Kitchen Garden Forum

My OH and I undertook a job today which we had been putting off for a long time - we cleared out our garden pond! And what a job it was: about 20 years ago we planted a tiny bit of horsetail in the pond and by now it had almost taken over. The pond is lined with butyl rubber and the thick mats of roots took real effort and much time to pull out. Getting out some water mint was a doddle compared to the horsetail.

Luckily, we could rescue a small white water lily Nymphaea pygmaea alba and some frogbit. At least at this time of the year most of the major wildlife has left the water (we have no fish and only found one frog and a few young common newt left).

A the end, we were covered in muddy splashes from top to bottom!

You know how to live Monika!

I did my pond last year as it had got so full of weeds various. A rake is good as long as you don't drag it up the sides. It's when a big dollop falls off and back into the water and you get covered in stinking muddy water and duckweed that the fun begins...

I kept smelling the smell for days afterwards, I do hope it was in my imagination.

MW

That is an awful stinky job Monika. I've given my pond a partial clean up but have taken the pond pump out this winter for the first time.
I decided it was a waste of electricity to have it running - even on a timer just for two fishes. The heron has finished all the rest off. I hope they survive as they are quite old but they will have to take their chances.
The worst job was trying to remove a huge solid mass of flag irises. I had to get an old bread knife to cut through the roots as it was too heavy and tangled to lift out of the pond. I made a mental note not to let anything get so large ever again.

I made a mental note not to let anything get so large ever again.

That's just what we said, PB, after the job was done!