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Problems and SolutionsEven simple gardens run into difficulties occasionally. Here is a list of problems and Gillian's solutions. Green waterDo nothing, it is self correcting. AphidsWash the aphids into the pond for the fish to deal with or raise the water level a little. Leaf beetleHoles start appearing in the water lily leaves and if you look carefully the industrious little pests have glued small pieces of leaves together to make little water lily leaf sandwiches. I add a biological control 'bacillus thuringiensis' to the pond water which eliminates the problem. (It is the same stuff which works on Gypsy Moths) TadpolesI always remove frog spawn from our tiny ponds. (Back it goes to the local swamp.) Thousands of tadpoles overwhelm my tiny ecosystems and kill the water lilies. Living near a swamp, this is a major concern for me. I might have to resort to frog fences during spawning season. My fish are bigger this year, I hope they take care of the problem. Luckily, my tubs have been immune to this problem. Snail infestationThe snails reproduce so fast that they sometimes get so plentiful that they start eating water lily leaves before they die down. The best solution to this one is to give dozens of them away in jars to small school children for science. Water lily leaves do not lie flat
When the leaves stick up and are crowded, this is a sign that the water lily is getting too big for its container. If it bothers you and it is still early in the summer you can wash the water lily tuber off and divide it. To be successfully divided, water lilies need time to recover before frost (probably 6 weeks). A division must have at least one growing tip (an eye) and preferably some roots. Plant the division in a separate pot, in garden soil, with the growing tip sticking out of the soil, fertilize and start in shallow water until the water lily is growing well. Diagram of a water lily in a pot. Leaves and debris in the pondDuring the summer, leaves and flowers which die in the pond are eaten by snails quite quickly but in the fall a small pond can be engulfed by large quantities of falling leaves. If they are left in the water, the plants probably won't be harmed but the leaves add to the muck at the bottom and their decomposition puts additional toxic gasses in the water during the winter. The best solution is not to put your pond under the trees. Too late? How about a net spread over the pond to catch them? It beats slopping them out of freezing cold water. |
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