Is there a right time to clear out a pond?

[werdnal]

Several years ago, not long after we started our pond, we made the mistake of accepting a donation of some of the dreaded Parrots Feather pond weed. Unfortunately at the time, we were blissfully unaware how rampant it is - this plant should be banned in my opinion!

Anyway, it does have its uses in protecting our few remaining goldfish from the local heron, but every year I have to blitz it to help keep it under control. Last year I did it late summer, expecting all the froglets etc, to be long gone, but came across a few juvenile newts, so I've left it later this year. Went out this morning and hauled out loads, left on the side in the hope that any pondlife I have evicted will find its way back in. Just been out to check on my handywork now the water has cleared, and find we still have juvenile newts in the pond. I thought they'd likely have made for land by now as we've had a couple of minor frosts here and the water is very cold already. I hope I haven't disturbed too many, but the weed is so matted its very difficult to check through for anything that needs rescuing. I'll leave it on the side for a couple days before transferring to my bonfire patch.

Is there a right time to do this sort of thing without causing too much grief to the wildlife?

[badger426]

It is possible to buy commercial herbicides for ponds that supposedly don't harm the wild life but I've never used it or know anyone who has.

[Gill Catton]

hmmm not sure I'd use a herbicide, won't that affect all plants?

Personally I think you're doing exactly the right thing.
Leaving the weed on the side for two days is also ideal, as most animals will find their way back into the water or fly on to pastures new, though I wouldn't perhaps do it much later than now as invertebrates and other cold blooded animals find it much harder to move about when its cold.

It's not unheard of for baby newts or tadpoles to overwinter in the water, esp if it has been a rather cold year and this slows the metamorphasis, they should be ok.

[badger426]

Yes it would affect all plants, I wouldn't use it unless werdnal wants a clean palette to work with.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by badger426

Yes it would affect all plants, I wouldn't use it unless werdnal wants a clean palette to work with.

Still doesn't sound like a good plan to me, what about all the tiny beneficial alga the basis for the ecological web within the pond etc.....

[badger426]

Yes, you're right probably best left alone.
Cheers.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by werdnal

Several years ago, not long after we started our pond, we made the mistake of accepting a donation of some of the dreaded Parrots Feather pond weed. Unfortunately at the time, we were blissfully unaware how rampant it is - this plant should be banned in my opinion!

Anyway, it does have its uses in protecting our few remaining goldfish from the local heron, but every year I have to blitz it to help keep it under control. Last year I did it late summer, expecting all the froglets etc, to be long gone, but came across a few juvenile newts, so I've left it later this year. Went out this morning and hauled out loads, left on the side in the hope that any pondlife I have evicted will find its way back in. Just been out to check on my handywork now the water has cleared, and find we still have juvenile newts in the pond. I thought they'd likely have made for land by now as we've had a couple of minor frosts here and the water is very cold already. I hope I haven't disturbed too many, but the weed is so matted its very difficult to check through for anything that needs rescuing. I'll leave it on the side for a couple days before transferring to my bonfire patch.

Is there a right time to do this sort of thing without causing too much grief to the wildlife?

There was a major infestation of Parrot's-feather in some of the ponds on Wimbledon Common + a few years back at least a couple were sprayed. This had partial effect on the pest but also affected other plants + without total control the plant can soon take off again. After spraying I noticed a real reduction in numbers of Odonata in the following season which I suspect is not unrelated to the spraying.

Manual removal is probably best, leaving the weed for a couple of days for critters to get back into the pond + then composting the weed.

[tom00_uk]

the only plus side to such a rampant plant is it will keep the nutrients down in the pond. other than that it is a bain. the pond i used to ave with it in would get a a decent amount pulled out every few months. the little and often style kept a decent amount of the water free for the less invassive plants to grow