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Post by rowanberry on May 25, 2015 21:11:15 GMT
I got this plant last year from a drying-out bog in the woods near where we live- it did well all summer, and I'm very pleased that it's coming back again this year. A lot of my pond plants go a bit mad and sprawl out all over the place, (the Brooklime particularly...and there must be dozens more water soldiers than there were when they sank last autumn!) but the water plantain has turned out to be an easy keeper. Attachment Deleted |
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 11:02:21 GMT
I bought one for the new pond and it died in there. "I" also killed the water soldier. You have greener fingers than I.  A word of warning. The new pond was filled with tap water (I did not have a hand in its design or construction). This was a disastrous thing to do. Maybe some regions have water quality this is sufficient for these purposes, but here, it's worse than useless. It will be years yet before the pond settles and the nutrients balance out. |
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Post by rowanberry on May 26, 2015 21:52:44 GMT
When we moved into the house where we are now, the pond was in a terrible state- nearly completely full of gunk and dead branches and leaves from the trees overhanging it, and did it stink.  It had to be completely emptied and cleaned- it was more swamp than pond... here's a photo of it after being dredged- Attachment DeletedThere wasn't way around filling it with anything but tapwater... it went a bit murky after a few weeks, and I just kept going online and looking for what plants to add, and Hornwort was the one that came up over and over again- that, and a bag of watercress I got from Sainsbury's. It did take it awhile to settle down and start clearing, but it eventually it did. Of course the frogs spawning in spring always churnes things up a bit, but the hornwort is growing nicely again and the water is not too bad. In fact, I'll probably have to start weeding the hornwort out soon, as well as some of the water soldiers. I'd offer to post you some, but I always worry about disease being spread about from one pond to another. It does seem to be such a shame to throw away good healthy pond plants that sell for so much in garden centres! |
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 6:10:58 GMT
Good to hear your pond is developing well. This was "new pond" yesterday. Note the lack of vegetation (the lily was planted into aquatic compost and is doing ok). Plants tend to dwindle and die rather than grow, the Hornwort refuses to take off. I now have to endure comments as it begins to dry for the summer, preventing people adding water from the tap to make it look better. The pond that I created nearby is thriving and I could weed it almost daily. I attribute the difference to the water used to fill it initially. But my pond also has had more leaves fall into it (per unit volume) which might have helped feed all the water plants.  New pond yesterday by Wabi Gallery, on Flickr |
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It had to be completely emptied and cleaned- it was more swamp than pond... here's a photo of it after being dredged-