In article lalaw44-4BE184.13563404042008@netmask218-233-240-
128.youiwe.co.kr, says...
Hi

We've had a little pond for about 10 years now. Last year we had a
dreadful problem with blanket weed which suddenly appeared from nowhere
-- absolutely bloody awful stuff. I finally tried some kind of chemical
(having first tried the virtually-superstitious use of barley straw at
the insistence of my wife) ... no luck with either.

I was going to have another go with he chemical this year, when I read
that tadpoles eat blanket weed. Hoorah! I'd already got rid of the
fish I'd had last year (who ate all the the blasted tadpoles!), so I
thought that *this* year all our taddies would get on top of the weed
before it took off.

And thhen TODAY we discovered a newt in the pond! First one ever. And
I hear that they eat tadpoles voraciously.

I want tadpoles, and newts, and NO WEED, please! Any advice here?

Cheers
John

Too much light and too many nutrients cause blanket weed
Cutting the light by planting larger plants would help, Lilies etc reduce
the light available to the blanket weed, then something like water
millfoil for the tadpoles to take refuge in which also helps mop up
surplus nutrient try and avoid filling the pond with tap water use rain
water instead, this also helps keep nutrient levals down
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea