Mayford Village Pond

[Cordaline]

On the 18th August I went with my daughter Hollie & Adam to Mayford Village Pond, which he co-founded 13 years ago, to help with getting it ready for winter. We were joined by a couple of other members of the Mayford Pond Heritage Group. Armed with waders, wellies, forks, gloves & a wheelbarrow, we made a start.
The work we did was to reduce the amount of Water Soldier present & begin clearing the Crassula helmsii (which out competes all the other plants) from the pond.
It is done at this time of year because of the low water level, allowing better access to the deeper area of the pond, thus making it easier to clear the Crassula from the middle of the pond.
When we arrived, you couldn't see the water at all.
The photo's I took show the progress we made that day & some of the wild flowers growing & insects present on the day.













Red Clover

Purple Loosestrife

Lesser Teasel

Guelder Rose

Russian Comfry

Meadow Cranesbill

Lesser Teasel

Field Scabious

Dotted Loosestrife

Hogweed

Female Common Blue

Common Blue

Brown Grasshopper

This is a lovely project & it was such a shame to find things like shopping baskets, alcopop bottles, metal bars & general litter sunken in the pond. If only people had better respect for places of wildlife.
Here's hoping it can stay looking nice, after our hard work, for the season's to come.

[Wild-Woman]

What a great project to get involved in. Well done to all the pond vols.

Now all you need is a bit of interpretation near the pond, explaining what species you've got there and names of all those who have lovingly restored it.

[Dorts]

Cordaline.
The 'Dotted' Loosestrife in your pic. is Yellow Loosestrife - Lysimachia vulgaris, our native species, and not that 'awful' invader.
Wonderful to see the Small Teasel doing well, a real favourite of mine.
Dorts.

[Cordaline]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

What a great project to get involved in. Well done to all the pond vols.

Now all you need is a bit of interpretation near the pond, explaining what species you've got there and names of all those who have lovingly restored it.

Hiya Jules,
Adam designed an interpretation panel some years back that the council were going to pay for but has never come to fruition.
It awaits the go ahead on a Zipdisk in one of his drawers.
Vicki.

[Cordaline]

Originally Posted by Dorts

Cordaline.
The 'Dotted' Loosestrife in your pic. is Yellow Loosestrife - Lysimachia vulgaris, our native species, and not that 'awful' invader.
Wonderful to see the Small Teasel doing well, a real favourite of mine.
Dorts.

Hiya Dorts,
I labelled it as Dotted Loosestrife because Adam had it on good authority from Tiggrx sometime ago, that it was such.
Cordaline.

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by Cordaline

Hiya Dorts,
I labelled it as Dotted Loosestrife because Adam had it on good authority from Tiggrx sometime ago, that it was such.
Cordaline.

Just thought I'd add a pic. of Dotted Loosestrife so you could see the difference from our lovely native species as there is often much confusion.

Yellow Loosestrife - Up to 1.5m. Flowers in conspicuous branched leafy clusters. Rarely orange centre to flowers. Petals not fringed with hairs.
By marshes, ditches, rivers and lakes.
Dotted Loosestrife -Rarely above 1m. Far less branched. Flowers in tight whorls up the stem, generally an orange centre to flower. Petals fringed with hairs.
By roadsides and in rough herbage, occasionaly by rivers.

Dorts.