WHAT JOBS ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2018

KFF · Jun 20, 2018

I was gonna say I miss BeeHappy but I don't think she'll be back due to a confrontational member.

Gail_68 · Jun 20, 2018

Loki said: ↑
Off topic, but wheres @Gail_68 ?
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I'm back mate and for asking...I've got MCTD which I posted a good while back and it covers many health issues with me and I can go missing for a few days up to over a week and @martin-f for alerting members for me mate

Verdun said: ↑
Where are you girl?
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Thanks also Verdun for asking ...i'm back as members go

What i'd like to know is where is @BeeHappy / @"M" and @kazzawazza although I only saw one comment on here...your all missed you know

shiney · Jun 20, 2018

I've just spent a few hours cutting out lilac suckers from amongst the plants and pulling loads of bindweed. I haven't made even a dent in the work!

Too hot to carry on.

Verdun · Jun 20, 2018

Ah! You dont divide penstemons Gary. Cuttings for this . Herbaceous stuff can be divided, so geums and shastas ok. Yes, cut them down asap, feed, water and stand back

Gail_68 · Jun 20, 2018

Jack Sparrow said: ↑
I could give it to my wife for Xmas.
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Skin flint Gary

Gail_68 · Jun 20, 2018

Jack Sparrow said: ↑
Penstemmon, geum and Shasta daisy. All looking very sorry for themselves. Do I cut them right down to rejuvenate them?
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In my opinion mate they would be cut back to regenerate them because they look a little lifeless

Ned · Jun 20, 2018

ARMANDII said: ↑
I'm sorry, Martin, but that is totally wrong. Plants do not take oxygen out of the pond they extract nutrients out on the pond helping to keep a pond in balance. The Nitrogen in the nutrients is expelled by the plants at night time, and they do the same job as Trees do, while also reducing excess nutrients. They also provide cover for wildlife and even food insects.
One of the problems that lucius is facing is that the pond is shallow, fairly shallow, and the water is static. Rain, whenever we get it, introduces oxygen among other things into the pond, but lack of oxygen does not appear to be a problem in your pond, lucius. I dug my wildlife pond in '93 and it has been crystal clear, [in balance], every day since then apart from my wades in the pond to maintain the banks and plants. I can assure you, lucius, that you're on the right track, but you need to be patient. A pond is a dynamic entity, constantly changing, but in two years when the marginal plants and pond life become more established you will find Nature will sort things out.
Let me try to ease your worries regarding certain things regarding the pond. Tap water will not pollute your pond as it is as clean as it can get, rain water will not pollute your pond it merely adds natural nutrients to it which your marginal plants, when established will take out of the water and use for growth as they are doing now. Birds, I probably have a couple of hundred a day using the pond for a bath in the shallow parts, and also for drinking. Multiply that by the number of days the pond has been in existent and that's a lot of birds and bird poop, but my pond has remained crystal clear. Yes, too much bird poop in a fairly small, fairly shallow new pond can discolour the water but you'd need a flock of Ostriches to really affect your pond.......and I don't think you've got many where you are.
I've also had around 6 fish in my pond excreting into the water since '93 and thereby adding nutrients into the water without any negative effects.
I can understand you wanting the pond to be an instant success with insects, frogs, newts, and other wildlife making a home there within weeks, months, but Nature will take it's time and you will find that gradually over time the pond will naturalise. You've done a great job on the pond but it is new and therefore the marginal plants are not established, the natural balance of the pond is still out of kilter, the wild life will find the pond and visit it while not setting up home, the insects will use it, the birds will use it, and all the things that they do, the weather will do, is a natural cycle that happens to thousands [yours, mine, domestic, wildlife, and natural wildlife] of ponds in the UK, and Nature takes it all in her stride. A sudden puddle of water does not instantly become a wildlife pond. If it stays it probably will and, over time, probably will become established providing food and cover for it's residents.
Do not expect great things from the pond this year, lucius. Yes, it will attract some insects this year, but it will be one or three years before it finds it's natural balance. So be patience, don't mess the pond about by making alterations, don't take out any plants, don't worry about polution, do keep it topped up with either tap water or rainwater, do take out any excess weed that you need to, but that will occur less and less. You've done a great job Have patience and let Nature do the rest.
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Gail_68 · Jun 20, 2018

shiney said: ↑
I've just spent a few hours cutting out lilac suckers from amongst the plants and pulling loads of bindweed. I haven't made even a dent in the work!

Too hot to carry on.
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Shiney rest for the evening now...you've been on quite a bit already by what you mentioned earlier

shiney · Jun 20, 2018

@Gail_68

Don't have time to rest! I've got dinner to cook and then off to open up the club. Should be back before midnight - carriages and pumpkins etc.

Gail_68 · Jun 20, 2018

shiney said: ↑
@Gail_68

Don't have time to rest! I've got dinner to cook and then off to open up the club. Should be back before midnight - carriages and pumpkins etc.
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Well I already have a chef and chauffeur but no carriages and pumpkins ...the needs getting out again

martin-f · Jun 20, 2018

WeeTam said: ↑
And wheres 'M' hiding?
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I miss M, she told someone how it was and not been seen since, she could have been banned but she shouldn't have been she was just telling the truth.

Jack Sparrow · Jun 20, 2018

Verdun said: ↑
Ah! You dont divide penstemons Gary. Cuttings for this . Herbaceous stuff can be divided, so geums and shastas ok. Yes, cut them down asap, feed, water and stand back
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Oh well it's done now. All 6 half plants have been trimmed and watered. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

G.

martin-f · Jun 20, 2018

luciusmaximus said: ↑
Two very different opinions though regarding oxygen levels in my pond
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Hi Luci, this is my last comment on your pond i wish you well with it , nothing to do with you.

Oxygen is absorbed only through the surface of water it is possible to have too many plants in a pond. If the entire surface is covered with surface plants very little gas exchange can take place the pond will turn septic and start smelling.

My comments about the lack of insect life is based on concerns about ecology
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Pond ecology is best described as the interaction of the life in your pond with the environment that exists there. A shallow, nutrient rich pond, exposed to sunlight with little water flowing through it will be teeming with algae and aquatic plants. It may have very little animal life present because of low oxygen levels.

john558 · Jun 20, 2018

Well folks I'm praying for rain this evening

ARMANDII · Jun 20, 2018

john558 said: ↑
Well folks I'm praying for rain this evening
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We haven't had any appreciable rain here in West Cheshire, John, for 5 weeks. What "rain" we have had have been either just spots of rain, or a very light drizzle that last a couple of minutes. The forecast for the next week is looking to be dry rather than wet.

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