Pond Management

Wednesday, July 1st 2020

The rare aquatic fern called Pillwort has been slowly spreading in some of the ponds on the reserve. To help speed up the process, Elizabeth has been cultivating more of these unusual, bright green ferns at home. 3 full trays were delivered last week ready to be planted out on pond edges.

Some was planted out in the newly re-profiled ponds along Risedale Beck, this is a new location and the GPS co-ordinates were recorded to assist with finding it again in the future.

Clumps were also placed around the margins of Spigot Mere where it seems to grow well. Time will tell! On the largest pond on the reserve Broad-leaved Pondweed - Potamogeton natans has become somewhat of a problem due to the excellent growing conditions and it has almost covered the entire water surface. Staff and volunteers have spent several hours hand pulling the weed from a canoe. A coracle was used as a floating container to transport the unwanted weed to the shore!

The plants were left piled up on the banks of the lake so that any aquatic life such as damselfly larvae had the opportunity to move back into the water. Several hours of work have only made a small dent in the vegetation cover and the team is looking at other ways to control the vigerous growth.

If you would like to learn more about the wildlife that lives in the Foxglove ponds we are now offering pond dipping sessions for family bubbles of up to 6 people! Please see the events page for further details.

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