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Pond Life
spurious20
Posts: 6
in Talkback
Due to leaks etc I have had to drain the garden pond. Having rescued as much of the wildlife as possible I am left with a thick layer, 10-15cm of sludge. Can this be used in the garden, has it got any nutritional value?
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Posts
You can put it on the compost heap, leave it by the pond for a day or two so any creatures can climb back in.
If you are going to fill the pond again after mending the leaks it's good to save some of the sludge to put back at the bottom of the pond to help the eco system again.
I'm going to replace it with a pre-formed type. Ive got the frogs, water beetles etc in plastic tubs together with water lily roots. I'll keep some of the sludge as you suggest.
Chuck it on the flower beds.
Make sure the frogs can get out of the tubs - at this time of year the females leave the water to hibernate on land.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks for your input. This is the messiest job I have had to do in the garden.
Did your parents let you play with mud when you were a child - if not, now's your chance
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Good luck with a pre formed one, we nearly had a divorce on our hands, it's now dumped at the back of the garden and a heavy duty liner in place
Dove, do the females leave and the males come to hibernate in the pond then?
We had frogs sleeping at the bottom last winter.
As I understand it the males bury themselves in the sludge at the bottom of the pond and the females hibernate on land
We went with a heavy duty pvc liner - the preformed ones are hellish in my experience
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
That's cos females have more sense...
My sister offered me her old preformed liner when I was making my little pond here last year. I was glad the area was awkward and I had to turn her down! I think they're very hard to work with compared to liner.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...