A Relaxed Life with My Ponds: My Typical Summer Morning Routine

I love nature and strive to live a relaxed, stress-free life. I don’t remember exactly when I became obsessed with ponds, but it was pretty early on.

Like many people, water soothes me, and I just want to be around it as much as possible.

One of the most common questions I get is: How much maintenance do all your ponds require? Honestly, very little.

It all comes down to my expectations and how I design and build my ponds. This morning, while starting my day, I grabbed my GoPro to show you what a typical summer morning looks like in my yard.

My Pond Expectations

When it comes to my ponds, I have a few key expectations:

• They should look nice and blend naturally into the landscape.
• They should be easy to maintain.
• The fish and other creatures living in them should be happy and healthy.
• I don’t mind if they look a little dirty—after all, nature is messy!
• They should have clear water without requiring excessive maintenance.
• They should be affordable to build and run (because, well, I’m a bit of a tightwad!).

My favorite ponds are the ones that truly look like a part of the environment. One of my most enjoyed spots is the small pond in my courtyard, where I love to sit in the morning with a cup of tea, watching my goldfish swim.

Why My Ponds Are Low-Maintenance

Ponds are outdoor ecosystems, meaning they naturally accumulate leaf litter, fish waste, dying plants, and dust. I could work hard to keep them pristine, but I’ve found that this natural debris actually benefits the pond. It supports tiny organisms that help break down waste, reducing the need for excessive filtration or feeding.

For me, clear water is a must, but it’s easily achieved with the right setup. I’ve created blue-print that shows how I set up my DIY filter systems for a low maintenance pond. You should find a link to that below if you are interested.

My Summer Morning Routine

Most summer mornings start with a swim in my largest pond. This pond only has small native fish, so they don’t stir up the sediment much on their own. Swimming around helps keep things moving and supports the filtration system.

This pond has two large bog filters, a long stream, and an intake bay. The intake bay is where my pumps are located, so it collects most of the stirred-up debris.

After my swim and breakfast, I return to quickly net out any floating debris from the intake bay. I don’t try to remove everything—just enough to prevent a big cleanup later on.

The intake bay sends water to the bog filters, circulation jets, or the stream. Once a year, I flush the bog filters to keep them working efficiently.

Topping Up the Ponds

During summer, evaporation means I have to top up my ponds at least once a week if there hasn’t been any rain. I use a water tank for this purpose, and for my medium-sized ponds, I just use mains water without de-chlorinating when doing top-offs.

While topping up, I take a watering can and fill my small container ponds as well. These little ponds are fantastic for breeding small fish. If you keep fish outdoors, predators are inevitable, so having smaller breeding ponds helps maintain a healthy fish population.

Maintaining Small Ponds

Some of my small container ponds have bog filters with moving water, while others are still water setups. Unlike my larger ponds, I do feed the fish in my container ponds.

If I have tiny fry, I separate them and feed them green water—a natural food source created by leaving fish food in a bucket of water under the sun. This encourages the growth of microscopic algae that baby fish love to eat.

Since small ponds don’t have the self-cleaning ability of larger systems, I manually remove leaf litter, excess algae, or overgrown plants as needed.

Creating a Relaxing, Low-Maintenance Pond

This is a pretty typical summer morning routine for me. I spend a little time here and there maintaining my ponds, but they don’t require massive effort.

I hope my content helps you create a pond that brings as much peace and joy into your life as mine do for me. Thanks for reading, and happy ponding!