5 Tips to Keep Your Garden Pond Clean, guest post by Katie Michaels

5 Tips to Keep Your Garden Pond Clean

Having a garden pond is an exciting new venture for many but when the water starts to turn green and you can’t see a thing, it’s not a good sight for you and it’s definitely not good news for your fish so how exactly do you keep your garden pond clean?

There are several things to consider when it comes to keeping the pond water clean and avoiding it turning into a green and smelly swamp, from the plants you add to the pond, through to how much you are feeding your fish.

With so many elements affecting your pond water it can feel overwhelming but here are five key things you need to think about if you want to maintain a clean garden pond and a pleasant healthy environment for your fish to live in:

1.       Don’t have too many fish

While it might be tempting to fill your pond with beautiful colourful fish you need to make sure you don’t over fill the pond. Fish produce waste products which pollute the water and they also breed, so if you have too many fish your pond will very quickly become an unpleasant environment.

Keep an eye on your fish population and if they do breed you might be able to sell the young to fish stockists to help keep the population under control. Alternatively make sure all your fish are the same sex to avoid any growth in the population.

The other factor when it comes to fish is removing sick or dead fish from the pond as quickly as possible so that you don’t end up with a polluted pond that way either. It’s best to check your fish weekly for signs of any problems.

2.       Don’t feed the fish too much

This is one of the most common problems with new fish owners – the temptation to continuously feed fish when they don’t need it. Fish will only eat what they need so any unwanted food will just fall to the bottom of your pond.

Waste food will then start to rot, polluting the water and causing problems in your pond so don’t over feed, and always remove any leftover food which the fish don’t eat, straight away, otherwise your pond water quality will go downhill rapidly.

3.       Don’t smother your pond with too many plants

Water plants take in oxygen so make sure you don’t allow your pond to become over grown as the plants will end up causing oxygen levels to drop in the water. Too many plants will also result in a lack of light and sun in the pond due to the coverage of the leaves, which again can have a negative impact.

Make sure you regularly trim back plants and clear fallen leaves and dead plants from the water to help keep the quality high. Avoid plants which have a tendency to grow across the water surface and cover it.

4.       Make sure your water pump and filters are working properly

Managing and maintaining your pond equipment is key to keeping it clean. The water pump for your pond is the key to making sure your water is being circulated regularly so you need to make sure it is well maintained and fully functioning at all times. It’s important to have a pump which is big enough for the size of pond you have otherwise it won’t cope.

You should check your pump regularly to make sure it is not clogged with debris and to make sure all the parts are working effectively – if you notice any wear and tear make sure you replace the parts straight away to keep it running well.

You should also make sure your filter system is the right size for your particular pond and make sure it is working effectively. Change and clean your filters regularly to ensure they don’t get clogged with debris and dirt.

5.       Always clear debris from the pond surface

Ponds tend to attract all kinds of debris from dead leaves falling from nearby trees, to rubbish items blown in on the wind or even dropped by birds so always make sure you clear debris daily from your pond surface, before it has a chance to sink to the bottom and start to rot and pollute your water.

If you can, use netting to cover the pond to help catch any falling debris so that it never reaches the water in the first place – this will go a long way to helping to keep your garden pond clean and your water sparkling and healthy for all your fish.

These five tips will go a long way to ensuring that your pond remains a clean environment for all the family to enjoy all year round and by following simple regular maintenance outlined here, you should never be left with any huge pond cleaning issues. 

guest post by Katie Michaels

''gardening expert'' i'm very flattered... lol

link to the article with Millrace Garden Centre


 here is a small excerpt ... my bit... lol

8 Gardening Experts Share Their Top Tips for Healthy Plants

Claire Gillies - Claire's Garden

Claire Gillies had a good garden education, from the edibles from an experienced organic market gardener who she had a Saturday job with, to the flowers from an avid plant collector that she would weed and help with her garden - and who's 'old plants' made the backbone of Claire's garden. Claire was lucky to meet and work with them. She remains forever enthusiastic by having a 'plant it and see what happens' attitude. If it doesn't grow she tries again, or tries something different.

