Hello, Simon from Simple Life here, the wildlife Friendly Garden Design consultancy. I want to talk to you a little bit about the balance of life in a pond today. You see, it’s quite often some of the things that we don’t want are actually a real benefit to us, if we think about what they do. And in this pond, there’s a clear example of that.
Now, unfortunately, we have both blanket weed and we have Lemma, which is duckweed, both of which we generally think we don’t want. They come in on birds feet, and things like that. But Lemma is actually a bonus in battling blanket weed. You see, blanket weed needs two things to survive, that’s a nutrient rich water and lots of sunshine.
So, the first thing we should really try and do is stop leaves getting in the water, so we actually put up a net between September and whenever the leaves stop falling, so we can keep them out. But we didn’t do that the first season. Now when leaves go into the water, they rot and as they rot, they make the water nutrient rich, which is not a good thing because that encourages blanket weed to grow.
It can be fairly dormant in the winter, but when the spring comes and there’s no leaves on the trees and there’s no shade it will make the water warm as the sunlight penetrates, and the nutrient rich water with sunlight is the perfect breeding ground for blanket weed. And in April, that blanket we can really take off.
Now, we think of Lemma, the duckweed, as also a pain and a problem and yes, we do need to keep on top of it and we do need to control it. But one of the things that it does is that it actually puts a barrier between the sunshine and the water itself. So, if we leave it to a certain extent, it will help reduce the blanket weed, certainly until we get leaves on our trees above, and that will help.
So, sometimes it’s better to leave the Lemma, because once you’ve got it, it’s actually very hard to get rid of. Scoop it out from time to time. Make sure you keep a lid on it, so it doesn’t go bonkers and mad. But use it, because having the Lemma has really helped us control the blanket weed here. We have to be really vigilant in spring. But through the summer and into the winter, we don’t have anywhere near as much of a problem with it. In fact, part of our pond is specifically there for us to put our feet in and cool them off in the summer, and the Lemma has helped us to do that.
So, for battling blanket weed, keep a little bit of Lemma. If you would like any advice on other garden issues, or pond issues, then please contact us and we’ll happily help you out. Simon from Simple Life Garden Design. Thank you very much indeed. Goodbye. #simonmpollard #simplelife #gardendesigns
