Winterizing Your Pond The tips on winterizing are what I do for my plants and pond. I am in Zone 6, so what I do may not work for you in your area/zone. Please research and take my hints and add them to what else you learn and do what feels right to you. I would hate for you to lose your plants or fish! I begin by pulling all my tropicals out and taking them in the house. I have added several tropicals to my list of plants, so I'm not sure what I'll do with them all this year! *S* Then I take and cut all foliage down as far as I can to keep down the amount of rotting vegetation. I place these all in the deepest part of my pond. This includes all marginals, bogs, lilies, and lotus. The bog plants I just leave alone. I take the mesh bags that onions come in and gather up as many oxygenators as I can, and sink that as well. We have always left our pump running, which eliminated the need for melting the ice to make an opening for gases to escape. This year we are going to reroute the water because of the waterfall. I will have to uproot my stream plants, but this is not that big of a deal. I leave my fish in the pond year round for two reasons - one is I don't have room for the koi in my aquarium, and the other reason is I don't want to add that extra shock to their system by reintroducing them to the pond next spring. They have survived two winters so far and are getting huge. I think the most important advice I can give is to monitor your pond throughout the winter. If it is iced over, do check to make sure there is still water under the ice. Other than that, sit back and enjoy yet another phase of your pond!  Main Pond Page