WATER GARDEN CALENDER and CHRONICLES (December and January) by Peter May

DECEMBER/JANUARY in the water garden in the UK

What needs to be done with the water garden? Nothing. It is asleep. What has been done that needs to be done can now wait. As long as it is cold enough and the water is below 5°C, everything in it is blissfully unaware ofBubbles under the ice can be a bad sign. A hole needs to be made. everything, so don’t disturb it. After all you hate to be disturbed during your slumbers. Instead, appreciate the garden in its winter dress. Get into the Christmas spirit and brighten your house and the faces of your friends and neighbours with a few of the indoor plants that we have come to associate with this time of year.

JOBS LEFT UNDONE AROUND THE POND MAY BE A BONUS

In the first two or three years after planting, the more grassy marginals, particularly the Carex and Cyperus still look good in early winter. As everything else dies back to ground level, the clumpy grasses move in the wind, lending animation to an otherwise static scene.
The other tall marginal plants that you have failed to cut back may pay unexpected dividends if we get any hard frosts. Fronds of all herbaceous plants and some shrubs look stunning in winter sunlight covered in an icy hoar.
Dont go breaking a hole in the ice with a hammer. This will knock the fish senseless
What is more, even the most humble reed that has run to seed will provide excellent emergency rations for small birds and will help provide cover for any wildlife that needs a mid-sleep sip of water.
You may be able to use some of these seed heads in a dry plant display. A vogue that is set to return in force now people are beginning to forget the amount of dust that dried plants seem toInstead melt the ice with a pan of hot water. attract. The reed mace (Typha angustifolia) and even the Norfolk Reed (Phragmites australis) can be put to ornamental use. But beware they can be as much as a time bomb indoors as out, because at a certain times of dryness and humidity they can just deposit their seed head like an exploding dumper truck. Also impress upon any resident cats that a reed mace (bulrush) frond is not their Christmas present. To them it looks like a cross between a barbequed anorexic mole and a mouse kebab and definitely something to be torn apart, purely for scientific research of course!

CONSERVATORY OWNERS WITH INDOOR WATER GARDENS

If you were one of those people that decided to build a conservatory over your water garden as a result of being lured into the delights of exotic water garden plants then things are possibly still up and running. There is a limit to how much heat you can afford to pump into these things and you may have opted to settling for it to be just a ‘frost-free zone’ and have let things wind down for the winter. Even so if you have been growing the fascinating Nelumbo or Lotus water lilies you may had some flower. If there were any remaining seed heads you may want to dry them. They make a fascinating focal point in any dried flower arrangement.

ALL TIDIED UP AND ‘BATTENED DOWN’ FOR WINTER?

Pond-wise, if you are cleaned out, dredged up, cut back and neatly netted for winter, now is the time you can appreciate another role the water garden can play in your garden, and that is as a source of light and reflection. A backdrop helps or alternatively a view to the horizon with a frame set by plants or landscaping ornaments set either side.
If you have good structure to the landscaping in your garden it becomes most apparent now, whether it is a formal or informal. So if there is no fear of herons, remove the net once all the leaves have fallen to reveal the unexploited qualities of your water garden.
If it snows and settles on an icy pond, brush as much off as you can to let some light down into the pool and remember don’t break the ice. Melt it with a pan of hot water sitting on the surface.
Or switch on a pool heater to maintain a hole in the ice for gaseous exchange. Either way, melt it don’t break it. This is particularly important for koi and or any birds that might appreciate a drink, especially ducks.