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New house, renovate old pond?
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Posted by Funkykeyboard none (My Page) on Thu, Jun 30, 11 at 6:02
| Okay, we have just moved into a house and inherited a pond which looks about 20 or 30 years old. It has not been maintained, by the looks of it, for two or three years. However, the frogs and wildlife, the water Lilly and the duck weed, seem to be thriving.
All I d like to do, is get the waterfall running again to keep the water moving, and leave everything as is.
Now the pond was netted over, but when you scrape the bottom you do find a lot of sediment and leaves. Should I bother with this when I don't want to be raising fish or anything? Or will this sediment and leaves in the bottom create insurmountable problems with the pump? Or is it normal to be cleaning out the pump every couple of weeks [sounds like it from what some people have said on here]? [Not got the pump working yet, as the main pipe blew off.]
My brother-in-law who is doing it for me, is talking about using chickenwire to create like a basket/filter round the pump to stop it from getting blocked, good idea?
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RE: New house, renovate old pond?
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Hi, welcome to the forum.
In general, the gunk at the bottom of a wildlife pond sn't a problem as it provides food for the bottom of the food chain. If it gets too think, you can "bucket" some out. If you do, make sure you search through for newts and other creatures. (I have even in the past rinsed mine in a colander or seive and put the creatures back in). Pumps aren't necessary to oxygenate a pond, but underwater oxygenating plants ARE necessary.
If you decide to put a pump in, raise it off the bottom by putting it on bricks or a plastic crate.
You can also surround it in foam and put it in a pair of tights to stop animals especiall baby newts and tadpoles from getting in. The best time to do work is late summer/autumn. After frog and toad tadpoles and baby newts have left the pond, and before frogs start to hibernate. |
RE: New house, renovate old pond? Torch.
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| I forgo to say, go out at night with a torch and look into the pond- you'll see more that way. Sweep the duckweed across if necessary with a stick or net. |
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