Massive amounts of thick algae

[King Edward]

Originally Posted by robje29

The shallow end of the pond is emergent from the water, ie; the soil line does desend into the water for ease of access and exit for all wildlife was my idea, tbh the seapage of nutrients was not something i really considered when doing this, so i guess this could account for the algae, also when the pond was made i used 1 bag of aquatic soil so there would be something for the plants to take to when i planted then.

It's always difficult to know how much of an effect nutrients leaching from the soil actually have - it may be that things will settle down once the soil is properly vegetated, since actual soil particles washed by rain into the pond could be a more significant nutrient source than just water percolating through the soil. Something mat-forming like the grasses I mentioned might be most suitable, although I don't know if that fits in with your planting plan for the surroundings. Grasses growing down into the water also make a good transitional habitat, with lots of places for water beetles, newt larvae etc. to live and for newly emerged froglets to hide out.

[robje29]

Hi and thx for all the replies

Im not keen to change the sloping shoreline as i really like it alot, going with grasses as suggested is a good idea that i would be happy to try, can you suggest a good retailer for them or maybe someone has some i can buy off them?

Again thx for the replies, i will update this post in spring and let you know how i get on.

Rob

[King Edward]

The grasses I suggested are all common wild species, not ornamental ones, so they are quite ordinary looking. Creeping Bent (Agrostis stolonifera) is very common - almost certainly growing in your garden already - or you could get a small seed packet from e.g. Emorsgate Seeds. It will spread up the bank as well as down into the water. Glyceria spp. are more aquatic, but I'm not sure where you'd buy them from.