Trying to bring a neglected garden pond back to better health - some questions about sunken leaves, etc

[AmyPond]

There's an old pond in my garden which for some years has been very neglected - surrounded and overhung by thick brambles, also overhung by some young trees (no idea what type), plenty of rotting leaves in it, etc.

The pond is about 20 feet across.

It's moderately shaded from a nearby building so doesn't get a huge amount of sun in the summer and barely any in the winter.

I've nearly finished removed the thick brambles (it's taken many weeks of on/off work to do this) and am currently in the process of using a net to remove as many rotting leaves and debris from the pond as I can.

There's no fish in it and I have no plans to add any, I just want it to be a good pond for wildlife.

There's some water lillies growing in it which look healthy (I'll leave those of course), and a type of pond plant with long thin tubular leaves (no idea what it's called but it too looks healthy). I'll leave that as well.

The pond itself smells okay, as does any undisturbed water if I scoop some up and sniff it, so I don't think it's stagnant. The leaves that I remove from the bottom smell a bit but that's to be expected. The water is surprisingly pretty clear when undisturbed (except when I remove the leaves of course, but any stirred up brown-ish sediment soon settles).

Some questions:

a) I know I'll never be able to remove all of the leaves without dredging it and I don't want to do that, there's bound to be quite a bit of debris and rotting matter at the bottom of the pond. But should I be adding anything to the water to restore any kind of chemical imbalance?

b) This is probably a laughable question, but given all of the above details, is the pond water 'dangerous'? I'm not of course intending to drink any! But should I be keeping it off my skin for any reason? Avoiding getting in my eyes? (not planning to do that either of course!). As it looks clear and plants are growing in it I assume that as long as I don't drink it there's no issues.

c) Should I be removing some or all of the young trees that overhang the pond?

d) Should I be adding any kind of pump or waterfall-like feature to aerate it? Something solar-powered perhaps?

e) There's a bit of pond weed covering maybe a third of the surface, I'll remove most of it but perhaps best to leave some?



Any advice please based on the above?

Thanks

 

[WaterGardener]

Pictures would be helpful. I would not add any chemicals, just remove as much muck as you possibly can. It sounds like the pond is doing well as it is. There should be nothing dangerous about the water.

If you don't want to be constantly dipping out leaves, you could remove some or all of the trees. Taking out some might allow more sun to get to the pond. Most of us put a net over the pond to keep our leaves and sticks.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! Love your name — are you a Dr. Who fan?

Does the pond have a natural bottom or is it lined? (IOW: dirt, clay, concrete, rubber, or plastic)

Do you know how deep it is?

Agree with what @WaterGardener said above about pictures — was going to say the same thing! Pictures are very helpful at giving us an idea what you’re dealing with. I love posts from the UK! Where you guys say “garden,” you mean [in most cases] what we here in the US call our yard — yards to us can be visualized as huge or small. Whereas, with what we call a “garden” is usually a smaller, sequestered part of the yard. I always envision a lovely cottage garden! Anyway, what you have sounds lovely to me!

 

[AmyPond]

Pictures would be helpful. I would not add any chemicals, just remove as much muck as you possibly can. It sounds like the pond is doing well as it is. There should be nothing dangerous about the water.

If you don't want to be constantly dipping out leaves, you could remove some or all of the trees. Taking out some might allow more sun to get to the pond. Most of us put a net over the pond to keep our leaves and sticks.

Thanks for the advice. There is one tree in particular that I may remove but I've also been reading that too much sun can cause algae to grow more, so dappled shade may be a good compromise?

 

[AmyPond]

Hello and welcome! Love your name — are you a Dr. Who fan?

Does the pond have a natural bottom or is it lined? (IOW: dirt, clay, concrete, rubber, or plastic)

Do you know how deep it is?

Agree with what @WaterGardener said above about pictures — was going to say the same thing! Pictures are very helpful at giving us an idea what you’re dealing with. I love posts from the UK! Where you guys say “garden,” you mean [in most cases] what we here in the US call our yard — yards to us can be visualized as huge or small. Whereas, with what we call a “garden” is usually a smaller, sequestered part of the yard. I always envision a lovely cottage garden! Anyway, what you have sounds lovely to me!

Yes, I'm a partial Doctor Who fan (I say partial because I have my likes and dislikes of the seasons, showrunners, actors, etc and don't just lap it all up regardless).

The pond is about 5 feet deep.

I'll see if I can grab some decent photos.

And yes, the UK 'garden' will be the US 'yard' I guess (but for me in the UK a 'yard' is more of a bare space, usually with a concrete or tarmac base).

 

[j.w]

@AmyPond
Since those trees are young it will be easier to remove them now then to wait till they get huge and more unmanageable. Each year they will all just add more gunk to the pond. I would have some kind of an aerator or water fountain in there to keep the water moving so it will not be just stagnant. I do put a net over my wildlife pond as there is a nice tree that I love next to it that drops leaves and blossoms. My critter pond is small tho and yours is huge! I remove my net when the leaves are not falling. I'd try to remove some of that sludge on the bottom but not sure you really need to being that your pond seems to be in such good condition. If frogs and other critters are using yours then it would seem the water must be good in their opinion. Pictures would be nice to see.

 

[AmyPond]

Thanks, I appreciate the advice.


BTW, love the Doctor Who graphic.