WHAT JOBS ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2018

It is advisable to have a thin layer of garden soil on the bottom of a wildlife pond, new or old, as it helps encourage, and gives shelter to, aquatic microscopic life essential to the pond. Clay is fine so long as there isn't too much of it i.e. it's not the major part of the bottom soil. Add it when you like, I added it when putting the water in, but you can add it afterwards if you want. It's also more sensible to add it all in one go rather than messing around putting a bit at a time in.
I have about 3 wades a year in the pond wearing Chest Waders and when I've finished the wade the water looks dark brown and murky, but it is always clear the next day. Over time you will find dust, plant debris and leaves will add to the mud on the bottom but it's not a problem as it's part of Nature. Every 3 years or so I check the depth of the mud on the bottom and if it's more than a couple of inches I take some out and throw it onto the banks and the Bog Garden which is good for both.
Wildlife ponds need to be in balance as much as possible so extracting any nutrients in the water, in conjunction with lots of sunshine, is essential as that is the chief culprit or ponds looking green or murky. You don't need filters or the like if you put plenty of marginal plants on the shelves of the pond as they will use the nutrient in the water to grow. You will want some floating oxygenating plants on the surface which is also give off oxygen while also extracting more nutrients out of the water, such as Myriophyllum [Spiked Milfoil], Ranunculus [Water Crowfoot], or Water Cress. When it comes to crates for planting the Marginals in don't going buying the so called aquatic baskets from Plant Nurseries as they are far too expensive for what they do. Wilco's do a range of handy plastic baskets that come in different sizes, are sturdy ,and far cheaper



I put some of those in back in '93 and they're still as good as new. Don't forget to line whatever you use with Hessian, put in the garden soil, and then a layer of gravel/grit on the top to initially stop the soil floating into the water, once it's wet it ain't going anywhere. You don't need expensive "Aquatic Compost" either just ordinary garden soil. Don't rush it all, trying to do it all at once in order to get an instant wildlife pond, as it takes time, a little understanding of what is going on in the pond and patience.

 

All the recent talk about ponds and wildlife ponds made me have a look around my wildlife pond just to see what is, or is not, happening. It's too cold, for me, to go for a wade and take out the crates of Marginal plants to start dividing them for more plants to put around the pond where I might be able to cram some more into the banks or shelves. So I visited a friend of mine who is a specialist grower of Marginal, Bog, and Aquatic plants but only sells wholesale or to friends. Luckily, I had my Wellies in the boot of the car, so we had a look around to see what could tempt me. My friend already knows what is in and around the pond, so we had a look [drool] at Sweet Flag, Golden Japanese Rush, Water Hawthorn, American Water Plantain, Cyperus Sedge, Umbrella Palm, Water Mint, Variegated Dropwort, Striped Bull Rush, Dwarf Reedmace, Variegated Reedmace, Cotton Bud Grass and Powdery Alligator Flag. I hate to admit this but I bought all of them What made it "worse" was that my friend was taking big clumps out of the plants I fancied, dropping them into large plastic bags while grinning knowing I could get several plants out of each clump So I have spent the afternoon potting everything up in large pots placed in large containers filled with water lined up against the Gable End of the House, with some down in the Bench area of the pond giving me a total of 79 pots. I will fit them in but it's not a job I will rush The whole lot cost me £20, and I had to make the Tea.

 

I have 3 or 4 ex-washing plastic washing basins tucked away from sight in the borders for any kind of wildlife that fancies a swim or drink but I forget about them due to them being out of sight.

 

I know, I know, Gail That's why my friend was grinning when he was dropping the big clumps of plants into the plastic bags.....he knew I would divide them into manageable portions and just how over planted the pond already is.........some friend!!
I've got plans for the West bank of the pond as I noticed one or two bare patches down by the waters edge, and also some spaces in the Bog Garden. Some plants will have to wait until I get into the pond with my Chest Waders as then I can plant up directly into the banks while standing in the water.
Just to make matters worse I have some Painted Ferns and some Astilbes to plant alongside the pond as well. I shouldn't be let loose anywhere near plants.

 

When I wandered in the garden yesterday I found that the camellias had dozens of frosted flowers on them but they also had dozens of new buds

Ponds are lovely but we had too much trouble with leaves (mainly willow) badly affecting our pond. Also we used to have a lot of small handicapped children visiting. So we gave it away. I've dug out this old photo from at least 45 years ago where we were saying goodbye to it.



This is what we replaced it with (for those of you that visit our garden, this is where the GC table is placed )



This was about five years after reclaiming the jungle and starting the lawns, flower beds and veg plot.