How To Ruin A Lovely Pond In One Easy Lesson...

At the hall where we have band practice, about 6 months ago they created a nice little pond, nothing lavish, just kitchen sink size, they did so well it was looking nice & left to its own devices in time would have been an asset to the local wildlife...

Tonight I went to have a look as I do most weeks & to my horror they have bought in some plants, one of which was "Parrot Feather".

Unfortunately this is so invasive it is horrible, there are moves to try to get it banned in the UK but it is freely available & sold as a good oxygenator, but it does so much damage, & the smallest slither can creat its own plant. In the world of ponds it is probably worse than Japanese knot weed.

Please if you are creating your own pond, or refurbishing an existing one only use native plants, if you do have parrot feather remove it leave it on the side of the pond for a day & then burn it, don't compost as it will take over your compost bin.

If you are unsure what it looks like here is a linky:

http://www.pondconservation.org.uk/advice/problempondplants/nonnativeplants/parrotsfeather.htm

You certainly did AJB it took the YSS ages to clear the big pond we look after, which is how we also know about not putting it in the compost bin...

I must admit I was as upset as Sparhawk over the little pond. It was such a sweet thing & there were habitats & flowers all round it. We were so hopeful that it would all take to be an interesting little place, but some of the parrot feather has already been broken so it will be a long job & unfortunately we do not see the people who look after it. It also looked as if the weed was purchased from somewhere so in spite of the warnings it is still available

What a shame...we have the same problem with Ludvigia Peploides in our pool...the previous owners put it in the pool and we have had to suffer trying to keep it under control ever since...it is a HUGE problem in Rice paddies apparently...and we have really just settled on control as we cannot eradicate ...

BUT it is STILL available to buy as a "desirable" pond plant.....

I was looking at some information last night & came up with this:

Even tiny fragments of the invasive plants wipe out habitats,

(a fragment about 1/2 the size of a little fingernail can in time wipe out even a big pond).

Some figures:

More than 60% of invasive plants damaging the environment have originated from gardens.

The damage caused by them is estimated at £2 billion pounds to the economy.

There was a news item in the week about a buyer who was turned down for a mortgage by his building society because the property had Japanese knot weed growing in the garden. (Sorry, off the subject of ponds, but keeping to the theme of invasive weeds!)

Again, something you should call the professionals in for I believe, as in the local council.
Pol

polgara wrote:Again, something you should call the professionals in for I believe, as in the local council.
Pol

Oops sorry Pol hit the edit button instead of quote...

I tried to say unless you are on the Isle of Wight, as they aren't bothered..

Thanks for the link to the pond conservation site Sparhawk!

Yer velcolm...