Hello from Oxfordshire UK + question on a species that has appeared.

[alfvenwave]

Hello from Oxfordshire. Our pond is now into its third Spring. It's a large pond (maybe 400m2 of water surface + a 200m2 island in the middle. It's got a large draw down zone (about 1/3 of the circumference. In terms of construction, it's got gravel underneath for drainage (+ to take a broken land drain we cut when we dug it out) with a fleece, then EPDM, then another fleece, then clay on top so it looks natural. We have used planted coir mats around some of the steeper bits to prevent erosion until all the marginals have knitted together. One thing that might be of interest is that we have been advised by a pond specialist not to put pond weed oxygenators into it - this seemed to be the opposite to what most experts advise. We have planted lots of natives like Butomus umbelatus, purple loosestrife, sedges, some grasses, Gladstone water lilies etc. but nothing for the bottom of the pond. For two years now, we have had very clear water and a manageable amount of blanket weed that we fish out now and again. We let it fill naturally with rain, but I was thoroughly expecting to suffer from green water until the ecosystem has become established - maybe its because the clay is low in nutrients, or perhaps it's the size or the depth - in any case, we do not yet seem to have needed any oxygenating weed and it's slowly filling up with all sorts of pond life. Now, here is the main point of my posting - various plant species have started to appear naturally in the pond (no doubt brought in by ducks who were set on making it their home on day one). We have removed half a dozen of what we think might be willows, but we have now also got some pond weed. I want to keep the pond native, but am unsure what the weed is - it seems to be slow growing, and is forming a mat a few inches thick along the bottom/sides down to a depth of maybe a few feet. It pulls out really easily and seems very brittle/crumbly. I was worried it might be Parrots Feather but I don't think it is - can anyone identify it (image below) and let me know whether I should fish t out or let it establish? I can post pictures of the pond itself if anyone is interested....

Kind regards,

Rob.

 

[Priscilla]

Hi There!

I don't know what the plant is, but would love to see pictures of your pond. So there are no fish in the pond? Just a natural garden pond?

Sorry I can't help with the plant. I'm sure someone on here will be able to identify it.

 

[j.w]

Muskgrass maybe - http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/98
or Charales algae - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charales
http://www.awc-america.com/plant_id_utility/plants/cha.html

 

[alfvenwave]

Here you go Priscilla, some pictures from last Autumn. You're one of very few people to have seen it so far. We planted it up last Summer after leaving it a year to fill up. It is a big pond but looks bigger in pictures. Our plot was until very recently a brown field site (we had to shift 2000 tonnes of rubble and bring in similar amounts of soil - we didn't really know what we were taking on when we bought the house - I think we're finally getting there though). The pond is on agricultural land (hence we want to keep it as native as possible) and is "the" big feature - it will hopefully be surrounded by a wild flower meadow this year (last year we got LOTS of daisies)....

 

[Priscilla]

Wow! Its is huge! I love it! You really can not tell its not natural. How did you cover the liner on the sides? Did you use soil and let the grass grow down to the water? I LOVE the path to the bench between the two trees. Any concern about mosquitoes where you are?

 

[alfvenwave]

Wow! Its is huge! I love it! You really can not tell its not natural. How did you cover the liner on the sides? Did you use soil and let the grass grow down to the water? I LOVE the path to the bench between the two trees. Any concern about mosquitoes where you are?

It's a long painful story - we took some poor advice which suggested puddling would work - this involved buying in around 40 tonnes of puddling clay. We were very upset that the very natural looking pond wouldn't hold water. As a result, we had to remove all the clay and put a liner down (after a lot more earth works to get the drainage right under the liner). Once the liner was down, with a fleece on top, we put the clay back on top. We used some turf around the edges (we're hoping it won't compete too much with the native meadow grasses we've sown) - the pond and turf are slowly growing together (lots of moss and wild flowers appearing in the gaps (we've planted things like ragged robin etc.). The draw down zone is shallow and so completely stable, however there are a few steep areas - the clay though seems to be holding. To be extra sure, we have installed coir mats with natives embedded into them - we just placed them around the sides in last years hot summer - they are now firmly rooted - hopefully this will allow a nice network of roots to form which will stop any erosion around the sides (we do get waves/ripples!)....no sign of any serious erosion for ~2+ years though so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! It's all a big experiment....

 

[alfvenwave]

Muskgrass maybe - http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/98
or Charales algae - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charales
http://www.awc-america.com/plant_id_utility/plants/cha.html

Wow, I think you might be right j.w. - it does look like the pictures and does feel crunchy (apparently due to calcium carbonate which forms a crust on the surface of the plant). I just crushed the piece I took the photo of (left floating in the sink) - it doesn't smell of garlic or anything (indeed, it smells just like crushed grass), but maybe not all species smell? Having a quick look on the web, it appears to be quite rare in the UK. Thankyou so much for your help! Rob.

 

[alfvenwave]

Wow! Its is huge! I love it! You really can not tell its not natural. How did you cover the liner on the sides? Did you use soil and let the grass grow down to the water? I LOVE the path to the bench between the two trees. Any concern about mosquitoes where you are?

We do get midges - but they seem to live in a slow running run-off stream which borders our property rather than the pond - the swallows and bats love them of course. Thankfully, 99% of them are of the non biting variety....

 

[Big Lou]

A really beautiful pond. So happy for you. Welcome!

 

[alfvenwave]

Thankyou for your kind words Lou - it's been a huge amount of work, but we feel like we're finally getting there. This year will be the big test with respect to algae and weed - last year there was no blanket weed in there until late Summer, whereas this year we do have a bit already (I think it came in with some of the plants). I will no doubt be spending many hours with my big net....

 

[Big Lou]

Our very best to you and yours.

 

[j.w]

Gosh it huge and gorgeous!

 

[RobAmy]

Now that's a pond. Beautiful

 

[Dave 54]

Welcome from sunny Plymouth UK where abouts in Oxfordshire do you come from we have family friends in both Counties..... mum used to live in Cambridgeshire and would visit there quite regularily

Dave

 

[addy1]

to our group! That is beautiful!