Search results for query: *

Hi all, You might not get frogs, but you will probably get Smooth Newts, they occur in all sorts of unusual places. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, They are all a bit rampant. Have a look at <"Water meadow gardening">. If you were set on a grass? Glyceria declinata <"Glyceria declinata | small sweet grass /RHS Gardening"> is possibly your best bet. Catabrosa aquatica <"https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NHMSYS0000456975"> would...

Hi all, It is <"partially the time of year">, you usually get a bloom of green filamentous algae in the spring <"Pond algae and blanket weed / RHS Gardening">, before you get a huge amount of vascular plant growth. As the strands thicken up, and photosynthesise, it will tend to float to the...

Hi all, Welcome to UKAPS, Why do you need to get rid of them? Are they interfering with the water flow? If they aren't? I'd look on them as a positive as "tank janitors". Scrape them off and chuck them back in the pond for the Koi? Physical removal is a lot less problematic than attempting...

Hi all, Agreed fish will survive in ponds without water movement etc. It is possible that the sellers of pond pumps etc might not be entirely dispassionate commentators? Natural selection is a wonderful thing, it it the same where I work, the Herons really like "glittery things". Perfect...

Hi all, The issue you have is the tussle between a quick win and longer term stability. I didn't put any soil in my pond (below) when I built it, I just chucked all the rocks I'd excavated back in to form terraces and topped it up with rainwater. It was great for a couple of years, but I...

Hi all, It works, this is some of @Kezzab 's <"Plant ID please"> and this was mine <"transfering aquatic plants from a local pond">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) <"Blackworm and Asellus buckets">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, The problem with soil is that it encourages rampant plant growth, which isn't what you want in a small pond. This is what happened to mine. 2010 <"Little Shop of Horrors - How EI frightened the gardener">. 2013 <"moss in the pond"> 2015 <"Journal - Lockdown wildlife pond"> in 2018 it...

Hi all, It is real shame (on all sorts of levels) that @frederick thompson is no <"longer with us">, he would <"have loved this">. I was looking at one of Roy's (@Greenfinger2) posts this morning as well and it brought back <"all sorts of memories">. I still miss Bob Marklew as well, not a...

Hi all, It is just because the pond is new. Mosquitoes are incredibly good at finding ephemeral water bodies, but you don't find them in established ponds etc. As the others have said <"mosquito larvae are caviar"> for most fish <"https://cdn.buglife.org.uk/2019/07/Bug-friendly-ponds.pdf">...

Hi all, Yes, just a measure of population movement with global climatic change. "Common Hawker" is entirely northern now, although the name goes back to Linnaeus, so "Common" may have always referred to S. Sweden. "Southern Hawker" is now also in the north and "Migrant Hawker" is now a common...

Hi all, They certainly are, and also one that a lot of people will have in <"their garden pond">, however small. They are relatively easy to identify <"Identifying Spotty Hawker Dragonfly Species - British Dragonfly Society">, none of the other Hawker Dragonflies are big and green with two...

Hi all, You tend to see a lot more males, they are defending a territory, while the females are much less visible laying eggs etc. I hadn't actually realised that Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) had got that far north, but <"iNaturalist"> has quite a few observations. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Looks like a Southern Hawker. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Maybe tricky, now that they've decided that all the plants (whatever they are sold as) are A. filiculoides and<" invasive">. I'm not quite sure what the situation is at the moment (<"post Brexit">), but you would be more than welcome to some of mine, sent to <"N. Ireland"> first...

Hi all, This is what says about nitrogen fixation <"Growing Azolla to produce sustainable protein feed: the effect of differing species and CO2 concentrations on biomass productivity and chemical composition">: So it isn't a nitrogen issue, but it looks like it might be phosphorus (P)...

Hi all, Yes, female, laying eggs. The males are blue. They like ponds with vegetation. <"Emperor Dragonfly - British Dragonfly Society"> cheers Darrel

Hi all, It is a "Yarrow" (Achillea millefolium) (Asteraceae). It like the dry, but <"Sneezewort" Achillea ptarmica"> likes wet places, but isn't quite as attractive. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That is a rare one in the UK. Baldellia is <"also rare"> (in fact rare in Europe), and much nicer, so I'd look on it as a result. I've only ever seen Baldellia in the Burren, particularly at the <"Carran turlough">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, "She" and a Speckled Bush-cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima). I disturbed one the other day when I was watering some Lavender cuttings. <"Speckled Bush-Cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima)">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Nice, that one is Baldellia ranunculoides. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It does tend to "boom and bust". I assume that it is a nutrient issue, but I don't know what causes it. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I hope so. I'm always in the <"Field of Dreams"> camp, but if you live in a very wildlife deprived area then you may only get a very limited range of visitors. Town are <"actually better than you might imagine">, but <"intensive arable agricultural areas"> are often wildlife deserts...

