Time to ‘Be Plant Wise’

Oct. 12, 2010 - PRLog -- Now that Autumn is here it’s time for gardeners to think about clearing out their ponds. Garden ponds can be havens for wildlife but many non-native plants sold to gardeners grow vigorously and can be incredibly invasive.


Plants such as parrot’s feather, creeping water primrose, New Zealand pygmyweed, water fern and floating pennywort are all sold for garden ponds but have become established in the countryside where they cause problems for our native wildlife and can clog up waterways.  These plants can regenerate from tiny fragments so it’s very important to make sure that any vegetation removed from garden ponds is disposed of carefully.

Jo Gore, New Forest Non-Native Plants Officer at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, shares some tips for gardeners on how to avoid spreading invasive pond plants in the wild.  “Always dispose of plants by composting them or using the green waste collection service” says Jo. “Never put them in a nearby pond or waterway where they can quickly become a problem. Don’t dump your plants in the wild. This could be illegal and could damage the environment”.

The New Forest Non-Native Plants Project has been tackling the spread of creeping water primrose at Breamore Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hampshire. This bright yellow flower appeared in a pond at Breamore Marsh last summer and has since spread like wildfire, threatening to elbow-out the native wildlife. “We don’t know how the creeping water primrose arrived at Breamore” says Jo “but it might have been dumped here by someone clearing out their garden pond”. Jo has commissioned contractors to control this highly invasive plant which has already become a major problem in France, The Netherlands and Belgium.

To see more about the New Forest Non-Native Plant Project see the Hampshire and Isle of Wight website:
http://www.hwt.org.uk/pages/new-forest-non-native-plants-...

For more advice on how to dispose of your garden pond plants responsibly, see the Be Plant Wise website at www.direct.gov.uk/beplantwise

For further information please contact:
Jo Gore 023 8042 4205 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 10am – 2pm) or
Catherine Chatters 023 8042 4205 (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm).

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The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is a charity that works to protect wildlife and wild places. We manage over 50 wildlife reserves which are some of the most important wildlife sites in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.