Hi Sven,

I work as a volenteer at Copthorn Nursery in Fawley, Hampshire and we are looking for other people to help bring the gardens back to splendour. There is a pond of about 30ftx30ft and we need some help and advice with a very boggy area. There is around 8 acres of garden.

Thanks

Patrick Sussenbach

Our Gardens Expert replies:


Crikey! I think this is the largest garden I have been asked to offer advice on here on the UKTV gardens website in my four years as resident expert. I have looked into Copthorn nursery in Fawley and from what I can gather it is a community run nursery run by “a small band of people tending the land, growing plants and vegetables, learning the basics in gardening and benefiting the community as well as themselves” Well it sounds fantastic! Without specific questions it is hard to offer specific advice so I will try my best to cover your pond and how to renovate it.


Firstly you will need to asses the area fully and note what aquatic plants you would like to keep (if any), check for wildlife, asses if the liner is undamaged, check the clarity of the water etc. If the pond looks all murky and full of pond weed then you may wish to drain it and clean it out. This can be a really mucky job and will take a group of you a good day to complete. The best thing to do is to hire a pump and simply drain the pond. When the water level is low enough someone will have the lucky job of getting right in and scooping out all the horrible muck from the bottom.