1. What is the most effective way you've found to deal with garden pests?

I mostly collect by hand when I see them, and use occasional beer traps for slugs. I use a spoon and a jar with a lid I collect everything I don't want, then put the lid on the jar and the jar in the bin...

2. Do you use fertiliser in your garden and if so, which type?

Home produced compost and lots of horse manure. And every so often, mostly when putting in seeds, I sprinkle rock dust.

3. Which plant in your garden do you hold the most love for and why?

Daffodils, because they are so cheery at a miserable time of year, but I love everything so it's difficult to choose.

4. Butterflies: Beautiful garden visitor or troublesome pest?

A very welcome and invited guest! My shed is placed deliberately to leave a space that's out of sight and untended with nettles etc, and many flowers I've planted would attract bees and butterflies.

The big allotment scam: How the system is stopping you from getting a plot

The big allotment scam: How the system is stopping you from getting a plot

Enormous waiting lists, pigeon lofts and 'dead man's shoes'

Waiting lists of around six years are stopping British families from going green and taking allotments on which to grow their own produce.

That's the opinion of an environmentally-conscious green fingered waste management company which says that many council- and committee-run allotment spaces are literally a case of "dead man's shoes", where the same people hold a plot for years and decades at a time.

On top of that, councils that are hard-pushed for budgets are tempted to sell off land for development, meaning there's ever decreasing space, the BigGreen.co.uk company says.

"Just at a time and more and more people are looking to grow their own produce, they're finding that the door has been slammed in their face," says Big Green spokesperson Mark Hall. "So many people have small gardens or no garden at all, meaning an allotment is the only real chance they have."

BigGreen.co.uk spoke to councils across the UK to find out how long the waiting lists were for an allotment. The authorities who released figures led Big Green to find that:

• The average waiting list for an allotment with six years
• A significant number of councils had waiting lists as high as 250 people, with waits of around nine years
• While the press made a big issue of 45-year waiting lists in 2009, there was no trace of any such figures now
• The longest wait one (unnamed) council was prepared to admit was for 12 years

"The major problem is the lack of allotments for the folk who want to work them," says BigGreen.co.uk 's Mark Hall.

His solution is simple: "The average 10 pole (about 250 square metre) allotment is a lot of work for the average family. Split them in two, and double the number of available plots," he says. "Perhaps split them into three or four to give families a taste of growing produce, but on a big enough plot to bring decent results."

People are clearly getting impatient at the long waiting lists, and seem to think that the system is broken or skewed against new blood. BigGreen.co.uk spoke to some people on council waiting lists across the UK and heard:

• "Three years we've been waiting. But you look over the fence and they've got empty plots. What's that about?"
• "We were told we were right at the top of the list, and then they sold the whole field off to a developer. Disgraceful. We're still at the top of the list, but the other site's miles away."
• "We desperately want to grow our own veg but we live in flats, but there's some selfish bloke who has six plots – one's got a pigeon loft and an old car! He can give one up for us, surely?"
• "It's an old boys' club isn't it? We don't fit in, so we don't get a plot"

Those are damning words, BigGreen.co.uk says which lead on to other arguments: "There also needs to be a national debate about preserving allotment land," Hall says. "It's important green space, but all too easy for councils to earmark for development. Once that land's gone, it's gone. And that money only fills a budget hole for a single year."

One of the biggest problems that people on waiting lists find is people who occupy multiple allotments, or pay for a plot but don't use it as intended (or even at all).

"There's nothing worse than going down your local allotment site to find whole plots of land that have clearly not been cultivated for some time. The council direct debit is collected every year, so they seemingly don't care if it's left fallow," says Mark Hall. "We also know of plots which are nothing but pigeons, goats and chickens, and some who cultivate flowers and 'organic' crops sell at a profit. That's not what allotment ownership should be about."

