That looks so lovely Dove. I'm very envious of your water clarity. Mine is full of suspended matter, so looking a bit brown and cloudy. Hopefully it'll settle.
I did buy some snails last year at the local aquatic shop, but when I got home and opened the bag the smell was overpowering. I thought they were resting....
When the hot spell ends I'll get some - I see they sell 2 types of pond snail, is there much to choose between them, will one eat the other if I get both?
Yikes GD that's a lot! - I do remember your pond is very big. My pond is about 800 gallons, I buy the 800g pack and use 10 scoops for a treatment. The pack lasts 2 years usually. I rarely have to use it a second time in a season. I use it early in the season soon as it appears and the cloverleaf does stop it in its tracks, so I have no need to use sludge-buster in my fish pond. I've been using blagdons barley straw extract and sludge buster in my wildlife pond, and there's just small amounts of blanketweed around the marginal plants, so I pull that out with my fingers, it's only 150galls
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Ordinary pond snails it is then. A very beautiful pond you have there Dove and it looks completely natural. I'll get there little by little Thanks for the advice
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Snails have turned up on their own in mine, seem to be a couple of types, hoping one of them grows up into the larger one you posted the link to. I’m not much up on pond snails, are there more than two native species?
From this it looks as if ours are the Great Pond Snail ... they're jolly hungry chaps/chapesses thankfully 'cos they're keeping the pond lovely and clean.
Don't the snails eat your pond plants Dove? I am tempted to buy some snails but concerned that they might eat the established plants and lilies rather than the blanket weed.
No they leave the plants alone ... our pond is full of plants ... but they've eaten all the duckweed ... it appears every spring and they eat it ... they also eat all the blanket weed and graze all the algae off the rocks and plants. They're wonderful
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Ha, ha! I have just rung our local pond/fish supplier, but they have none left - won't get any until next year now. How long have you had your snails - you said you got them from nature....? I have seen some for sale in the Unwins pond catalogue - they have Planorbarius corneus (Ramshorn) or Viviparus (Trapdoor snail).
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I did buy some snails last year at the local aquatic shop, but when I got home and opened the bag the smell was overpowering. I thought they were resting....
When the hot spell ends I'll get some - I see they sell 2 types of pond snail, is there much to choose between them, will one eat the other if I get both?
Yikes GD that's a lot! - I do remember your pond is very big.
My pond is about 800 gallons, I buy the 800g pack and use 10 scoops for a treatment. The pack lasts 2 years usually. I rarely have to use it a second time in a season.
I use it early in the season soon as it appears and the cloverleaf does stop it in its tracks, so I have no need to use sludge-buster in my fish pond.
I've been using blagdons barley straw extract and sludge buster in my wildlife pond, and there's just small amounts of blanketweed around the marginal plants, so I pull that out with my fingers, it's only 150galls
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
... the ordinary pond snails are fine for small ones like mine.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
A very beautiful pond you have there Dove and it looks completely natural.
I'll get there little by little
Thanks for the advice
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Snails have turned up on their own in mine, seem to be a couple of types, hoping one of them grows up into the larger one you posted the link to. I’m not much up on pond snails, are there more than two native species?
chaps/chapesses thankfully 'cos they're keeping the pond lovely and clean.
http://www.pondexpert.co.uk/pond-snails-inyourpond.html
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.