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Pond plant management

elm74elm74 Posts: 8
in Wildlife gardening
Hi, and sorry if this is a silly question!
I made a wildlife pond last summer, which now has newts, frogs and dragonfly larvae living in it 😊.
The bunches of elodea and hornwort I put in last year have really taken off this summer and I'm just wondering if I need to thin them both out, or if it's more beneficial for frogs and newts to have denser cover rather than open areas of water?
Thanks

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    My pond looks similar and I gave the elodea (although I think mine has a different name as elodea is highly invasive and I think is no longer available) a hard pruning by just snapping bits off as far down as I could reach. Pulling them up makes a mess of the pond, so I just snapped lots off and put it on the compost heap. The plants will grow back in no time and probably need further pruning in a few weeks.
    I found the hornwort is much better behaved and i didn't need to pull any out, but if yours is rampant you can treat it in the same way.


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    We do the same as @Pete.8 does. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • elm74elm74 Posts: 8
    Thank you both. I prefer the hornwort, so might remove the elodea altogether.
    I did try pulling a bit up recently (for a frog who decided to live in a bucket!) and it did make a mess, so will try breaking it next time. Thank you.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    We do the same, but leave the plants at the edge of the pond for a few hours to allow anything living in it to go home.
  • elm74elm74 Posts: 8
    Yes, will do that. Thanks.
  • CreannaphoneCreannaphone Posts: 7
    I have used a company called Liconshire Pond Plants and they will send you a brilliant catalogue with really helpful advice as to what and where you can use different plants.  I hope this helps as for myself there are  no specific outlets to choose from and the catalogue is well worth a look.
  • elm74elm74 Posts: 8
    Thanks, Creannaphone. I bought some of my plants from them, they're really good. I've got 5 varieties of floating/depth plants and 9 marginals at the shallow end, so it's stuffed full! 😂
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