On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:39:19 +0100, blobby wrote:

Thanks very much for replying.
My pond is 18 months old, and I currently have the one Water Lily(now
well established), one Water Hawthorn and some Canadian Pondweed. Do I
need some more plants do you think? If yes, what do you recommend?
Should I forget the filter business for a while and concentrate on a
more natural approach?
Thanks for your help in this, it is much appreciated.

It's very individual and really it's what you like. I like some of the
grasses that have black bands but you have to put them in a the right
depth.

Is there room on the surface for another water lily? You are restricted
in what you can get since your pond is fairly shallow. The depth on the
water lilies ticket is the distance from the top of the compost to the
surface and not the depth of the pond. It's the length of the stalks
really and if you put a deep one in a shallow pond the leaves and
flowers stretch a long way and don't look right to me.

I would forget the filter side and add more plants. The more of the
surface you cover the better from the point of view of clear water. I
don't think anything much is going to happen at this end of the year
but you can pop another illy in to help next year. In a plant only pond
the lilly will need fertilizing but get a tab to stick in the compost
so that it doesn't feed the algae.

If you get green water next year I'd bung in some watercress from the
supermarket (for instance). It will grow rapidly and remove the
nutrients and cover the water. Don't let it get out of hand though,
keep pulling it out and composting it and just throw a few shoots back
in. Once you have enough plants established you won't need to do that
any more.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
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