I got a late start so I just filled the rink a couple days ago. Yesterday was too warm for it to freeze but last night the top inch or so froze. The problem is that despite making sure there were no leaves, a gust of wind must have blown in a few after I went to bed. So I woke up this morning to leaves in my ice. I figured it would be better to chop up the ice in those spots then to wait for it to fully freeze and chisel them out later. So I used a hammer to break through on those spots. I only had the top inch frozen so I was able to get the leaves out but I left behind chopped up ice which froze pretty lumpy despite my best efforts to smooth it out. So this evening I took my hot water hose to it which helped but didn't melt the lumps enough. I'm thinking blow torch?
So two questions: How do I get the lumps out? And next year, how do I prevent the leaves from getting in overnight that first night? Anyone actually put up a net for that?
Thanks