Hi all, That should be fine, you'll find that the amount of hair algae declines over time, particularly if you don't top the pond up with tap water. Could you put a water butt on the shed? cheers Darrel

Hi all, It is <"native to East Anglia in the UK">, but when I was working on a <"project on Bristol's ponds"> we found a lot of it, in a lot of ponds. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That looks a really good selection. Do you know what you will get? Nymphoides peltata, really pretty but a rampant grower with us <"https://invasives.ie/app/uploads/2021/09/Nymphoides_peltata_ISAP.pdf">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Have a look at <"Pond FAQs">, ARC are a really good charity. I think if you don't get Smooth Newts naturally colonize your pond <"I'd assume that there aren't any near you">. They are terrestrial for most of the year and <"active on warm, wet nights">. When Environmental consultants...

Hi all, A lot of ferns are really hardy. If it is not dust dry you get a few more options, but Dryopteris wallichiana (below) is pretty bullet-proof. "Soft Shield Fern" would be another option that will grow "dry", I like Polystichum setiferum "Herrenhausen" but there are lots of different...

Hi all, They will be <"very interested">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, The setts look great, but I wouldn't use turf, I'd plant a small shrub (Heather's might be a possibility?). You won't be able to mow the grass, and if you strim it, grass will end up in the pond. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm not sure grass edges are really suitable, any way, for the reasons @martin-green mentions. You could use smaller growing sedge, you may be able to pyo Carex nigra or C. panicea? I just piled the rock I'd excavated to make terraces, worked fine, and even with no added soil things...

Hi all, I wish. I've actually walked up there ( in 2021) and then down to the Osprey viewing platform and back to Bassenthwaite parking. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I got mine originally from the Wilts & Berks canal. I'm away at the moment, and not tech. savie enough to link threads on my phone, but I've got a few posts with it in. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'd be surprised if all the Azolla "species" for sale aren't actually A . filiculoides. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, That is another fern, Azolla sp. They grow like mad. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Two slates down from Marcel's suggestion? Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Surprisingly fierce. I do the same as @mort , but I'm always willing to trade long term stability for short term growth. It is the same as aquariums, low nutrients foster diversity and also give you longer before your pond becomes a swamp. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'd agree with @tam and @mort definitely put a portion of it back in. Ponds are highly productive environments, so it tends to build up fairly quickly. No, honestly it isn't dead, quite the opposite in fact. I wouldn't put any soil in, just some coarse gravel, and then <"let it get on...

Hi all, @foxfish is too modest to tell you this, but he is a pretty reliable source. He had a Koi Pond business that was <"so successful"> that he now owns <"half of Guernsey">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Have a look at <"Water meadow gardening">. <"Greater Spearwort (Ranunculus lingua)"> is a good one (along as it is contained), but it does have a yellow flower. I like those as suggestions and they aren't yellow. Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)? All these suggestions are UK...

Hi all, Quite a long list of "plants to avoid", basically anything <"that grows quickly">, including Yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus). cheers Darrel

Hi all, All of those, I have a lot of different Geraniums. I also really like Marjoram (Origanum sp.) and <"Origanum laevigatum"> is a great long flowering one. From the useful <"Improving lawns...."> thread. This is cheating a bit (because it is at work), but it is a Rambler Rose...

Hi all, Sounds perfect. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It isn't pointless. I'd look as any built in "spare" capacity as similar to the safety belt in a car, you might not need it most of the time, but there are circumstances where it could come in very handy. Hopefully by the time it needs to come in handy it will be functioning as a...

Hi all, So do I. No, that is entirely correct. It is just that in this case you have a very low bioload for the volume of water, so you have the <"advantage of dilution">. The ammonia (NH3), that diffuses continually from the fishes gills, is going to be diluted by the very large...

Hi all, The ammonia level isn't actually that relevant. The bacteria that need high levels of hardness and ammonia <"don't actually occur in "aquarium" filters"> and the ones that do? They will persist in <"nearly all conditions">. As long as you have plenty of oxygen nitrification will occur...

Hi all, They will probably be all right just left. You might get issues if it freezes solid, but I'm going to guess that isn't particularly an issue for you with all that surrounding ocean. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Geranium "Rozanne" looks good. I've never had much luck with the pale pink forms of Hesperantha (Schizostylis) coccinea. The type Red form does really well, but <"all the pale forms always die out eventually">. Difficult to say, but <"Zannichellia palustris"> would be my guess. cheers...

Hi all, I think spare floating plants are something that some members will always have. There are a number of advantages to having <"floating plants in the aquarium">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm pretty sure other members will be able to supply you with new <"Dwarf" Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) plants come spring">. cheers Darrel

It has flowered.

