WATER GARDEN CALENDER and CHRONICLES (June) by Peter May

JUNE

Froglets are ready for the big bad world outside the pond. If you’ve have a potentially good harvest of froglets from tadpoles this year, now is the time that they will start to emerge from the pond and sit indecisively amongst the surrounding sward of lawn, so take care with your mower as you fly by the pool or fire up the barbeque in anticipation of a feast of mini frogs legs!

Of course this is the time of the year that Aquatic retailers eagerly await the return of their early season customers who only bought a pool and a few plants. They return in their droves looking for submersible pumps for fountains, waterfalls and filters. As the weather warms up the new fish start gasping at the surface despite them following all the recommendations of getting in the right number of plants and especially oxygenators in the water.

Allow one bunch of oxygenators per 0.2 sq m (2 sqft) of pool surface
Allow one lily for every 2.3 sq m (25 sqft) of pool surface.
Marginals: allow at least one plant for every 0.5sq m (5 sqft).

But in a new pool especially with Koi carp and even if it has a filter system, if the fish have been added before the whole system has matured, the pool has to go through a phase where the ammonia level rises before the bacteria that break down that ammonia get well established. These fish may be having problems.

Now it is a good idea to add one or two fish to start the whole process going because it is their faeces and fish food that produces the ammonia that the bacteria feed on. But these are ‘Kamikaze’ fish in the sense that the environment you have introduced them to is going to go through some pretty unhealthy phases before it gets robust enough to support a full population of fish at 2inches per square foot of surface area. The worst bit is when then the ammonia is partly broken down to nitrite chemicals and you have a cocktail that is poisonous and damaging to the gills of the fish. This is when they start gasping. So the best action is to follow your instincts and get plenty of oxygen in there. Large partial water changes are best, but running water in hard from a hose is also good. The oxygen in the water will sustain the fish and the bacteria in the bottom of the pool, or the filter if you have one. The bacteria use the oxygen in the process of breaking down the toxic chemicals. First of all ammonia compounds are broken down to nitrites, then the next phase is the break down of the nitrites to nitrates, which is then greedily absorbed by the plants.

So if you haven’t got a fountain or a waterfall and you have some precious fish recently installed, think about getting one. It will help sustain the oxygen levels for your fish and the bacteria in the bottom of the pond. And if you have created this watery habitat for the sake of some beloved fish, then seriously think about a biological pool filter, especially if it gets as warm as last year here in the UK. The other deciding factor maybe that without a filtration system, your pool needs to be two thirds covered by plants at this time of year in order to maintain a balance and provide anywhere near clear water. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for a pool to really establish its microbiology. There are proprietary ‘pool starter’ mixes available to get things going more quickly, or you could try borrowing a couple of gallons of water from a friends pool that you have so long admired. Adding this will be like a yoghurt starter. Apparently spitting into the pool can have the same effect! The bacteria we carry in our mouths are pretty much the same as those found in the bottom of a pond!

JOBS FOR THE MONTH

1.Dead head early flowers like the Marsh Marigolds and irises. Now begins the period where water gardeners look enviously at their friends with bog gardens that can work as a spectacular backdrop to a pool. The flower and foliage affects that can be achieved here carry on much further into the season. Even now some plants are only just beginning to come into flower. Things like the Day Lily – Hemerocallis, Rodgersia, Ligularia and Hosta. However water gardeners still have their lilies to enjoy and these can still be planted.

2. This is the best time of year for planting out lilies. Some of the old time water gardeners would only think of planting lilies at this time of year.

3.Look for pests on leaves. Aphids can be abundant on lily leaves and marsh marigolds. Knock them of with a harsh sprayer or a finger and thumb. The fish will soon gobble them up.Aphids being nurtured on Lily leaves be ants. How do the ants get there i want to know?

PLANTS OF THE MONTH

Some of the Iris ensata hybrids can look especially exotic.Some of the Irises were out towards the end of May. Some of them were early this year like the Iris laevigata and the Iris sibirica. Now the Iris ensata hybrids will be really getting underway. These are the real regal elegance for the water garden.

Ragged Robin, Lychnis flos-cucculi, was early and normally is in abundant flower in June, so perhaps the wonderful Flowering Rush, Butomus umbellatus, will be out well in June rather than the beginning of July.

Some varieties of Mimulus are in full flower as is the Houttynia, which again is early.

The Spearworts (Ranunculus lingua and R. flammula) are flowering like all buttercups. Soon they will start their manic race to the middle of the pond and back again and knit a mat of root growth over every available stretch of water. They are forgiven though especially in a pond that is taking a long time to get established.

The Arum lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) seemed to have shot their bolt as early as May have battled on despite a cooler unsettled spell. Now they are bulking up and sending up more flower from the newThe Arum Lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica, it has been flowerig for me since early May growth.

The Water Lilies are already beginning to flower, also brought on a little early by the warm Spring. All hail the water lily since this is the plant that brings so many people to water gardening! The water garden season is truly underway at the sight of the first lilies and the mayflies seem dance their dance of love and joy in celebration.