Are you tired of the same old New Year’s resolutions? I’m going to eat better, exercise more, take more ‘me’ time, spend more time with family, etc. While these are all worthwhile ideas and great concepts to strive for, maybe you are looking for a few more minor and achievable resolutions this year. If you love maintaining your backyard pond, why not come up with a few resolutions that will help you improve it even more in the upcoming year? Here are 5 suggestions to help get you there.
- Plan ahead for the New Year. Think about how you maintained your pond over the past year. Was there anything you wish you had done better? Is there a feature you’ve been dying to add but haven’t had the time? If you go into the spring with a plan in place you are more likely to stick to your resolution. Come up with an actual cleaning schedule, figure out if you need to change out the water, and purchase that new water feature you can’t wait to install. Once the weather thaws you will be ready to roll!
- Learn more about your pond’s ecosystem. Maybe this will be the season where you start to truly understand how it all works. This is also a great resolution to get the whole family on board with. Teach the kids all about the wildlife that are attracted to these bodies of water, from fish to frogs, mosquitoes, and even algae. Discuss your various pond plants and determine which ones are native to your area. They’ll be able to learn all about the circle of life in these outdoor habitats.
- Take a moment to sit back and actually enjoy what you’ve created. From brainstorming to breaking ground, it seems that once we’ve decided to install a pond we spend too much time working on it and not enough time simply enjoying it. Block out some time on your calendar each day to sit and enjoy your pond, and remember why you installed it in the first place! Make sure you have a chair nearby to and simply sit down and enjoy the gurgling sound of your water features, the splashing fish, and the sun sparkling off the water. This is not only a good way to appreciate the hard work you’ve put in, but also a moment to meditate and reflect before or after a busy day.
- Expand your pond. Have you been dying to add on to your pond? Whether that be to add a new pond waterfall, plant some really interesting aquatic plants or add an adjacent pond to what you already have, expanding your existing water feature can be really exciting. Many people start their backyard pond on a smaller scale, and a few years later they are ready to grow it into something bigger and better. Well we say, New Year, new pond if that’s what you’d like!
- Try something new and different! Maybe it’s a new kind of pond fish or an exquisite pond plant that you’ve been interested in. No matter what you’ve been wanting to try, your New Year’s resolution should be something that gets you excited.
Head into the New Year with some resolutions that you are happy about and worth sticking to – that way you can’t go wrong!