Natural pond treatment

As you will see from the next item I will post I help with press work for the Gloucestershire Green party. One of the jobs is to read the local papers: today along with a number of Green party letters I couldn't not respond to an article in the Wilts and Glos Standard.

Dobbies - a big garden company writes a regular garden feature - and understandably wants to push products to sell - this and along with our culture of quick fixes means that natural solutions to problems often don't get the airing they should. Infact their articles aren't that bad, but in this case missed many of the most important ways to control algae and weed. I've dashed off the letter below but not sure if it will really make people think.

We urgently need government action. In the US they are still looking at testing chemicals on orphans and children, while in the EU proposed laws re chemicals have been watered down, and they have rejected calls to look at aspartame while our government wont look at links between breast cancer and chemicals. We are long overdue an ethical chemical policy.

Dobbies Garden World article on stopping algae ruining a pond misses some of the most effective and natural methods of control (Wilts and Glos Standard 13/07/06).

Barley straw in old stockings or netting helps lots - farmers have thrown a bale in their ponds for centuries. A fountain can also help as it gets more oxygen into the pond. Prevention is crucial: stopping leaves getting into the pond in the first place (use a net in autumn if necessary), using rain rather than tap water and reducing compost and fertilisers in the surrounding garden as they are high in nitrogen and can cause algae problems.

Dobbies mention fish and the importance of feeding them - but these foods are also high in nitrogen so over feeding will add to the problem of algae. Similarly too many fish can be a problem. Other natural methods include increasing the number of native oxygenating plants - as with much of the natural world it is about getting the balance right.

Sadly too often we resort to quick 'chemical solutions' when there are healthier, more sustainable ways that don't further pollute our gardens and lives.

Philip Booth