monthly pond blog - pond plants, wildlife visitors and job list!

It has been quite a good winter so far - blowy but bright this month. This has meant many of the pond plants are beginning to show green shoots of growth. The Caltha family are budding up and the white flowering variety - always the first to flower - will be out by the end of the month. The Native Marsh Marigold with its bright yellow flowers will not be far behind. Across the water surface the Myosotis species, the Veronica and the Mentha (Mint) are beginning to send out shoots. There is also some leaf on the water surface on the Aponogeton distachyos (Water Hawthorn).

Because of the mild weather in most of England and Wales we may well find the pond wildlife will return from hibernation earlier than in previous years - newts and frogs will leave the safety of log piles and compost heaps only to scuttle back if we get a sharp frost. The pond is getting ready for their return and the plants are responding so that leaf growth and cover will be there for them to mate in.

If you are setting up a new pond now is the time to prepare your plant order so that the plants are in situ. With ready rooted pond plants we can send out by mail order as long as the ice is not across the top of our troughs in the Nursery so plants showing as currently available can be sent straight away.

Order Barleystraw minibales so that you can drop them into the pond in February to be fully functioning by March