Garden pond

Over the years we have bought all kinds of plants for the garden pond. They all look magnificent when first purchased but surprisingly the spell is usually very quickly broken. Sometimes they simply die but most of the time they appear to be eaten by either the fish or pond snails. There have also been times when they have spread like a wild weed depriving the fish of life giving sun light. The exception has been water hawthorn - a beautiful white spray of flowers at the end of a slender stem. The plant starts to flower at the end of April and continues throughout the Summer well into the Autumn. It has a few leaves that float on the water's surface and stays quite compact - the perfect plant for a garden pond.

Water Hawthorn

Goldfish under protective netting

We have placed a plastic netting over the pond to protect the fish from herons. There are many pools, brooks and streams in our area all of which seem to have herons which majestically perch either on sturdy branches or thick poles - these perceptive birds are always looking for new places and opportunities for food sources. After having a few fish go missing and 'asking the cat if she knew anything about it' we decided that it could have been a local heron. The cat, although on occasion has caught the odd mouse and brought an odd frog or two (still hopping) into the house has only looked at the fish in bemusement. I presume that is because they stay in the water! She is clearly too well fed to really be bothered with catching much and certainly wouldn't entertain any idea of eating it - she is too fussy by far to consider doing that.