Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Chatting => Chatting on the Plot => Topic started by: AlaninCarlisle on May 16, 2019, 13:25

Title: Good advice from a national garden centre chain
Post by: AlaninCarlisle on May 16, 2019, 13:25
My wildlife pond is full of blanket weed. Being about 4 metres x 7 metres x 1 metre deep in size, fishing it out is quite a chore. This morning I called in a local garden-centre with an aquarium/pond section to see if  could buy a net with a long enough reach. I told the assistant what I was looking for. His advice, whilst maybe not good for trade, was really invaluable. Get a 3 metre bamboo cane, split the end and find a way of holding the split open and then use it like a spaghetti fork to twist around the weed and drag the stuff to the side. Grand lad saved me about forty quid
Title: Re: Good advice from a national garden centre chain
Post by: Goosegirl on May 16, 2019, 14:30
Hope you gave him ten quid for a drink or two!
Title: Re: Good advice from a national garden centre chain
Post by: AlaninCarlisle on May 16, 2019, 14:37
What! And risk the poor lad getting fired for accepting payment in return for advice that was to his employer's disadvantage? I'm far too tight socially aware for that ;)
Title: Re: Good advice from a national garden centre chain
Post by: snowdrops on May 16, 2019, 19:08
Alan, do you put barley straw in your pond to help prevent the blanket weed.
Title: Re: Good advice from a national garden centre chain
Post by: mrs bouquet on May 16, 2019, 22:06
He must have been a "Grand Old Lad".   I remember doing that about a hundred years ago.   When you have split the bamboo, wedge it open with another bit of bamboo, and bind around with anything !.    Barley straw is really good as well, as has been said.  I wonder what makes the straw work ?  Mrs Bouquet
Title: Re: Good advice from a national garden centre chain
Post by: 8doubles on May 17, 2019, 10:25
When i was a lad at one of the fishing ponds that was covered in blanket weed  half a dozen of us would strip naked , line out and push all the blanket weed to the far side !
This would give us half the pond to fish that day !

Hope this helps*.

* Your excuse for not rewarding useful info does not apply to me !  ;)
Title: Re: Good advice from a national garden centre chain
Post by: jezza on July 14, 2019, 20:29
Hello have you tried Aqua Plancton it looks like lime you have to calculate the pond area then spread it on the top or mix it with the pond water in a watering can and let it run into the water just under the surface  it doesn't harm plants or animal life  jezza