair work on the pond, for example, if the edging or the liner is defective. The pond professionals can also help you with plant care by removing dead plant parts and dividing the plants. Such a complete package is offered for spring maintenance.
You can hire special pond maintenance packages for the fall when the pond is winterized. Mud is vacuumed out. Likewise, dead plant matter is removed.
While reeds are a fine thing, as they can provide shade and offer a haven for various animals from predators, they can also multiply quickly. To prevent reeds from getting out of hand and overgrowing your garden pond, you can also hire pond professionals to remove reeds as part of your pond cleaning. The reed removal may only occur between October and March (Germany). Otherwise, birds could be disturbed while breeding.
If the Pond Has Not Been Cleaned for a Long Time, You Need a Complete Pond Cleaning
You have your pond for many years, but you have not cleaned it yet? This is a case for the professionals. The pond will eventually silt up if it is not regularly cleaned of mud. The mud is also a ticking time bomb. If fish and other animals look for food in the ground, the mud’s nitrogenous substances can be released and spread throughout the pond. They can cause the pond water to tip over, which is deadly to the fish. For many a pond owner, complete pond cleaning is a mammoth task. You don’t have to handle it alone, as you can hire professionals to do the entire cleaning.
The complete cleaning includes
- Removing the fish and keeping them in a large container with clean water
- Pumping out the water
- Removing the mud by hand and with the pump
- Pruning plants
- refilling the pond with water
- Putting fish back into the pond.
If you wish, the professionals can take the mud away and take care of its disposal. Or you can leave the mud in your garden to be used as fertilizer.
And What Does Professional Pond Cleaning Cost?
The question of what professional pond cleaning costs cannot be answered in such a general way. Different landscaping and pond companies charge different prices for their services. In addition to the costs for the actual pond cleaning, there are other costs, such as travel costs and costs for the pond sludge disposal. Depending on the distance, a flat rate is usually charged for the journey. The removal of the pond sludge is often charged by the cubic feet (cubic meter).
What professional pond cleaning costs also depends on the state, as the cost of services varies from state to state. Finally, what you end up paying also depends on your pond’s size and the scope of the work performed.
Get Quotes
For the most part, professionals will come to your location before performing the pond cleaning. They get an idea of the conditions on-site and the scope of the work to be done. They then prepare a free, no-obligation quote.
If there are several ponds or gardening companies in the vicinity, you can also obtain several quotes and compare prices. This is especially useful for larger ponds that have not been cleaned for a long time and where a complete cleaning is required.
Clean the Pond Yourself as an Alternative
Depending on how large your pond is and what work is involved in the cleaning, you must expect to pay $450 (400 euros) up to $5000 (4200 euros). If you have the pond cleaning done at least once every year, it can cost quite a bit of money. You can avoid this by buying a pond mud vacuum. A high-quality pond mud vacuum has its price, but it’s an investment worth making. Remember, what you have to pay for professional pond cleaning regularly, the investment will soon pay for itself.
Regular Cleaning Saves Time and Money
Clean your pond in the spring and fall. You prevent a thick layer of sludge from forming. You will also avoid the dangerous release of nitrogenous substances. To prevent algae from forming, remove dead plant matter from time to time. You can remove leaves that have fallen into the pond with a landing net.
You can also avoid a lot of cleaning effort if you are not too good about feeding your fish. If the fish can’t eat all of the food, the leftover food will lead to algae growth. A healthy amount of algae is beneficial, as the algae serve as food for various animals. However, it would be best if you were careful not to allow too many algae to form. Periodically, you should remove the algae with a landing net or with an algae brush. You can also remove filamentous algae with a stick that you twist. The algae will then wrap around like spaghetti.
Over time, you will develop a sense of when it is time to clean your pond.
Conclusion
Professional pond cleaning can get pretty expensive. There is no way to indicate what pond cleaning costs. It depends on the state, the size of your pond, the company and the work contracted, what you will have to pay. It would help if you asked for a free, no-obligation quote. An alternative is to clean your pond yourself. If you think about the cost of professional pond cleaning, the investment in a pond mud vacuum will soon pay for itself.