Pond Maintenane

[Dysdera]

Hi

I need some help with pond maintenance tips. I have just moved house which has quite a large pond in the back garden which had been pretty much abandoned for the last 6 years. It is not in a particularly good state and I want to give it a helping hand but not sure where to start.

The pond is about 7 by 2 metres and goes from 2 ft to 3 deep. There is only a large waterlilly and ivy which has grown down into the pond which i am reluctant to move because it is the only way for any beasties to climb in and out of the pond. Otherwise there is quite a bit of algae and the water is quite murkey

There is an old pump in the pond which I have not investigated and I am not sure whether the pump will affect the beasties that have already moved in.

We have seen a newt, frogs and tadpoles. We did have a visiting duck, but I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks.

Does anyone have any suggestions to maximise wildlife in my pond?
thanks.
Dys

[Meta menardi]

My first reaction with anything like this is to sit down and do nothing apart from watch, especially as you have already got some life (and quite interesting life) in there now. You have an ecological niche working away there and making it better might change something critical.

Whilst you are doing nothing, you can study up what makes ponds fill up with algae and so on, and then make changes that take your pond somewhere better.

This time of year loads of things will be happening, have a good look.

[Jez]

Don't think it will hurt to add oxygenators to the pond, also pond snails which can be bought from a local aquatic centre. They will help in cleaning up the Algae!

[wildmanofthewoods]

What an exciting prospect it sounds, like Jez says a pond can't have enough oxygenators and it will help with the algae. Try to avoid fish, if you wish to keep it as a wildlife pond and also add some reeds and rushes, they'll look good and be great for emerging dragonflys. Do stick to native British species with your pond plants there are some great suppliers in Water gardener magazine, you will find this very informative and inspirational.A wildlife pond doesn't have to be untidy so you can remove what you don't want just leave it by the side of the pond for a few days so all the wee beasties can return to the pond, if they are removed accidently.
Good luck, I live in a flat so i'm jealous

[Kayleigh]

Hi Dysdera and welcome,
Newts will be breeding this time of year all summer. So do as meta has said and watch and like Jez says put in oxygenators. I put watercress from supermarkets in my pond to help with the blanket weed.

[wildmanofthewoods]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

Hi Dysdera and welcome,
Newts will be breeding this time of year all summer. So do as meta has said and watch and like Jez says put in oxygenators. I put watercress from supermarkets in my pond to help with the blanket weed.

Actually this is true so it would be best to wait untill the end of the year before you do anything drastic.....
...... does this work Kayleigh?
it would be great if it does blanket weed is a big problem in lots of small ponds....i've used barley straw in the past but found i needed large amounts to have any sort of effect and this wasn't so pleasing on the eye.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by wildmanofthewoods

Actually this is true so it would be best to wait untill the end of the year before you do anything drastic.....
...... does this work Kayleigh?
it would be great if it does blanket weed is a big problem in lots of small ponds....i've used barley straw in the past but found i needed large amounts to have any sort of effect and this wasn't so pleasing on the eye.

As with the newts in mine its the only option and not to use tap water. The watercress does get a bit rampant so I just thin it out at end of summer. We still get blanket weed but not that bad. The newts frogs and toads don't mind it anyway.

[Dysdera]

Thankyou for the advice!

Unfortunatly today we found quite a large fish in the pond. Not sure what type and whether there are any more lurking at the bottom as only clear enough to see about 1 ft down and not the other 2.

Decided that the weed attached to all the ivy is blanket weed. Took a few jugs of water to see what life there is and only found anything where the weed is - nothing anywhere else including around the water lily. Couldn't see any tadpoles today either.. i hope there are still some left and the fishy hasn't got them all!

I did find a frog that was kind enough to sit still long enough to be identified as a common frog, but the newts are being evasive and only come up breifly before going too far down to be seen :S

Going to see if the local fishing shop has a long-handled net tomorrow to see if i can find out whats lurking at the bottom. I'll also try putting some watercress in.

[Josquine]

Have just discovered this site and this discussion, so have registered - even though I live in west central France!
How lucky to have a pond ready-made in your garden. I join with others and say don't do anything for a while, unless it is seriously overgrown, and getting rid, kindly, of the fish. Can you find perhaps a good home for them, as they are presumably non-native? They will otherwise kill off all chance of a balanced wildlife pond, both with their predation and with their excrement, which will contribute too many nutrients to the watery environment.
Start tackling the rest in the autumn, and even then, limit yourself to a clear-out - no more than a third of the vegetation in any one year.
That clear water, by the way, was teeming with microscopic beasties and other living things, absolutely essential to the existence of a wildlife pond.

[Josquine]

Forgot to say - if your pond is 2 feet at its shallowest, you'll need to create a 'beach', a slope which enables creatures to get in and out - and incidentally will give you enormous fun as you watch the birds taking a dip!