General Pond Stuff

Anything having to do with ponds and pond care.

What About Planting Lavender Around The Pond?

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Last week I mentioned the addition of a new product for small ponds that blended lavender straw and barley together to help retard algae in ponds. This combination has shown good effects, and there is anecdotal evidence by some pond owners that each of these plants can restrict algae growth on all their own.

But a question came up…is there any reasonable use for lavender around the pond instead of in it?

Interestingly the answer appears to be yes!

After posting last week’s pond tip I received the following email from our friend Vic Kovaks.

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Is There A Conflict In Your Pond?

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You’ve probably heard the saying, “oil and water don’t mix”, and that’s certainly true. A lot of people however don’t stop and think before they apply certain things to their pond in an effort to control algae. I’m not being critical here, it’s simply a matter of having the attitude that you want the stuff g.o.n.e., and no one can blame you for that.

The problem is more headaches can come up when you start trying to use products that really don’t go well together. There likely won’t be any explosions or anything dramatic, it’s just that you may not get the results you want with the algae.

So let’s talk about a few of the more common things that don’t quite jive when you’ve put them together in your pond.

UV Light And Beneficial Bacteria

UV or ultraviolet light is an effective tool to use against green algae problems in a pond. The single cell algae can create a pretty ugly look in the water, but UV light can kill or damage a lot of these little critters, along with other pathogens that float along in the water as it passes through the device. The problem is, there’s no way to tell it to leave the good bugs alone and kill only the bad ones. So good bacteria can be affected by UV too.

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Ticks And Fleas May Be Rampant This Year

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With the warm winter and spring, it’s a good bet that ticks and fleas, will be abundant this year and they represent two of the most unwanted and nasty things you could have around your pond or backyard. It goes without saying that you sure don’t want them in your house. Where ticks are concerned … Read more

The Many Forms Of Barley For Ponds

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For such an age old remedy to keep ponds cleaner, barley straw has certainly evolved in a variety of ways.

Word on the street is that during the middle ages, a moat surrounding a particular castle was infested with a terrible algae bloom. (It’s good to know royalty is not immune from such things). Anyway by accident some lowly peasant accidentally dumped a load of barley straw in the moat, which we assume was intended to feed horses or something, and low and behold, it started clearing the algae up!

The King was pleased, but there’s no word on if the peasant was promoted to the official moat manager or not. I hope so.

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What Food Poisoning Taught Me About Ponds

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Last summer, I had my first experience with food poisoning. It was not pleasant. I have lived half a century and I can’t remember a time when I felt sicker. I know how I contracted it, but out of decency I’m not going to name the fast food joint that gave me more than extra … Read more

Updated Information For The Laguna Pond Aerator

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We’ve recently gotten several questions related to the Laguna Small Pond Aerator that we wanted to address here. First, since the unit is intended to be used to help keep ice from forming on the surface of a pond the question came up about cold weather operations and winter use. The Laguna will work well … Read more