Can Snow in Ann Arbor, MI Damage Your Outdoor Water Feature?

January 11, 2015

Do you appreciate sitting on your patio furniture and listening to water babble it runs through your water feature? Outdoor water features can turn residential yards into a peaceful and relaxing escapes where people can lay back and enjoy the outdoors after a draining day. Unfortunately, in Ann Arbor Michigan, the dropping temperatures lead to snow storms that can ultimately damage your landscaping feature if you do not take the proper steps. Winterizing your water feature is a must if you plan on using it in the years to come. Read on, and learn how snow can cause damage to these beautiful applications and how you can prevent that from happening.

How Does Snow Damage Outdoor Water Features?

There are a variety of different types of water features that you can install in your yard. From a man-made pond, to a smaller container-like fountain, these features are not able to take care of themselves when the snow begins to fall after the fall gives way to winter. If you have a full-featured pond complete with tropical plants, your plants will undoubtedly die unless you winterize when the frost begins to accumulate.

If you have a fountain, when the temps get down to freezing, you also have to worry about the materials that your fountain is made of cracking. Living in Ann Arbor Michigan means that you will have a snow-covered winter, but even those who live in regions that are not known for frost or snow need to prepare their features for the cold to prevent permanent cracks to the base.

Ponds and outdoor fountains are designed to survive outside, but the pipes and pumps that make these features more than just a puddle of water. The pump can easily be ruined if it is left in the ice cold water for the duration of the winter.

How Can You Winterize Your Fountain or Pond?

The very first step to winterization is to remove any plants that may call your pond or fountain home. Determine where you will keep these plants temporarily while their home is snowed in. Once the plants have been relocated, if you have a fountain, the next step will be to drain the fountain completely of water. If you have a pond, you will need to deep clean the habitat with an algaecide that activates in water.

Fountains must be disassembled because they has various tubes and pipes that run through their basins. You should take the feature apart if it can be, and then allow the tubing to dry before you put them in storage. If you have a pond complete with pump, remove the pump and clean it out thoroughly to get rid of the algae.

Once you complete all of these steps, invest in a special weatherproof cover if you have a cast stone fountain or a pond. By being proactive and making an effort to perform much-needed seasonal maintenance, your outdoor water features will be able to survive through the winter so that you can enjoy them once again in spring and summer.