Ask Gerry

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.

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?

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?

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.

I'm planning a pond, about 10 x 3 mtr, wha is a bit wide for standard lining sheets. So, I'm thinking of using clay. Where to get the right type of clay, and helpful instructions on how to do that?

The ice was at least 4" thick on my pond (approx size 2m across x 1.5m deep) during the freeze in January. Unfortunately when it thawed out there are lots of dead frogs in it. I never had this happen before and we would get quite a lot of ice most years. I thought frogs usually wintered out of the pond. Do you have any idea why this happened?

I have concrete, so a water barrel surrounded with stones and terracotta pots, plus two large bits of tree trunks i want to biodegrade to encourage nature.I would like a small water lily (pink/white) but what nice grass can i also include in the barrel and maybe a third different shaped plant? also in the surrounding pots i hope to plant plants that will 'wander and creep' over all things, including the trunks. I have bought some sedums and also 'golden oats' I love textures so that is what i want to create around this feature.7

I live in an estate with a down ward slope into my back garden.my neighbours gardens are paved so any rainwater flows into mine from theirs,leaving mine left waterlogged!Its like marsh ground in the moors,its even full of rushes!I was wondering could you possibly advise me on the most effective way of draining the water or even incorperating it into a pond/water feature of some sort.I have a limited budget but an enthusiastic workforce.

We have a lawn at the back of our house, and one corner can be very wet in winter and spring. Are there plants that i can put in, to soak the water? i want low lying plants that will not block our view from the back window in our kitchen. the area is about 10ft by 5ft approx. i thought about a small pond but the area is too small.

I have one large half barrel which i want to make into a barrel pond, where can i get an oddment of pond liner for this, i am on a disability pension and never could afford a massive piece for this one feature. Thanks in anticipation.

My pond has been dug and now ready for a liner... dimensions are 16ft x 11ft and 3 ft deep. Do you have a recommendation butyl vs. pvc. Have installed butyl in a Wicklow pond but is it really that much better than modern pvc 2mm thick?

My small pond 5ft. by 2.5ft.and 18" deep has become muddy and slimey. The slime adheres to the plants (oxygenater, Lilly and Iris) and also floats in lumps on the surface. There were fish in it up to 5 months ago when the heron got them all. It is generally very muddy and disgusting. I have a filter in it but have switched it off for the moment. Should I empty it and start again or is there any treatment for it. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

I am in the process of creating a wildlife garden pond. Rough dimensions are 60ftx30ft with average depth of 4ft. I want to be as enviromentally friendly as possible and would like to avoid additional energy use (electricity for pump for water circulation and filtering). Is it possible to do this without the water becomming stagnant and preventing the growth of algae - could bales of straw do the trick? Are there any other ways I could deal with with water circulation such as tap water from well or rainwater diverted from roof? Any advice appreciated.