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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] thanks for pond advice...

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] thanks for pond advice...
  • Date: Mon, 07 Aug 2006 22:07:27 -0400

Kathy Evans wrote:

>>>>
Thank you all for your advice on my pond...I think I don't quite have enough of a clue about what I'm doing/what I want to accomplish to really do this right from the beginning, but wanted to come as close as possible so that later
I don't thunk myself on the head and say "I wish I would have thought of that when
I was putting the pond in!" Hope to
make the cattails work! Duckweed seems to take over but if something eats it,
wonderful, and if not, it's small enough
>>>>
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It takes over for a reason, when there is an overabundance of nutrients in the water, which it absorbs then grows and propagates itself until it covers the pond. You need it to do this, in combination with other aquatic plants. Water hyacinth is one of the best for filtering and purifying the greywater. Water hyacinth, duckweed and cattails are all you need to keep your pond water clean and they coexist well. Tadpoles feed on and around duckweed roots without eating them as far as I know; I assume they do not eat plant material. These tiny root clusters gather organic matter, microorganisms and detritus that tadpoles like. Books on limnology and fresh water ecology would be good sources of information about this. My small pond (20-50,000 gallons, guessing) is now completely covered with duckweed and the water is no longer cloudy and muddy but relatively clear. This water is runoff from several acres of vegetable gardens
so it contains a lot of manure tea, phosphorous, potash, trace minerals from all the rock quarry dust in the soil plus other mineral amendments, rock phosphate, greensand, azomite, high calcium limestone and aragonite, a rich nutrient mix for a water impoundment. If it holds water year round I will stock it with catfish.
-
>>>>
that it would be easy to clean. Have lots of water hyacinth but didn't know I could overwinter it inside, I guess in a bucket somewhere! Thanks, Kathy, St. Louis
>>>>
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They overwinter fine in buckets indoors. If you have an unused freezer chest
you can plug the drain with silicone,
fill it up with water and overwinter the hyacinth in it outdoors. During days above freezing you can open the list for light and heat then close it at night for insulation. Also, cover the open top of the chest with a sheet of thick plastic or glass for additional heat during cold days then cover it with rigid foam at night or remove it and close the lid of the chest when freezing temperatures happen.
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LL







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