Hi big kid!!

personally, I think anything that stops the stuff from spreading in your garden the better, so would avoid your compost heap or having it in your garden at all. Let the heavy duty professional composters render it harmless and useful!

I agree, good to see the site back, but would like them to get rid of the horrible spam....

will come on more often now....

Chip

Hi Chip,

Haven't been checking in very often because of the previous problems, so sorry this reply is late!

Thanks for your help and I'll certainly take your advice about the hornwort.

Glad to see you back on here. Let's hope others will come back in time...

Can't believe summer's gone, but I had a visit from a little stranger on the Buddleia bush by my pond about a week ago. A Hummingbird Hawkmoth! Unfortunately I was still in my dressinggown, looking out of the kitchen window, but I grabbed my binoculars for a clearer look. I wasn't sure what it was, so had to do a bit of research, which came up with a Youtube video. I never knew they existed and I'll probably never see another one again, so I was tickled pink that it had graced my garden with its presence, albeit for just a few minutes!
Big Kid

Big Kid- no problem at all about composting your hornwort- will make great compost and should compost quite quickly.
It won't grow again after composting, and especially not on land.
Just check it for pondlife before putting on the compost heap.
When you thin it out, you might want to trim off the dead bits at the bottom of the stems, and tie together some new clumps to put back in.
As a rule, they suggest not removing more than one third each year in order to keep pondlife in balance.

By the way, hornwort is one of the "good guys". It's native and although it grows quite fast, it's easy to control.
Not like parrots feather, azolla, and swamp stonecrop which should be avioded at all costs.

Thanks, Dampflippers...good to see you back!

I agree hornwort is very easy to control and I'm quite happy with it as an oxygenator. I was hoping I could also use the thinnings, but obviously not.

I have to confess that I have red stemmed parrots feather which I've had for years. I'm very careful with it, but I really love the way it looks like a miniature forest, so don't want to get rid of it.
Big Kid

Hi Dampflippers,

I've just realised that I missed your first reply and went straight to your second. Sorry!

I'm glad you say it's safe to compost and I shall certainly give it a go and see how I get on. I had put two lots down as a mulch around the base of a couple of bushes, but it does seem to break down easily, so I won't be using it that way again in future.

Thanks for all your tips and I am careful about looking out for any little creatures. I always check it as I take it out. I then leave it on the side of the pond for a couple of days and turn it over once. It's usually only hoglice I rescue but I watch out for eggs at other times of the year and put that bunch back. I've never discovered what the eggs are from. I know newts like to fold leaves up over their eggs, so I'm guessing they could be goldfish eggs?

I also buy six bunches of elodea crispa every year, so I have two lots of oxygenators on the go. I know you like to stick to native species, which is great, but I've had the elodea from first building my pond and I'm going to carry on with that one, too.
Big Kid