Hi Carole,
Glad you found us!
Is a much nicer place to ponder pond problems here :-)

I was wondering if you could add something plastic to
help out the newts and frogs (am a critter ponder). I've
also used branches from cherry trees and they worked
for me. You can see them in the picture labeled frog
hunting in my slide show.

k :-)
http://tinyurl.com/6bguh ~ new pond keeper info
http://tinyurl.com/yp64db ~ slide show of pond

Yes - unfortunately I found the 'other' group first - but thankfully someone
called Jim sent me an e-mail diverting me here.

Some sort of branch sounds a good option - although I guess they could
contain sap or something else unsafe ? Don't really want to go the plastic
route as it would look so tacky - even though this is my ornamental pond I
want it to look as natural as possible
Mind you - my greatest concern is for the fish and wildlife, so if necessary
that's what I'll do.

You might be interested to know that I have another pond down in the valley
in my garden (I have an acre of rural garden in Wiltshire UK) - it's a huge
wildlife pond in a natural water meadow. It's not lined with anything -
it's fed from an underground spring,and I've constructed a small damn, so it
overflows along a pebble bed and then into a stream which runs through the
garden. It's a magnet for wildlife of course .
The only unfortunate thing is that most of the year it's a complete sea of
green - 100% DUCKWEED !!!!! Any tips to get rid of that will make me a
friend for life. :-))))

"k" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Carole,
Glad you found us!
Is a much nicer place to ponder pond problems here :-)

I was wondering if you could add something plastic to
help out the newts and frogs (am a critter ponder). I've
also used branches from cherry trees and they worked
for me. You can see them in the picture labeled frog
hunting in my slide show.

k :-)
http://tinyurl.com/6bguh ~ new pond keeper info
http://tinyurl.com/yp64db ~ slide show of pond

Oooooo, love natural and wildlife ponds...

I went googling (one of my few vices...) and
found this really good discussion about duckweed
and UK solutions ~
http://tinyurl.com/2w4bk5

k :-)

"Carole (UK)" wrote:

The only unfortunate thing is that most of the year it's a complete sea of
green - 100% DUCKWEED !!!!! Any tips to get rid of that will make me a
friend for life. :-))))

Put in some Koi, they will eat it all up!

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

Well...I have stocked this pond 3 times with fish and lost every one of them
to the Heron...the little (big!!) devil sits on top of my greenhouse and
swoops down for a huge meal...so, I'm afraid stocking it with fish is not an
option :-((((

That's why I created another smaller pond for fish right next to the
house...no heron visitations for many years, but this year he/she
came.....now the top pond is netted

It seems from the info available that the only death blow to duckweed is a
very severe cold snap, but with global warming we just don't get it any
more....aaah well......guess there are more important things in life (wonder
how many people have starved to death while we've been having this
discussion about our ponds.......)

"San Diego Joe" wrote in message
...
"Carole (UK)" wrote:

The only unfortunate thing is that most of the year it's a complete sea
of
green - 100% DUCKWEED !!!!! Any tips to get rid of that will make me a
friend for life. :-))))

Put in some Koi, they will eat it all up!

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

Duckweed seems to be one of those things that
have both good, and bad, advantages. Ducks
like it...
I have it, and azola, growing in one of my little
ponds on the deck. It shades the taddies I have
in there and provides places for other critters
to hang out. That little pond will
freeze solid and the stuff still shows up the next
year. I am impressed.
Like most ornamental ponders it never lasts
in the small garden ponds if koi are around.
I will have to investigate the large farm pond on
the family farm when I get up there this year. They
have geese, both farm geese and Canada geese,
so that might take care of any duckweed that
shows up. Maybe you could hire some geese?
They make great guard dogs... :-))

k

And here I sit, thinking how lucky you are. With the fish and the RES,
duckweed doesn't last a week in my pond.
Gabrielle

k wrote:

Duckweed seems to be one of those things that
have both good, and bad, advantages. Ducks
like it...
I have it, and azola, growing in one of my little
ponds on the deck. It shades the taddies I have
in there and provides places for other critters
to hang out. That little pond will
freeze solid and the stuff still shows up the next
year. I am impressed.
Like most ornamental ponders it never lasts
in the small garden ponds if koi are around.
I will have to investigate the large farm pond on
the family farm when I get up there this year. They
have geese, both farm geese and Canada geese,
so that might take care of any duckweed that
shows up. Maybe you could hire some geese?
They make great guard dogs... :-))

k

Geese ! - the resident fox would thank me for that tasty meal ! and if
he/she didn't get them my 4 cats would have a go(and probably come out worst
of course)
I don't mind the weed at all actually, it looks rather pretty, and it's a
very natural pond intended for wildlife and critters, so it's doing it's
job.

"k" wrote in message
oups.com...
Duckweed seems to be one of those things that
have both good, and bad, advantages. Ducks
like it...
I have it, and azola, growing in one of my little
ponds on the deck. It shades the taddies I have
in there and provides places for other critters
to hang out. That little pond will
freeze solid and the stuff still shows up the next
year. I am impressed.
Like most ornamental ponders it never lasts
in the small garden ponds if koi are around.
I will have to investigate the large farm pond on
the family farm when I get up there this year. They
have geese, both farm geese and Canada geese,
so that might take care of any duckweed that
shows up. Maybe you could hire some geese?
They make great guard dogs... :-))

k