Water Plants
Altogether there are thirteen ponds at Arduaine, from miniscule to sizeable. They need a regular clearout of fast-growing vegetation if the water surface is not to become totally obscured. One of the many attractions of a pond is the reflection of the sky in the water and if this is lost then part of the purpose of the pond goes with it.
Our ponds support a large variety of plant life; some, various water lilies for example and Nuphar lutea, the native Yellow Water Lily or Brandy Bottle both enjoy fairly deep water, and Thalia dealbata, an American canna-like plant from the southern States, grows in a depth of a couple of feet in the Heron Pond but is not entirely happy, finding the climate a little too cold no doubt. Many others prefer shallow water or damp soil at the water's edge. These marginal plants vary from Iris laevigata and Alisma plantago-aquatica, the Great Water Plantain, to the so-called Skunk Cabbages, Lysichiton americanus and L. camschatcensis and the Arum Lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica.
Several primula species, Primula florindae, P. pulverulenta and P. prolifera particularly, grow very close to the water's edge, often in shallow water and occasionally sprouting from the bottom of the pond. The Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis, also likes to sit on the edge with its feet in the water, but like the primulas, will grow in ordinary damp garden soil too.
The Top Pond is well vegetated with a number of species such as Sparganium erectum, the branched Bur-reed and Phalaris arundinacea, Gardener's Garters, as well as the the white water lily. Osmunda regalis is here too, growing down at the foot of the wall practically in the water. One of the smaller ponds has a population of a native umbellifer, the white-flowered Berula erecta, while others are covered with duckweed, a very difficult subject to eradicate. The Lower Ponds are seasonally covered by a blanket of watercress, the awkwardly named Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum, which makes very good soup if picked when young and tender and very bad soup if left until old and woody!
The ponds and watercourses have a good range of beasts and bugs too, but that is another story for another day!
Our ponds support a large variety of plant life; some, various water lilies for example and Nuphar lutea, the native Yellow Water Lily or Brandy Bottle both enjoy fairly deep water, and Thalia dealbata, an American canna-like plant from the southern States, grows in a depth of a couple of feet in the Heron Pond but is not entirely happy, finding the climate a little too cold no doubt. Many others prefer shallow water or damp soil at the water's edge. These marginal plants vary from Iris laevigata and Alisma plantago-aquatica, the Great Water Plantain, to the so-called Skunk Cabbages, Lysichiton americanus and L. camschatcensis and the Arum Lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica.
Several primula species, Primula florindae, P. pulverulenta and P. prolifera particularly, grow very close to the water's edge, often in shallow water and occasionally sprouting from the bottom of the pond. The Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis, also likes to sit on the edge with its feet in the water, but like the primulas, will grow in ordinary damp garden soil too.
The Top Pond is well vegetated with a number of species such as Sparganium erectum, the branched Bur-reed and Phalaris arundinacea, Gardener's Garters, as well as the the white water lily. Osmunda regalis is here too, growing down at the foot of the wall practically in the water. One of the smaller ponds has a population of a native umbellifer, the white-flowered Berula erecta, while others are covered with duckweed, a very difficult subject to eradicate. The Lower Ponds are seasonally covered by a blanket of watercress, the awkwardly named Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum, which makes very good soup if picked when young and tender and very bad soup if left until old and woody!
The ponds and watercourses have a good range of beasts and bugs too, but that is another story for another day!