peat in the pond?

Hi Ann, I have a pond for 16 years. Planting marginal plants [i.e. plants with their feet in the water] is quite simple, and you shouldn't use peat as it will turn the water acidic and also colours it.

I've put my plants in to small containers with holes in the sides, lined with hessian, and then filled with ordinary garden soil. Once planted in the container cover the top of the soil with gravel to stop it leaking out, and that's it. You don't need to go to the expense of "aquatic" compost, which is only compost with no, or very little nutrients, in it.

As for keeping your water clear there are a lot of schools of thoughts and techniques about that. I wanted to avoid having a filter and all the gubbins to go with it, so I took a "leaf" out of the late great Geoff Hamilton's book. He recommended that by using a fair amount of marginal plants they would keep the water clear by taking out the nutrients in the water thereby stopping algae from growing and blooming. I have to say it has worked 100% for me and I can truthfully say my pond water has always been crystal clear, even with fish in it.

 

This is the interesting thing when you ask gardeners about how they do things, Anne:D, they all differ.:D

All I can say, is that what I have said is true. My pond has fish in it yet it has remained clear all the time without filters, because I did it the natural way using marginal plants to take out the nuturients. I don't believe that filters are a necessary evil unless you've got Koi carp which are heavy polluters All I have done is let nature do the job by using the marginal plants to take out the nutrients.

Again, I have to disagree with Watergarden regarding aquatic compost and containers. My containers were lined with hessisan and filled with ordinary garden soil. Whether you use oridinary soil or spend on aquatic compost is up to you. any marginal plants you put in will, I assure you, take out whatever nutritents there are in the soil/compost and water, keeping your pond in balance the natural way. The hessian is still sound and the soil has not leaked through any holes, after 16 years, as the roots of the plants hold it. I know this because I repositioned all the containers two weeks ago, while cutting away dead growth to tidy things up.

I would agree with Watergarden regarding the style of containers and the job they do. My containers were bought from Wilco's, they were 12" X 6" with holes in the sides and meant to general kitchen use. I bought them as they were a quarter of the price of those from the Aquatic Centers. Again, when checking them when moving them they were all still sound, not bad for the price and 16 years use. Unlike Pete I've never had a problem with marginals escaping their containers. Marginal plants are important because they really do keep the pond in balance by taking the nutrients out of the water for their own use.

As they say, Anne, the ball is in your pond:D