down at thefrozen pond

I slipped and slid my way to the pond today to what was happening as venturing out down the garden can be a risky business in icy conditions on a slope.I had previously seen the wood pigeons slide of the roof .I thought I better see if the pond needed me to make a hole in the ice,good job i did a toad had come trapped under the ice and fighting to get out.I guess they can hold their breathe for x amount of time but how long?To my surprise the fish I thought the cat and the heron had ,were there ,I could clearly see them swimming about ,oh joy to find.Now to make an opening in ice ,I had not boiling water but off boiled to open an breathe hole ,resisted the the temptation to knock a hole in the ice as this causes shock to the fish.Hoping this cold spell will go soon so as the toads and frogs can frolick at will.

Apparently, floating a few tennis balls in a pond keeps air holes open and stops it from freezing over. I dont know how true this is, but I was told this many years ago.

As a child, we always seemed to have a pond; first thing my father did in a new house was build a pond with a fountain. In the winter he floated a small beach/rubber ball in it to keep the ice at bay.

This little fellow keeps a hole free in our pond.

I think I will try the tennis ball idea but  I like above ,got to go and shovel a tun of snow from the top and make a snow man,its that deep.

flowering rose- there may be toads in my pond so will make sure that I check it and break the surface. So far I've broken it gently with a stick but I have read that any violent breakage sends shock waves out and can harm anything living in it.

I have no fish in my pond, though there are plenty of frogs. The frogs have survived severe periods of frost and thick ice for the past two Winters. I don't make any attempt to break the ice. This is what it looks like now..

What's happened is that about 5 inches of snow has fallen onto the water. As the water was relatively warm, a lot of that snow has melted, and that melted snow has formed into shallow sheet of ice. It's not very hard at the moment.

The three 'islands' of snow are places where water lilies are situated.

The things sticking up through the snow around the sides are leaves of water iris.

I suppose the truth is that frogs and toads have survived long periods of snow and ice for millions of years.

True,do you remember when they caught or had a very nasty virus,a lot of the frogs died and toads ,not only in my garden but others around too,it took years for them to become plentiful again.

Hi i have just come across this post and remember reading How to get your pond ready for winter

A pond heater or air pump are the best options. Air pump being the most cost effective but remember when installing ensure the air pump is located in a covered area such as a shed or greenhouse and that the airstone is placed no lower than 30cm from the bottom of the pond, to ensure warmer, lower water regions are not cooled.

I,m running a filter pump in my little pool,

and touch wood it hasn,t frozen at all.