Building a "wildlife pond"
Discussion
I have now read, on the RHS web site, that butyl is not suitable as a root barrier against bamboo, because the rhizomes can penetrate it! And it seems there are other types of grass that can as well...
I'm currently considering this root barrier which has a 25 year guarantee against root penetration.
I'm currently considering this root barrier which has a 25 year guarantee against root penetration.
Vandalism!!
Some bugger (probably a fox) has dug down into the lawn and torn off a section of liner, so that's more repairs I'll have to do.
Fortunately the tear doesn't go down to the water level, so it's not all that urgent. For now, I've sprinkled some garlic-based cat repellent around the edge, in the hope that it'll deter foxes as well.
Some bugger (probably a fox) has dug down into the lawn and torn off a section of liner, so that's more repairs I'll have to do.
Fortunately the tear doesn't go down to the water level, so it's not all that urgent. For now, I've sprinkled some garlic-based cat repellent around the edge, in the hope that it'll deter foxes as well.
Yes, it's foxes (possibly badgers too), they can smell the rubber, and they seem to go crazy for it. Same happened to me several times. They just keep coming back to the same spot for a chewy tug of war. If you've got any offcuts you could cut into strips and firmly nail to a post or something to distract them.
Mr GrimNasty said:
Yes, it's foxes (possibly badgers too), they can smell the rubber, and they seem to go crazy for it. Same happened to me several times. They just keep coming back to the same spot for a chewy tug of war. If you've got any offcuts you could cut into strips and firmly nail to a post or something to distract them.
Grenade pin? Shotgun trigger tripwire?
A rather pretty shot of the shallow bog section of my pond, where water droplets from the outlet of the pond pump have splashed up onto nearby grass and leaves and formed icicles:
Update on my rhizome problem: I partly drained the pond, and found that six or seven more rhizomes had pushed through in other places! I have inserted bamboo root barrier behind the liner (which I patch-repaired), cut back the rhizomes and put another layer of root barrier closer to the offending ornamental grass. Hopefully that should keep the b
d thing under control.
Update on my rhizome problem: I partly drained the pond, and found that six or seven more rhizomes had pushed through in other places! I have inserted bamboo root barrier behind the liner (which I patch-repaired), cut back the rhizomes and put another layer of root barrier closer to the offending ornamental grass. Hopefully that should keep the b
d thing under control. Newts!!!
I've been peering into the bottom of the pond looking for signs of life, and saw a little "hand", then a head, it's a newt!
Crap picture alert:
And I saw another one as well. It was in a better position for a picture, but wriggled off too soon.
So is there anything I can do to encourage them to "get it ON", or just leave well alone?
They stick their eggs to submerged leaves I think - is that right? Do they emerge as "newtpoles"? I know almost nothing about these creatures, but I'm so excited by their presence!
I've started a thread in "All Creatures" to see what they say about newts.
Edited to add: a much better picture...
Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Saturday 7th March 08:41
Just thought I'd update with a picture.
The plants are going crazy this year, due in part to an experiment. In the aquarium world, the modern thinking is that excess nutrients do NOT cause algae; in fact algae are suppressed by the vigorous plant growth that results from a generous dose of nutrients using "EI" - Estimated Index. I am trying this with the pond, and dosing Potassium nitrate, Monopotassium phosphate and a micronutrient mix. The result? Vigorous plant growth and absolutely no blanket weed, which I was pulling out on a daily basis last year.
The newts have done well this year. I have to remove duckweed and Azolla frequently, and I always find at least one or two newt larvae in the net and have to drop them back in the water. There must be hundreds of them!
I didn't get frogs breeding, but I did steal some tadpoles from a neighbour's garden while I was looking after it. These have developed into lots of froglets.
I also see lots of empty dragonfly nymph skins clinging to plant stalks, but have never seen the insect emerging. Over the winter I saw strange clumps of plant matter moving about, and have only recently discovered what they were: caddis fly larvae, which stick bits of plant stalk to themselves as protection.
The plants are going crazy this year, due in part to an experiment. In the aquarium world, the modern thinking is that excess nutrients do NOT cause algae; in fact algae are suppressed by the vigorous plant growth that results from a generous dose of nutrients using "EI" - Estimated Index. I am trying this with the pond, and dosing Potassium nitrate, Monopotassium phosphate and a micronutrient mix. The result? Vigorous plant growth and absolutely no blanket weed, which I was pulling out on a daily basis last year.
The newts have done well this year. I have to remove duckweed and Azolla frequently, and I always find at least one or two newt larvae in the net and have to drop them back in the water. There must be hundreds of them!
I didn't get frogs breeding, but I did steal some tadpoles from a neighbour's garden while I was looking after it. These have developed into lots of froglets.
I also see lots of empty dragonfly nymph skins clinging to plant stalks, but have never seen the insect emerging. Over the winter I saw strange clumps of plant matter moving about, and have only recently discovered what they were: caddis fly larvae, which stick bits of plant stalk to themselves as protection.
Well done Mike, I haven't got newts in mine but I do have a resident grass snake called Hissing Sid, we watched him snatch a frog the other evening. Took him quite a while to swallow it but that's nature they tell me! Apparently according to the pond forum I belong to I should be impressed to have grass snakes !
RichB said:
Well done Mike, I haven't got newts in mine but I do have a resident grass snake called Hissing Sid, we watched him snatch a frog the other evening. Took him quite a while to swallow it but that's nature they tell me! Apparently according to the pond forum I belong to I should be impressed to have grass snakes !
We relocated our grass snake.
Our daughter (5 or 6 at the time (yes, there was a very strong grid over the pond)) had been saying for a few days "there's a mermaid in the pond".
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