Campaign to reduce invasive pond plants
9 March 2010
Gardeners are the first line of defence against the invasive pond weeds currently choking our ponds, streams and rivers, according to a new government campaign to tackle the problem.
The campaign, Be Plant Wise, identifies the five worst-offending pond weeds as floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides), parrot's feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum), New Zealand pigmyweed (Crassula helmsii), water primrose (Ludwigia grandiflora) and water fern (Azolla filiculoides).
Many of them are garden escapees which have become a serious problem in the wild, sucking oxygen from the water, out-competing other water plants and clogging up flowing water, sometimes causing flooding.
Waterways such as the River Soar in the East Midlands and Roadford Lake in Devon have been seriously affected by their rampant growth, and since they can regenerate from very small pieces, they can be extremely difficult to eradicate once established.
'Our waterways are being invaded,' said Natural Environment Minister Huw Irranca-Davies. 'Gardeners can do their bit to help stop the spread by knowing what they grow in their ponds and disposing of unwanted plants with the utmost care.'
The government has set up a website Be Plant Wise, to help gardeners identify what's growing in their ponds and dispose of it responsibly, composting the entire plant carefully and well away from rivers or streams, and pouring water removed from ponds onto lawns rather than down drains. There's also advice on minimising the risk of letting it escape into the wild by avoiding giving pond plants as gifts to friends, and never disposing of them in the countryside: it is illegal to introduce invasive species into the wild, even accidentally.
Identifying invasive plants