Hi all, It is definitely <"Alismataceae">. What colour were the anthers when the flowers came out? Arrow-head (Sagittaria sagittifolia) has purple anthers (so a dark centre). Sagittaria latifolia has a yellow centre, it is N. American, but I think it is naturalised in some parts of Europe...

Hi all, I'm pretty sure it is somewhere in the <"Utricularia vulgaris agg. species"> and probably U. vulgaris sensu stricto. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It just looks incredible. I'd fairly ruthlessly dead-head it, it is the most incredible self-seeder. cheers Darrel

Hi all, What plants would you like? I don't have a supplier in mind, but I have access to a lot of ponds, some ornamental and some more natural. cheers Darrel

Hi all, A couple of years ago I found a Utricularia in some new ponds which had been constructed as mitigation for some maintenance work on ponds containing Great Crested Newts on our campus. I don't know where it originally came from, but there was some planting done. I haven't seen it...

Hi all, Allium schoenoprasum "Chives" in the UK. It is a <"rare wild plant in the UK">, where it grows in seasonally wet rock crevices, basically a puddle in the winter and baked in the summer. The larger garden variety is pretty common as a "garden escape" and seems quite happy pretty much...

Hi all, I'd actually see the biodegrading nature of the hessian as an advantage. Once it has done its initial job (of holding the soil in), you don't need anything once the plant has grown roots. cheers Darrel

Hi all, As the plants grow in you will lose the Rat-tailed Maggots and Mosquito larvae, they are both colonists of organic rich, temporary water bodies, and you don't find them in established "ponds". Feed the Mosquito larvae to your fish, they are "caviar" for Tetras etc. You need to creep...

Hi all, Same for me, I think it is just brilliant. Carex acuta is very similar to C. elata and Devon Pond plants sell <"C. acuta">. Carex acuta, C. elata, C. riparia and C. acutiformis are all pretty similar in look. <"C. pseudocyperus"> is distinct in leaf colour (paler yellow green) and in...

Hi all, I think even variegated Phragmites might be too vigorous? A sedge might be better, something like <"Carex riparia">, <"C. elata"> or <"C. pseudocyperus">. Carex riparia is also a rampant grower. Cyperus longus would be another "Sedge" option. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I've just found a photo from 2015. The pond is front centre & right of the picture, but all the open water had already gone. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think our feral ones are <"Spanish in origin">. They are common at the RSPB Ham Wall nature Reserve in Somerset, and I've also seen/heard them on the restored section of the old <"Somerset Coal Canal"> at Timsbury and at <"Burton Bradstock"> (Dorset) in the brackish pool a the the back...

Hi all, It is almost certainly "Fool's Water-cress" (<"Apium ( Helosciadium) nodiflorum">). Have a look at <"Native plant ID">. You can't entirely discount Lesser Water-parsnip (<"Berula erecta">) from the photo (<"they are very similar">), but I'm pretty sure it is A. nodiflorum. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I would be very wary of any of these bigger Equisetum spp. I had Equisetum fluviatile, and once it gets going it is almost impossible to control, the rhizomes go very deep and can penetrate through Water-Lily rhizomes etc. and any fragments grow. Because it has a relatively frail stem...

Hi all, It is absolutely fantastic in scope and vision. I want to sign myself up for a visit in 2022? Right here, right now. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I've seen big ones locally, and it isn't warm here. I might be tempted to cut the old canes down in the spring. I've got these, the Thelyptris actually came all the way from Marcel in the Netherlands, after my plant expired in the drought (while I was away from home). Ranunculus lingua...

Hi all, Yes, or it is a really easy as a soft wood cutting in the spring. It is also <"really hardy">. I've never managed to keep the snails off it, even in the pond. It is cat nip to molluscs. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It combines being enormous and rampant with not being fully hardy. I'd definitely add a couple more Sedges, Carex elata "aurea/Bowles Golden" and Carex pseudocyperus. They are both good . cheers Darrel

Hi all, Yes, Hippurus vulgaris. The reeds were all Sparganium erectum and I think I can see some Ranuculus lingua as well. After we put the liner in I built a slope of bath stone rubble which can see behind "Terry" with Filipendula ulmaria etc. I assume they hibernated somewhere under the...

Hi all, Found a photo of "Terry IV". He was "family sized" meat pie at the time. cheers Darrel

Hi all, You probably give them a bit more TLC than I managed. "Terry IV" was brought in from the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal. He was being chewed by a German Shepherd Dog, when he was found. His carapace was quite tatty, but he recovered. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I had six at one point, all "Red-eared Sliders" (Trachemys scripta ssp. elegans) and all fished out of various water courses around Bath. They were imaginatively called "Terry I" to "Terry VI". They lived in the large pond in the walled garden on our campus and grew from individual...

