Pond Clearance

Thursday 12th October 2000, West Yorkshire

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A WILDLIFE POND can't just be left to go wild. Our garden pond once became so overgrown that a chicken took a short cut right across the middle of it.

I take a rake and, carefully, so as not to puncture the liner, pull out the surplus vegetation. What looks like a delicate growth of surface plants hides a mass of roots, like a mattress of vermicelli, which fills half the pond. It doesn't take long to rake it to the sides, frog

where I leave it so that any pond creatures have a chance to find their way back into the water.

I'm glad to get it out now. Over the winter it would have rotted down into a matted layer that would have been more difficult to remove. It's good to see the water again and let light and air get to the pond.

A few handfuls of pondweed (left) get raked out too, but I throw them back in to oxygenate the water. It has been shaded out by the floating plant so I feel I now want it to build up a bit to keep the pond in balance.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@willowisland.co.uk'

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