Geneva Area Pond Club's free meeting on March 16

Spring is about to burst forth this week, so at this meeting the main topic of discussion will be all the little chores pond owners should accomplish at this time of year. Like our homes, our ponds deserve a good spring cleaning before our pond plants and pond fish fully awaken from their winter hibernation. Our reward for conscientiously performing this annual task will be well worth the effort. All spring and summer we'll be able to relax in our gardens and entertain visitors admiring the beauty of our ponds.

A major chore involves wading into a pond and netting out all the dead leaves and other detritus that accumulated on the bottom since the last cleaning. The decayed plant material shouldn't be discarded, because it makes wonderful mulch for your garden plants. If you can't use it immediately, add it to your compost pile for later use.

You should also remove from the pond's bottom most of the accumulated mud that your pond fish might have dug out of your planting tubs. (Koi are especially notorious for rooting around in the planters.) This should keep your pond water crystal-clear until the next annual cleaning. If you don't have a silt net for this task, you can easily attach a wire frame to a long handle, and make the netting from any translucent nylon fabric, such as an old sheer nightgown.

Many ponds become less than crystal-clear in early spring, as the sunnier weather encourages the bloom of the single-cell algae that can turn the water green. Don't be tempted to buy and use some chemical algaecide, because the problem is short-lived. The algae multiply by consuming the pond's available nutrients, and flourish in the abundant sunshine. But as soon as the evolutionarily more-advanced underwater plants start growing, they'll consume practically all the nutrients, thereby starving off the algae. Broad-leaved aquatic plants like water lilies will also produce lots of shade at the water's surface, so they'll deprive the algae of the brilliant sunshine they require. The more plants you have in your pond, the less trouble you'll ever have with algae. Lush jungles of underwater plants also provide lots of egg-deposit sites for your fish, and hiding places for their babies.

Other springtime chores include cleaning your pond's pump and filter, turning them on again until they're shut off again in late autumn, dividing and repotting aquatic and bog plants, and many other tasks that will be detailed at the March 16 meeting. Of course any other pond-related subject can also be brought up during the formal discussion part of every meeting. Bring your questions for the experts to answer. Any other topic under the sun can be discussed during the informal chat-and-snack periods.

All Geneva Area Pond Club meetings are listed in the 'Calendar' section of the club's web site at http://ponds.meetup.c.... You can click on each event's title to read its full details, then submit your RSVP by clicking Yes, Maybe, or No to indicate if you can attend. Meetings are held in various club members' homes and gardens around Geneva, Vaud, and nearby France. Hosts prepare snacks and drinks in advance for all who attend, so they have to know who's coming and who's not coming. If your plans change, you can always return to a meeting's description page to revise your RSVP.

To learn how to get to each meeting's location, click on the blue link marked 'Info/Map' below the host's address. That brings up a clear Google road map that you can zoom in and out to get your bearings. Click on 'Travel directions,' type in your own address, then click to get step-by-step directions from your home to the meeting place. The map and directions can be printed for your drive to the meeting.

If you're not able to attend any of the meetings already on our schedule, you can host a meeting in your own home or garden on the date you prefer. Knowing that pond club members will be visiting could give you the incentive needed to make your pond and garden more attractive. Club leaders Suzanne and Peter always help hosts before and during each meeting. The club always meets from 3 to 6 PM on the first and third Sundays of every month. To reserve an ideal date for your own meeting, write to the leaders at PeterSuzanne2@hotmail.com.