This week I had a lot of fun collecting plants for our small wildlife
pond, which we created last summer, but never had time until now to
plant up. Baji Béla was verykind to help in locating some suitable plants for our pond.
I am farfrom an expert at water plants, so Béla offered invaluable help in
guiding me. What I have understood is that it is important to locate
native plants, which can be found wild in the local area. Many
problems have been caused in wetlands and waterways through the
introduction of exotic species which spread quickly and can choke out
indigenous species. Also the aim of our wildlife pond is to try to
maximise insect life, and by extention bird life around our garden.
Native plant species belong to the local ecosystem, so they have
strong interactions with natural insect populations. I planted a few
sedges and other wetland plants out today, and the pond is now filling
with water. If we get some warm weather now, hopefully the plants
will soon start to grow and thrive.