Thanks @borgadr that’s exactly what I did this afternoon, scooped out what I could with a net then got down on my hands and knees and scooped out what I could reach. The rest will rot down but there didn’t seem too many so like you say hopefully the pond will cope with it 👍
Naturally-occurring ponds cope perfectly fine with leaves falling in and sinking to the bottom. They are often teeming with wildlife and over time achieve a great balance without any intervention.
Obviously if your pond is very small and shallow, and gets a lot of leaves in autumn, you may feel it's worth removing some of them (as you're already doing, @CDouch) - but I wouldn't stress about it. It's really not necessary to be "in control" of everything happening in the garden... I suspect some contributors may be uneasy unless they feel they're in charge...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
We have a quince and medlar tree very near our pond so quite a few leaves and some medlars fall in. We don’t worry about netting or fishing them out.
We use a eco friendly treatment for duckweed during the spring/summer months but nothing else and the water is lovely and clear. We may find over time that it will become too silted up but our view is that until then it’s best left undisturbed for the resident wildlife. The pond is a decent size maybe 4x2m but mostly shallow, the deepest part at the centre is maybe 60-75cm
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
Thank you @Liriodendron and @Butterfly66 you’ve both reassured me that the leaves that sink into the bottom of the pond are fine. I don’t want a pristine unnatural looking pond, mine was built for wildlife and I’m sure they’ll become a hidey place for lots of little creatures 😊
A layer of sludge in the bottom of a wildlife pond is important as it’s where some frogs will overwinter … it’s also the right habitat for loads of important invertebrates.
If the pond begins to silt up and turn into a bog, it’s fine to clear out some of it every few years … it on the side of the pond for a few days so that those that can are able to return to the water.
😊
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I used to have a cob-built cottage in Devon. Now that was well isulated!
Regarding posts generally, we usually get less information offered in questions than we need to make a good answer. A few more important details would be helpful. Ponds can range from just a hole in the ground wildife habitat to formal with filtration and, perhaps, koi. Their maintenance needs will differ greatly.
By-the-way, my pond netting doesn't prevent wagtails from visiting. Nor dragonflies. Though they try, they can't reach the water with their ovipositors. I suppose they could just drop the eggs from a height but they don't seem to.
Initially I encouraged a pair of mallards. Mistake. Three used to arrive noisily every day: duck, drake and rapist. Not for children to watch. They would flatten the net, uproot all the oxygenators, terrify the fish, and foul the water.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
My pond is about 20 years old and this summer was the first time I have got into it to remove the rocks. The silt at the bottom which I inevitably disturbed did not even smell. I have a healthy, happy population of frogs, toads and newts, plus bottom-dwelling fish and a number of flowering plants, water lilies and iris etc., in baskets around the edge. I rarely have green or cloudy water and visiting damsel flies and dragonflies etc., visit regularly in the summer. I am sure your pond will be fine. The only time problems might develop is if the water depth is too shallow when plants and wildlife will become depleted of oxygen. It is always a good idea to have a pit at least 4ft deep somewhere in the bottom of a pond to give wildlife somewhere to overwinter and retreat to in hot weather. A shallow pond could need topping up on a daily basis during hot weather. I walk my dog around oversized "ponds", clay pits, which have been untouched for decades and they are fine, with clear water and all manner of wildlife enjoying life in them. Despite the occasional tree trunk etc. falling into them, millions of leaves must also fall into them each year. There is a thriving fish population as well.
That was my point earlier @Joyce Goldenlily re the depth. A shallow pond will naturally become even more shallow when the base gets a lot of material, so that needs a little more attention than a bigger pond. The advantage of a smaller, shallower pond is - it's easier to scoop that material out before it gets too settled. Not possible in bigger ones, but bigger ones adjust themselves anyway, as you indicate. Netting, if it's used, should be arranged so that there's gaps at the edges for birds, hedgehogs etc to get in and out. The shallow edges are obviously the area to do that. I've had ponds of all sizes and depths - from tiny ones at around 3 feet diameter, to large ones I could take a boat out in. The depths all varied too, but it's never been a problem. Leaf litter has no nutrients, as most folk know if we collect them for leaf mould. It's merely a great habitat for wildlife of all sorts when in a pond My last pond had all sorts in it - including my daughter when she went for a swim Of course, a wildlife pond is exactly that. Not the same as those more regimented ones for keeping fish, although we had all sorts of fish in the last pond. It was around four feet in the middle so they could overwinter. It was already there when we bought the house.
PS -Dragon/damsel flies need to touch the water to lay their eggs. They can't just drop them in.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks everyone again for your useful comments, my pond is about 12 foot by 8 foot and in the middle is about 2 foot deep with various other depths/shelves and a shallow end so the hedgehogs can walk in or out. I haven’t got any fish or filter system as I wanted it purely for wildlife. I planted it with a couple of water lilies and lots of other plants that would be beneficial to native wildlife. I have recorded so many insects, birds and mammals using it over the last year so it’s turn out just as I wanted it to. I’ve seen dragonflies and damselflies laying their eggs on the plants and watched tadpoles turn into froglets. A wildlife pond is so fascinating to watch over the seasons 😊
Posts
Obviously if your pond is very small and shallow, and gets a lot of leaves in autumn, you may feel it's worth removing some of them (as you're already doing, @CDouch) - but I wouldn't stress about it. It's really not necessary to be "in control" of everything happening in the garden... I suspect some contributors may be uneasy unless they feel they're in charge...
East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Regarding posts generally, we usually get less information offered in questions than we need to make a good answer. A few more important details would be helpful. Ponds can range from just a hole in the ground wildife habitat to formal with filtration and, perhaps, koi. Their maintenance needs will differ greatly.
By-the-way, my pond netting doesn't prevent wagtails from visiting. Nor dragonflies. Though they try, they can't reach the water with their ovipositors. I suppose they could just drop the eggs from a height but they don't seem to.
Initially I encouraged a pair of mallards. Mistake. Three used to arrive noisily every day: duck, drake and rapist. Not for children to watch. They would flatten the net, uproot all the oxygenators, terrify the fish, and foul the water.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
The only time problems might develop is if the water depth is too shallow when plants and wildlife will become depleted of oxygen. It is always a good idea to have a pit at least 4ft deep somewhere in the bottom of a pond to give wildlife somewhere to overwinter and retreat to in hot weather. A shallow pond could need topping up on a daily basis during hot weather.
I walk my dog around oversized "ponds", clay pits, which have been untouched for decades and they are fine, with clear water and all manner of wildlife enjoying life in them. Despite the occasional tree trunk etc. falling into them, millions of leaves must also fall into them each year. There is a thriving fish population as well.
I've had ponds of all sizes and depths - from tiny ones at around 3 feet diameter, to large ones I could take a boat out in. The depths all varied too, but it's never been a problem. Leaf litter has no nutrients, as most folk know if we collect them for leaf mould. It's merely a great habitat for wildlife of all sorts when in a pond
My last pond had all sorts in it - including my daughter when she went for a swim
Of course, a wildlife pond is exactly that. Not the same as those more regimented ones for keeping fish, although we had all sorts of fish in the last pond. It was around four feet in the middle so they could overwinter. It was already there when we bought the house.
PS -Dragon/damsel flies need to touch the water to lay their eggs. They can't just drop them in.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...