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Is my pond poisoned by Laburnum petals?

kellyred2001kellyred2001 Posts: 1
in Wildlife gardening
We moved to a new house and installed a wildlife pond in the winter. Our neighbours have a laburnum tree nearby and now the petals are falling in the pond. I'd heard that they are poisonous and worried that because of the laburnum petals the water is dangerous for the birds that visit (no frogs yet) 

I'm netting out the debris every day but some days there's loads of it and I'm not getting it all 

Is my pond dangerous to wildlife?

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    An interesting question.
    The toxic chemical is citysine and it can dissolve in water but it would depend how much would have an adverse effect on the wildlife in your pond.
    I'm afraid I don't know the answer.

    But I did come across this 
    https://jeremybiggs.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/is-laburnum-poisonous/


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited May 2020
    A good example of why living with your garden for a year before making major changes is a good idea. Sounds like you don't need to be paranoid about a few petals, but I would be concerned if there's heavy petal-fall into it (as much as anything they're going to rot and foul up the water that way). In that case you'd have to put mesh over it or abandon it (maybe it could be a bog garden) and build a replacement elsewhere.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    I would also live with it and see what happens. I have read that birds are quite good to deciding whether water is safe to drink and if they keep coming and you start to get more wildlife then it should be fine. 

    Setting aside the poison question, blossom falling into the water shouldn’t cause any other issues and/or need clearing unless it’s overwhelming the pond (maybe if it’s quite small). We have a cherry and medlar tree alongside our pond and blossom, fruit and leaves fall in. We don’t net, clear or dredge it, we occasionally use an organic treatment for blanket and duck weed and the water is clear and it’s full of wildlife. The debris will rot and form a natural silt at the bottom which is where most of the larvae and nymphs live.
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
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