Re: Straw in ponds
- To: x*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Straw in ponds
- From: I* K*
- Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 19:20:08 -0700 (PDT)
Hi Xavier,
Xavier Flores wrote:
>
> Hi All,
> For those who are interested in the use of straw (or other plants)
> for countering algae growth in ponds: Check out
> http://www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/articles/use.html
Thanks, Xavier, that is a very informative page.
> Seems almost all I've read on the subject of Barley straw in ponds comes
> from Great Britain, apparently they have taken it seriously and done some
> real research. I have not seen anything on use of lavender for this purpose
> but it is known that other plants produce the effective compounds in less
> quantity, wheat straw for instance, so it would not be surprising to find
> related or unrelated plants which are effective.
The magazine where I'd read about this was a UK publication, the
Royal Horticultural Society's monthly. So, I went to their website
and found there a web version of the article:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/mn_algae.asp
There, lavender clippings are just mentioned in passing, as something
for larger ponds, but that page has a link to the green-ways website,
where I found mention of lavender on
http://www.green-ways.co.uk/LEAFCOP6.HTM as follows:
"It was discovered that lavender could be more effective as a
natural algaecide than barley straw but needed more oxygen to
break down.
Green Ways have combined the benefits of the two plant materials
into their New Lavender Pads but recommend that the pads are only
used where there is a pumped system to ensure sufficient quantities
of oxygen in the water."
> A simple web search for "Barley Straw" through one of the search engines
> will produce many links to a wealth of info. Might lead to information on
> lavender or other plants.
I had forgotten about the "barley" bit. I'd searched on
ponds+lavender which came up with way too many hit, but
nothing on the subject I wanted. Thanks again for the pointer.
-- Irene.