Councils should also be stricter about multiple-occupiers who have a number of plots as well as commercial operations, denying other local people the chance to cultivate some land: "It's clear that many local authorities need to urgently reform their allotment provision. It's easy for users to abuse the system, when keen people are left kicking their heels, waiting for their turn," Hall says.

Unfortunately, such is the way the system works, new tenants have to wait for the previous person to actually die before they can take over a plot. There must be a better way of dividing up land and introducing new blood, BigGreen.co.uk says – "Dead Man's Shoes" just isn't good enough.

BigGreen.co.uk says they recently heard of a council debating whether to increase the annual fee from £5 to £6 per year, and failing to come to a decision. And that's just goes to show how badly allotments are being handled by authorities.

"We'd pay ten times that much," says Mark, "If only we could get to the front of the queue!"

guest post from Big Green Waste Management

BigGreen.co.uk is a leading expert in recycling and waste disposal for businesses of all kinds.

We manage waste and recycling collections for companies in and around major towns at the best possible prices with an emphasis on sustainable solutions.

Our company is committed to reducing wasteful landfill, and works to help companies increase their recycling targets.

BigGreen.co.uk campaigns for tighter laws to discourage littering, wasteful behaviour, and to encourage greater recycling. We're the waste company that hates waste.

Website: http://www.biggreen.co.uk

Organising Your Backyard for Summer, guest post by Kaitlin Krull

Organising Your Backyard for Summer
Kaitlin Krull

After the snow has melted away and your garden is finally showing signs of life again, it’s time to enjoy your outdoor space. But before you send out invites for tea parties and bonfires, you and your garden need to get your acts together. Check out some of these tips for organizing your backyard to help you have the best summer ever.

Come dine with me
Your home isn’t ready for summertime entertaining until you’ve created an outdoor dining space. Less is definitely more when it comes to eating outside, so give your garden patio or decking a rustic theme with wooden furniture and repurposed jugs and jars for storage. Hang some fairy lights above the table for the late nights spent with friends and loved ones and you’re all set. Bring on the Pimms!

via Apartment Therapy

Party games
Equip your outdoor space with lawn games for your next garden party and you will definitely win entertainer of the summer. Bowls, croquet, and badminton aren’t just for the elite and stuck up; it’s all about having fun! Even a net and football can turn the calmest of get togethers into an energetic, competitive time. Just make sure no one takes it too far and you’re all still friends at the end of the party.

via Country Living

Fan the flame

If your garden space allows it, why not create a fire pit to keep the outdoor party going on those warm summer evenings. Homemade pits have the most rustic appeal, but if needs must, feel free to use a chiminea or metal/stone fire pit instead. Leave some folding chairs or waterproof cushions nearby for impromptu s’mores roasting and ghost stories around the fire.

via DaisyMaeBelle

Let kids be kids

If you have children, most of your outdoor time this summer will undoubtedly be spent chasing them around with a bottle of suncream and playing endless games of hide and seek. Give the kids their own space in the garden with a play house, swing and slides, or some sand and sidewalk chalk. If you’re very, very brave, you could even give them a mud kitchen. Just make sure the hose is handy after playtime.

via Life in the Dub Lane

A touch of green
It may sound redundant, but by adding some plants to your garden, you will see an instant lift in your outdoor space. Besides keeping your existing greenery trimmed and pruned, having some organised gardening projects on display will encourage you and your family to spend more time outdoors and will undoubtedly look great when guests come over. Choose easily maintained plants and flowers so everyone can participate in the gardening.

via Kelly Moore

Maintenance
By cleaning up after every party and play session, you will be able to spend your time enjoying the warmer days and can make the most of your summer. Use these tips and your imagination to get your garden ready for summer. You will not be disappointed! Now, if only the weather would cooperate with your plans.

For more tips and tricks, head to Modernize.com