Which plant would be hardy in Zone 6, central Pa. I had dwarf native bamboo, which was supposed to be hardy last year, Not sure if it made in the pond or not. I know water hyacinth, which i had was not hardy. I had some other plants which I overwintered inside like horsetail rush. I have spring fever and I'am already planning on which plants I would like to buy. I was cleaning my pond today and need to know do I leave some string algae in the pond or remove as much as possible and how much of the buildup on the sides should I leave ther or should I leave it all. Appreciate any input from other ponders as I'am pretty new to this, last year was my first pond installation. Thanx Cheryl

I clean mine as clean as I can get it with a pond vac this time of year cause the beneficial bacteria hasn't started to work yet. During the summer when water temp. is above 50 degrees I use a net to scrap the bottom for leaves. This leaves the beneficial bacteria behind.
I like to leave some string algae in the pond to use up nutrients that would other wise feed green water algae .

The algae that grows on the sides,like fuzz is benifical to your pond contains good bacteria. String Algae really does not hurt anything unless it is so thick that it traps your fish. The fish actually live off the stuff in winter when they do eat which isn't often. I'm in zone 6 and we are at least a month from a safe date to add tropical plants. Hardy plants can be added but will not grow much untill it warms up some. My water is in the high 40 degree range and I see some small leaves on my waterlillies starting to grow.

FM3

I am already cleaning out with a net. I don't think I need a vac since the pond was covered up until 2 days ago. I too, am seeing growth on my hardy lillies, but the dwarf bamboo which was supposed to be hardy is doing nothing. OUr temps have been below normal.. This week, good news, temps are suposed to go up to more like normal. The fish are becoming a little more active. I cleaned lots of debrie from bottom, where did it come from when I had a net on since fall? Still have a heater in. Nite lows are still quite cold.Some people have all the luck Great talking to all of you

I have a list of marginals on my site at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/plants/marginal.htm which includes zones for some of them. There are tons of plants that are hardy in your area. Most of those will die if their roots freeze solid but some can freeze solid like yellow flag iris and sweetflag which are like weeds in my pond.

Hand remove some hair/string algae but don't worry about getting it all. I don't bother with the short algae on the liner. It's filtering the water and providing a microhabitat for all the small animals.

Don't you know that ponds are magnets for leaves and other debris? They all end up in the pond! It doesn't matter if it's well netted or not.

Happy cleaning!