Talkback: Newts and pond water

Posts

• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  July 2008

  Lucky you Richard, we moved to our new bungalow 3 years ago. The garden is a lot larger than our previous garden and as we are both disabled had a large pond made. The first summer we had dragonflies which laid eggs (but no newts) and this year they hatched, we know this because we found 2 casts by the pond. We have blanket weed also and we do top up the pond with tapwater, especially when we back wash the filter. I am very envious of the newts we have been hoping for some but no luck just yet

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• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  July 2008

  The advice I've always given is that ponds, like ditches and dykes, should be cleared piecemeal over a period of several years. This always means that some part of the water and edge is left alone and yet a rotation of clearance prevents too much built up of vegetation and infilling. With a small pond this just does not work. I'd suggest you leave the pond alone. Mud is fine, it's what many bottom-dwelling invertebrates live in. If it looks in danger of silting up completely then do a bit of dredging with your hands or a small scoop. The main danger to small garden ponds is leaf-fall from overhanging trees. This makes the water too nutrient-rich and it becomes dank and smelly. Oxygen is used up by the bacteria which means that aquatic wildlife cannot survive.

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• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  July 2008

  Hi I have a small pond. It has been in my garden for 20 years. It has fish,frogs/skaters/dragon flies and a lot more, I clean it by using a hose pipe I start a siphon and let the pipe suck up the contents at the bottom. Every third year.

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• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  July 2008

  I understand that newts eat frog spawn and tadpoles, which explains the shortage of tadpoles and frogs in some ponds.

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• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  July 2008

  I have two small ponds one in a half barrel which is still and I have a resident frog but the other has a pump worked by solar not wonderful for lack of sunshine renders it inactive haven't the means for anything flash but it makes a feature, we do have newts in the area but not in my little pond unfortunately

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• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  July 2008

  I have a large pond in the garden which until last year was full of carp (carp is a very popular fish to eat here in the Czech Republic)which we moved a another pond while maintanence work was carried out. This spring we refilled the pond but the fish wont be put back until the autumn and as a consequence it is full of wild life we've never seen in it before which includes the largest tadpoles I've ever seen. They have a head that is the same size as a 50p coin and are between 7-8cm long. We dont know if they are frogs or toads but are keeping a keen watch on them.

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• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  July 2008

  I'd love to know if my non-linner pond may empty of newtletts before the cold weather as the water is not very deep, the garden isn't finished,having nutured them with blood worm etc water butt water I would like to give them a proper home next year along with the bettles ,shrimp,weird things. If they are not going to move give me a suggestion of how to keep them safe many thanks

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• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  July 2008

  In my wildlife pond the pond weed always goes beserk in the early summer months so when i thin it out to give some clear water I put the harvested weed in the water butt. That way any newts eggs,or any other beasties will still hatch/survive and then it is a matter of netting them out once they've grown large enough and putting them back in the pond. It also has the advantage of no predators for them so the survival rate, in the early stages at least, is improved!

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• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  July 2008

  We have a medium-sized lined pond in our garden. We have had every type of wild-life in it that you can imagine, but this year all our taddies disappeared. We thought it might have been the newts, they are fat and active, red/yellow/spotted bellies. We do use an expensive chemical to clear the blanket weed, but this year bought a big bag of barley straw and submerged it, and it seems to have needed less chemical. Our frogs and toads are very friendly, and will sit happily anywhere in the garden and listen intelligently (!) while you talk to them. I think we love our pond better than any other part of the garden.

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• Gardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147

  August 2008

  Hi Richard, we have just dug out a very large pond in a paddock. It is around 50ft by 40ft and approx 3 ft deep in middle. We have lined it with rubber and put a lot of plants round the side but in places the liner shows from the water edge upwards of about 12 ins. We dont want to put any more water in it, and there is no shelf at this particular side. a)Can you advise how we can cover it up please. b) Also the pool is at bottom of a slope and there is water running into it from the top of the field, however a lot of it comes under a horse manure heap, we have now moved this, but the ground there is rich, will this cause future problems.many thanks.

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