Simple wildlife pond

A place to keep us informed of the goings on in your ponds.
Ruth
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Lovely! Glad to see your Lily flowers on stalks out of the water - that’s what one of mine is doing too!
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Ric
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Tbh I've never even paid too much attention how far out they come. Some stay right on the surface, other stick out more :D
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Ric
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Open flower :)

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Ruth
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You showed me yours now I’ll show you mine! 😜


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Ric
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Just had the sunlight light up the pond...it always amazes me just how clear it gets in the summer, once all the aquatic plants are growing.

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Ric
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..and someone is hiding in the kitchen sink:
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Lift the 'lid':
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Ric
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Well, that was.....disgusting :sick:

Did a bit of maintenance, pulling off dead lily leaves and started to pull out some pond weed and hornwort, which usually goes mad in the summer. Also pulled up some of their roots and the muck that came up *reeked* to high heaven. Never had this happen before but after 8 years left undisturbed, maybe it was time for some cleaning.

Considered my options: do I leave it until autumn, by which time (knowing myself) I'd be tempted to drain the lot and take everything out or do I simply try to scoop out as much of the muck as possible, hoping nature will do the rest?

The latter - pulled out all hornwort and pond weed, put it in a bucket of pond water. Decided to leave the lily in place, though. Then used a pond net to scoop up as much as possible ::sick::
Pond keeping is not for the faint hearted - found lots of dead snails' shells and otherwise just that smelly black sludge. Put it out under some bushes and trees, then let the water settle and did a bit more this morning.

Then went through the aquatic plants, keeping only the healthy green bits.

Hopefully this will do the trick - I am hoping I've removed enough to keep the pond healthy, also allowing the aquatic plants to disappear during winter but come back next spring. Worst case, I guess, is that I will have to do a full clear-out in autumn after all.

Now the pics - thank your lucky stars that we do not yet have smelly-vision:

Discarded plant matter:
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Removed muck:
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Pond as it is now:
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Martinspuddle
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Ruth wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 17:03 pm You showed me yours now I’ll show you mine! 😜
Please no, this is a respectable forum @Ruth! :dodgy2:
Ric wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 12:29 pm Well, that was.....disgusting :sick:

Pond keeping is not for the faint hearted - found lots of dead snails' shells and otherwise just that smelly black sludge.
Best to this I the early Spring really, it allows the pond to recover before everything starts to warm up and new growth appears.

I found that small wild ponds seem to need yearly dredging and cutting back more than larger ornamental ponds.
Ric wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 12:29 pm
Discarded plant matter:
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Removed muck:
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That's great for the compost bin or around the roses.
Ric wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 12:29 pm
Pond as it is now:
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Looking great @Ric
WARNING - DO NOT BREED, FEED OR PET THE PUDDLE! :dodgy2:
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Ric
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Martinspuddle wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 12:48 pm
Ric wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 12:29 pm Well, that was.....disgusting :sick:

Pond keeping is not for the faint hearted - found lots of dead snails' shells and otherwise just that smelly black sludge.
Best to this I the early Spring really, it allows the pond to recover before everything starts to warm up and new growth appears.

I found that small wild ponds seem to need yearly dredging and cutting back more than larger ornamental ponds.
There just never seemed a good time to do this: often frogs and toads would spawn in February or March, then have the tadpoles and then its almost too late to clear the pond as the plants start growing and insect life keeps going.

Then there is summertime when everything is at its peak and in autumn doing the normal maintenance and the pond does not look too bad...

hey ho, its done now :)
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Martinspuddle
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Just use a bucket to put the Frog spawn in, return afterwards. Frogs will be back following day. :]
WARNING - DO NOT BREED, FEED OR PET THE PUDDLE! :dodgy2:
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