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Neighbours Pond - Duckweed - Friend or Foe

Cottage CompostCottage Compost Posts: 496
in Wildlife gardening
Filled a new pond on Saturday. Yesterday (Sunday) a neighbour (next door but one) called at the door to offer a selection of pond plants.  "How did he know i was digging a pond?"

Anyways..... He invited me to see his pond and take away whatever from a selection of plants he didn't want any more.

His pond is decades old and i'm a new neighbour, having recently moved in.

His pond is covered with duckweed!   His pond is roughly 80mtrs away as the vulture fly's.

Am i doomed to find duckweed in my pond shortly?    Birds will commute between ponds, frogs etc will too.

I now have a selection of water lilies, large and small and wondering what to do because they have duckweed all over them.   Quietly get rid and buy new and hope i don't get duckweed or accept that i'll end up with duckweed anyway at some point and put them in the pond and save myself some money?

Posts

  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    What a nice way of your neighbour to welcome a new neighbour.  And what a lucky person you are to be given these plants, assuming they are all good ones!  Duck weed is inevitable sooner or later.  Pick or wash off as much as you can before putting in your new pond. Happy pond gardening.  About five years ago we made a largish wildlife pond, the second one we've made.  It's fabulous and just gets better and better. 
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    Duckweed can be a nightmare to clear if you let it get established.  Thoroughly wash any plants from the neighbour and there shouldn't be a major problem with importing it through that route.  Net any off as you see it.  The most effective method I found was to use a hose from one end of the pond set to a fairly gentle spray, to move the duckweed to one end and then scoop it out.
    My guess as to how they knew was that they looked out of an upstairs window and spotted the activity.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    The frogs brought duckweed from our neighbour's pond to ours ... we should've insisted they have a shower before arriving here 🙄🐸

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





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