Winter into early spring
Mountain cedar season runs roughly December through February and coats everything, including the water surface, with fine pollen. It clogs skimmer socks and cartridges faster than owners expect.
Cold snaps bring the real work: freeze protection, equipment checks, and post-freeze inspection. Debris load is otherwise low.
Spring — the surprise season
Live oaks drop their old leaves in spring, not fall. Late February through April is often the heaviest leaf load of the year here, and it comes with catkins and tassels that mat into baskets and skimmer throats.
Oak pollen follows and stains. It is organic, it consumes chlorine, and it feeds algae. Expect higher chlorine demand and more frequent basket and filter attention through this stretch.
Spring is also when frogs and toads arrive to breed. Tadpoles in a pool mean the chemistry has been low; an animal-safe escape ramp reduces the drownings.
Summer
Bather load is the debris source: sunscreen, sweat, hair products, and organics that drive combined chlorine and feed phosphates.
Grackles, doves, and other birds use pools as baths and leave droppings that are both a stain risk and a bacterial one. A single bird strike deserves a shock, not a shrug.
Wasps and mud daubers nest in skimmer lids, heaters, and equipment housings during summer. Check before you reach.
Fall
Acorn drop is the big one. Acorns and their caps sink, jam in main drains and cleaner throats, and tannins from the shells stain plaster brown wherever one sits for a week.
Pecan, elm, and sycamore leaf drop stacks on top of it. Tannin staining from wet leaves left on a surface for a few days is common and preventable.
Snakes and rodents show up as temperatures drop and start looking for water and shelter. Skimmers are a frequent find. This is normal and part of the job — a properly maintained pool just means you find them sooner.
