Blanket Weed

Duke of York · #1 (**permalink**) 06-08-2007, 07:42 PM

I have found this stuff growing in our pond and it appears to be getting more by the day

Is it something that should be left alone or should we be trying to get rid of it

DoY

GuyF · #2 (**permalink**) 06-08-2007, 07:53 PM

That is Blanket Weed, not something you particularly want in your pond. It's best to remove most, if not all of it because as you've discovered it can grow very quickly and it starts to choke up the pond, leading to there being less oxygen in there. However, if you do take it out you should either leave it one the side of the pond for a while, or sort through it all to allow small creatures to get back into the pond. It's probably best to do it sooner rather than later before lots of creatures have moved into it, I had to spend a painstaking few hours in the spring sorting through large clumps of this stuff removing Newt Eggs and Damselfly nymphs which were in there.
Guy

SparklySarah · #3 (**permalink**) 06-08-2007, 07:56 PM

Looks like blanket weed to me. I should remove the majority of it, but becarefull of small creatures that could be hiding in it. I had to do this with the school pond, because if it gets too much it could block the sun light, and other plants and animals could die. I may be wrong, but i would remove as much as you can, leaving a little for small water animals, and keep it down to a minimum.

Sarah

Gill Catton · #4 (**permalink**) 06-08-2007, 08:02 PM

possibly caused by high nutriant levels if you keep removing most of it it will eventually bring the nutriant level down and the growth will be restricted. Adding more plants such as Hortwort can help compete for the nutriants but again will need occassional thinning before a balance is reached.

Possible cases of high nutriants might be a build up of decaying leaves, fish, wildfowl or possible nearby application of fertiliser....

Duke of York · #5 (**permalink**) 06-08-2007, 08:07 PM

Thanks Folks.

I suspected it should be got rid of and I was starting to remove the stuff, but my partner Jennywrenny spotted creatures in it so I stopped (which is why it is at the edge of the pond in the photo).

As you suggest I will leave it at the edge and hope that anything living moves out as I cannot say I fancy going through

As for the cause we have not had any fertiliser near it and we are keeping it as a wildlife pond so no fish.

Hopefully it is wildfowl so i may get a picture or two

SparklySarah · #6 (**permalink**) 06-08-2007, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duke of York

As you suggest I will leave it at the edge and hope that anything living moves out as I cannot say I fancy going through

I know how you feel!! The pond at the school where mum works was covered with it, and, baring in mind this pond is around 20' by 15', I had to go through every bit I took out! This took about a week

The looks on some of the pupils faces were hilarious! I got used to it after a while, I go back there to redo it every so often. It's a very big job, especially getting to the middle without falling in!!

I enjoy it though!

naturelover · #7 (**permalink**) 06-08-2007, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SparklySarah

I know how you feel!! The pond at the school where mum works was covered with it, and, baring in mind this pond is around 20' by 15', I had to go through every bit I took out! This took about a week

The looks on some of the pupils faces were hilarious! I got used to it after a while, I go back there to redo it every so often. It's a very big job, especially getting to the middle without falling in!!

I enjoy it though!

hi i have alot growing in my wild life water feature which has large pebbles in the bottom,the blanket weed sticks to them which makes it inposable to remove so i dont worry about it too much,the creepy crawleys dont seem to mind it nor the birds,by the way its only about 8ins deep because of the pebbles,it has a fountain in the middle with a double dish efect i only have it on very low because the birds bath and shower in it,i have grasses and yellow irises growing in it so they are not efected by the blanket weed,i also have a bag of barley straw this dose help keep it under controle,it goes in the winter.

Duke of York · #8 (**permalink**) 06-08-2007, 08:52 PM

I dug the pond in April and it has only been in the last week or so that I have noticed the blanket weed and it is now definately increasing

We are wondering if it is to do with our water lilly as recently leaves keep dying and being replaced as this could be the cause of the high nutriant levels.