Ask Gerry
Garden Design : Garden Pools
1 - 6 of 16 answer(s)
Green Pond Water
I have a large half water barrel that contain a waterlily, marginals and fish. The water is very green with algae. Is this harmful to the fish? What can I do to maintain the water clarity?
060320114, Inchicore, Co Dublin Posted: 24/04/2011
If fish are fed in a pond or barrel, they pass out nutrients which encourage algae.These do not bother the fish.
If you want clear water, you will have to install a biofilter and a UV filter, or no fish.
pond plants
what are the best plants for a pond and will any of these survive a winter like we just had.
rogie, tralee, Co Kerry Posted: 01/03/2011
Bullrush, waterlily, water spearmint, marsh marigold, water hawthorn and flowering rush are good choices, and these are hardy.
dead frogs in pond
Our pond was covered in a net from early November until just over 2 weeks ago. For much, perhaps most, of of that time the pond was frozen. Yesterday my son drew my attention to the fact that on the bottom of the pond are many dead frogs. They are bloated but otherwise not decomposed. I'm seeking help as to what might caused the problem and how I might deal with it.
Eilo, Celbridge, Co Kildare Posted: 08/02/2011
Most likely, they were killed by the hard freeze.
Soil after digging out pond
After making a large pond, I have a lot of soil left (some poor, some topsoil) and would like to use it in our 3/4 acre garden. The back garden is a long rectangle with pond (near house), veg. plots, flower beds but plenty of available space. Any ideas on incorporating this into the landscape of the garden, which is very level and has a great view to the mountains?
Brandon, Blessington, Co Wicklow Posted: 29/07/2010
The spoil from excavating a pond can either be taken off site and dumped or it can be used in the garden to fill hollows or to make raised areas.
Raised borders can rise from front to back and can be a way of displaying plants better as well as giving them a greater depth of soil. Or you might have some area that would benefit from having a mound of earth.
Ideally the top soil should have been separated from the subsoil and the top soil put back on top of the re-located subsoil.
Problems with pond.
Pond, 3mx3mx.45M deep, southwest facing, sunny, has 'Laguna' filter and UV treatment fitted nevertheless pond always like pea soup. Water plants doing badly, nothing really growing. Pond fed by rainwater off house roof. Frogs seem happy though. Any suggestions on what is wrong?
Dankel, Dublin, Co Dublin Posted: 21/04/2010
A sunny pond will have more algae. Rainwater from the roof helps to clear out nutrients from the water, which is why the algae grow,
It might be possible that the filter is too small for the pond and/or the UV lamp is not working properly, as both of these can help a lot.
If you have a lot of fish, and do a lot of feeding, it increases nutrients and algal bloom.
Increase the cover of the water with plants, as this reduces light to algae and the plants use up nutrients.
The removal of excessive plant material in late summer, removes nutrients each time. The pond bottom should have some mud and gravel as this absorbs nutrients.
Looking after a small garden pond
Recently have moved into house with a small garden pond, about 1.5m diameter. As I have absolutely no experience in Pond maintenance, could you help me out please? there already seems to be some algae or other matter formin on the surface. There is some greeenery growing in the pond also.
freddy15, Lucan, Co Dublin Posted: 13/03/2010
A small pond is always a biit tricky, Try to keep leaves and other debris out of it. Pond plants help to reduce algae by using the nutrients in the water and by shading some of the surface.
There is a strong likelihod that you will get algae for part of the year, in the warmer months, and it will clear.
Emptying it and clearing it out is not a solution. It is better to allow it to settle and to simply remove leaves and dead foliage of water plants.