Hi all, That was what I wanted. I'd guess that this was peak pond (2012) in terms of biodiversity. But succession didn't stop there and by 2018 it was just solid plants (mainly Equisetum fluviatile & Eleocharis palustris) with no visible water. I was in New Zealand during the 2018 summer...

Hi all, That was the problem with the <"first iteration of our pond">, it went from <"bare pond"> to full pond <"to swamp"> much too quickly. cheers Darrel

Hi all, The ones in the photo are <"Cepaea hortensis">, C. nemoralis is very similar, but has a dark lip to the shell. They are <"polymorphic">. These are the snails that <"nearly all geneticists worked on"> before they could actually look at genes, because of their shell markings. cheers Darrel

Hi all, <"Definitely an opening">. There was a vogue for "Snail egg caviar" about 30 years ago in the UK, but as far as I know not many people are eating Garden Snails at the moment. The Edible (Roman) Snail isn't native to the UK, but is/was naturalised in a <"few places in S. England">. We...

Hi all, Garden snail (Cornu (Helix) aspersum). They <"are edible">, but they aren't the "Edible Snail" (Helix pomatia). cheers Darrel

Hi all, "Green" frogs (Pelophylax spp.) are much more aquatic than the Common Frog (Rana temporaria), which only hunts terrestrially. We have naturalised Pool Frogs in quite a few places now in the UK (our native Pool Frog has gone extinct). cheers Darrel

Hi all, Strangely enough Corsham has been referred to as <"Cornwall in the Cotswolds">, but both "constantly sunny" and "a lovely sandy beach" might be pushing it a bit. In the UK <"West Wittering">? Years ago I went to Afife (N. of Viana do Castelo), and the ten days I was there it fulfilled...

Hi all, There were a lot of people looking at the windows of our <"local estate agents"> the other day, while not knowing exactly where they came from <"London would be my guess"> for a lot of them. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Floral architecture, for R. indica it says " Flowers sessile, axillary, solitary. " cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think that one might be Rotala indica. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Certainly for Salmon, but it isn't really the blackwater that is important it is mainly because they only really still exist in rivers that originate in upland regions, and these are often peat stained. One of the advantages for the salmon is that these peaty uplands are relatively...

Hi all, One with lots of leaves and wood in it. Ponds would naturally be surrounded by trees <"in most natural situations"> with dead leaves and woody debris present, <"tinting the water">. We often think of gravel pits, ponds and lakes in fields etc. with rush or grass lined edges, but that is...

Hi all, Yes and "yes & no", would be my guess. The main issue in the pond is that it is a rampant grower, the other problem is escape into the wild. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That was what I was thinking. The plant in the middle of the pond (that has just become emergent) looks like it might be <"Parrot's-feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum)">? cheers Darrel

Hi all, No very limy water. I had Pinguicula vulgaris for a bit. I've seen it in fens in Ireland and Wales, so I knew that it didn't have a problem lime rich water. The problem was that the sedges (Carex spp.) over ran it. cheers Darrel

Hi all, <"Campanula poscharskyana "> is the rampant growing one, it would be ideal because you could just mow it off in the lawn. <"Geum rivale"> would be another good one, and I really like <"Geranium sanguineum "Striatum">, which flowers a long time. They tend to go under in our garden...

Hi all, Ajuga reptans "Burgundy glow", Lysimachia nummularia? Easy to grow native plants that like damp ground but will grow in relatively dry conditions. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I can have a go. I haven’t tended to post Hornwort, because if it’s held up I the post you just get green <“mush“>. I’ve got a few plants and bits to post. So far it has been bit hit and miss with the couple of parcels that I’ve posted since March. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I <"maybe a millionaire"> I have six buckets and a pond full. Reminds me of @Edvet 's <"Duckweed mountain">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Yes, I'd go for the clay sub-soil, to try and reduce the initial nutrient load. I think you will need to cap it as @rebel suggests. I think the boxes are good, but I would be very wary about planting anything too rampant as well. Typha minima would be an option. At work they put Carex...

Hi all, Looks like it might be "Pickerel Weed" (<"Pontederia cordata">). cheers Darrel

Hi all, They are prohibited from sale. In the UK, the smooth newt is protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with respect to sale only. Great crested newts are fully protected and so is their habitat etc. They are <"fairly common in gardens etc.">. When I put the...

Hi all, The Owl Midges (Psychodidae) look promising. This is from <"Diptera.info">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Yes, there are loads of "Midge" larvae that aren't the <"Mosquito larvae"> that we are familiar with. Even people who survey freshwater invertebrates often lump the fly (Diptera) larvae into fairly broad categories, because they aren't easy to get a definitive ID on. You get Biting...

Hi all, Yes they are Midge larvae. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I wouldn't worry too much, I like lots of plant and they will grow over and soften and blur the edges. cheers Darrel