water hyacinth

[GCN lova]

RE: water hyacinth: i removed the old brown horrible thing from my pond as it was dead and when i removed it there was a lot of shrimps, slaters and snails in its roots which i put into a smaller pool. I was surprised at how much life it sustained even though its invasive (though actually it didn't really multiply in my pond).

[Billabong Karen]

Originally Posted by King Edward

Hi Karen,

How is your new pond - do you have a current photo of it? Perhaps you should add it to your previous thread (this one, for anyone else looking for it).

The new pond is full of rainwater and I am slowly filling one side with stones to make an easy entrance/exit area for amphibians. I'll take a photo and update the other thread in the newt few days.

[King Edward]

Originally Posted by GCN lova

RE: water hyacinth: i removed the old brown horrible thing from my pond as it was dead and when i removed it there was a lot of shrimps, slaters and snails in its roots which i put into a smaller pool. I was surprised at how much life it sustained even though its invasive (though actually it didn't really multiply in my pond).

Water Hyacinth has a very good underwater structure, with lots of fine feathery roots providing places for animals to live, so I think you'd expect to find a lot living on it. Since it was also decomposing, the animals you mentioned were probably also feeding on the decaying plant tissues.

Karen,
I'm glad your new pond is going well so far - did it fill all by itself? Water Starwort might we worth trying in it, and/or Hornwort, as an alternative to Elodea.

[Billabong Karen]

Thanks for that KE, I'll keep an eye open for hornwort and water starwort when the weather starts to warm up again. Yes, the pond filled by itself with rainwater, and yes I'll post photos on the other thread!

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by GCN lova

RE: water hyacinth: i removed the old brown horrible thing from my pond as it was dead and when i removed it there was a lot of shrimps, slaters and snails in its roots which i put into a smaller pool. I was surprised at how much life it sustained even though its invasive (though actually it didn't really multiply in my pond).

Watercress also has roots that supports lots of wildlife and its evergreen so keeps going all through winter.