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Brown pond

Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
in Problem solving
I don't get why the water has gone brown;
We've had a small bowl pond over ten years, about 2½" diameter, it was already here. It has lilies, curly pond weed and water beetles in, no fish.
Last year we cleaned it out as the silt was ¾ of the pond.
I used aquatic compost to repot the lilies, added a yellow flag and replaced the pond weed, I also put some slate in, and some logs for the wildlife.
The logs turned the water brown because I didn't take them out in time, but after that I gradually replaced most of the water. However the water is still brown and I've triple checked for any stray logs, changed half the water again.. I can't see how slate and soil would be leaching tannins - any suggestions appreciated. 
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  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Pond water in my experience is either green or brown.

    I'm a bit concerned about the yellow flag.  It will take over very soon.
     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."
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I take it you don't really mean 2 and a half 'inches' @Slow-worm?  :D
    Have you got a pic?

    You may have a lot of soil leaching out if the plants are in containers, or something [birds?] are just stirring the water up. 
    I'd have avoided the Pseudacorus. Even the smaller variety gets thuggish. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    edited February 2023
    @Fairygirl 🤣 no, I definitely meant 2½'!

    The pond was crystal clear for the first few weeks, despite fresh soil.. then it got an algae bloom so I treated it and it was clear again. 
    It's not mud brown it's tanin 'clear' brown, I've never had a pond do this before, but I've never had a bowl pond before either. I just left it to its own devices for ten years, and it was fine even with the excessive silt. The lilies budded in summer last year, but most of them never opened. 

    The yellow flag doesn't bother me, I can always hack it back or make a bog for it. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's too small a pond for flag iris.  It'll fill it very quickly  :)

    How much slate have you got in it? Not something I've ever used in any pond. I use ordinary garden soil, albeit poor quality clay, and lots of gravel - depending on the plant. Additional food for plants which need it.
    I've never had water the colour you describe, so maybe it is something to do with the slate- maybe reacting with other things?  What is the bowl made of?
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Slate has rust particles in it,  could be that. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    edited February 2023
    @Lyn no way?? 😲 I didn't know that, and I'm not too bad with geology! Thank you! I got it from the aquatic place too!
    I put it in there because (a) we had a hedgehog around every night, and (b) the sparrows got used to bathing in it as the lily roots were so big they made it shallow enough.
    It's going to come out tomorrow. 👍

    @Fairygirl I know, I just love the plants though. I have a friend nearby with a massive duck pond, I can always donate the iris to him. 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    @Slow-worm. Next time you’re near a churchyard,  pop in and find a slate headstone,  you’ll see particles of rust.

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I had wondered if the pond had been of iron or similar construction, which is why I asked. I have a 'tray' which was the container part of a barbecue/firepit, and I leave it out as a water source, but it gets that metallic look to the water. 
    If it's the normal flag, just make the person aware it needs contained - it'll spread into surrounding ground too if it's damp. It's everywhere round here in verges which have a bit of run off from fields. We had it in large tyres in a very big pond in a previous garden, but it was also all along the boundary where the ground was permanently wet  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited February 2023
    When  lived in Teesside, the tap water came out deep brown.  The loo always looked as if it hadn't been flushed.  It's the colour of rotting vegetation and humus.  The water came off peaty moorland.

    In my much larger pond with fish, I always use gravel alone for root anchoring.  I make my plants work to find food, and in doing so compete with algae.

    PS.  start making that bog garden for the yellow iris.
     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."
  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    I got the rocks out and I was shocked at how much iron I can see now they're clean, which wasn't apparent at all when I bought them! I'll stick to granite.
    @Lyn you are a total legend, thank you. 😚

    Sorry @Fairygirl, I forgot to say the pond is plastic - it was in the middle of the garden when we first came here, and we thought it was stone until we went to lift it. 🤣

    Thank you all for your replies. 
    Maybe I'll find somewhere to dig a pond and let the iris have the whole bowl.. undecided..

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