hi there , alot of the plants should be dieing off because of winter now . all my lillys etc , iv cut down to the roots. dont be afraid to cut back , they grown back so fast after winter. good luck on your new pond.

How big is it? And what sort of liner?
As a general rule (especially as you don't really know what's in it yet, don't remove more than a third of vegetation or you may damage the ecosystem.
Avoid disturbing the botom of the pond in very cold weather, as it may disturb hibernating frogs.
Have you got any photos? Link to them here, or put them in the gallery.

Hi--welcome to the joys of ponding! I would tidy up the dead leaves & boundaries for now. A strong net on a stick (like for pools) is useful Be careful where you step (I am still finding small froglets), and also what can be attached to the leaves (snails and things). As they say, let sleeping frogs lie.

In the meantime, do two things:

(1) do what you are doing now, and find out more about ponds etc.

(2) watch and see what happens. If you go out at night with a torch you may find various critters about in the pond. In early spring (late january in Devon) you will see the frogs come up in the evening from the bottom and wait for the girls--after a great deal of noise you will have frog spawn, and with any luck toad spawn later on, and you may even have newts! I don't imagine you have grass snakes in Ireland thanks to St. Pat. In late spring the dragonflies start to hatch and they are incredible. And of course you have all the baby amphibians darting about. By early Fall, most of what is born in the pond will have hopped or flown off or found sanctuary, and those that stick in the pond won't have settled down for a sleep. I think that is the best time to do any major cleaning out--would others agree? You will also know by then which pond plants you want to keep and which to thin out. But don't be too ambitious in your cleaning out. Soil & algae means bugs, bugs mean food, food mean other wildlife.

You will also find that the pond will go through stages of going green--watch that too! Can always skim off any major blanket weed etc. and just be careful you aren't skimming off other things...

Have fun, and looking forward to hearing how your pond develops.

Chip

P.S. to all of the above...Always leave anything you fish out of the pond on the side to allow little critters to find their way back into the pond.

Happy ponding...you'll love it!!
Big Kid