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Pond cleaning

clairecolman26clairecolman26 Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Hi

We dug a small garden pond about 2 and a half years ago now and it looks quite good and we have a lot of wildlife visiting. Frogs, dragonflies, hedgehogs, beetles, etc. and have seen dragonfly larvae today aswell. We have water lillies, flag irises and oxygenating weed and the water if fairly clear, but there is a lot of fluff like algae along the bottom of the pond and a bit of sludge coming. My question is how do we clean it without disturbing the wildlife? We don't have a pump as we read that the frogs wouldn't like it. At our previous house we inherited a very sludged up pond and bucketed out half a pond full. We don't want our new pond to get in that state. Any suggestions please?

Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Bumping up for any pond owners to advise,  hopefully  :)
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    My gut feeling is to leave it alone. If the wildlife is happy , then it's fine surely?
    I'd not do any thing major until about February. Best time for wildlife, worst time for YOU to do the work.
    Devon.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It also pays to net it in late summer/early autumn if there's a lot of deciduous shrubs/trees nearby, to prevent excess foliage landing in it.
    Algae will always be present to some extent, especially when ponds heat up. There are treatments readily available to help combat that, or you can buy snails online which help to eat it. You can also just pull it out by hand if there's quite a bit, or chuck watercress in which feeds on nutrients which the algae also likes.
    That can be useful, and it also covers some of the surface as it roots, so helps with some shade there too. Easy enough to pull out if it gets too excessive.
    Otherwise, I agree that if everything's happy, there isn't much need to start clearing it.  Small ponds - especially if they're quite shallow- heat up quickly, and it makes the problem seem worse :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Blagdon's Sludgebuster is a useful treatment ... quite harmless to wildlife etc ... it 'digests' sludge and prevents it becoming an anaerobic mire.  We usually give our small shallow wildlife pond a couple of doses each summer.  

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





  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I second Dove's advice.
    On her suggestion I've used a combination of Blagdon Barley Straw Extract and Blagdon Sludgebuster over the past 3 years.
    There's still silt at the bottom of the pond of course, but the water is crystal clear and the plants and wildlife all seem happy - and so am I :)

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • strelitzia32strelitzia32 Posts: 758
    Thirded, I do exactly the same as Dovefromabove and Pete.8 and all is well (except my fish try to eat the sludge buster packet stuff, I guess they don't realize it's bacteria  :s ).

    I also have a UV light in a fish pond, that keeps the water crystal clear for the price of 1 bulb per year. Of course if you are going for a "proper" wildlife pond then that's not an option, but it's perfect for a fish pond.

  • clairecolman26clairecolman26 Posts: 2
    Thanks for your suggestions everyone. I may try the Sludge Buster and water cress.
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