Pond Tips

Pond algae

Pond Tip – Algae Problems

This is a very interesting "algae" that started cropping up in ponds in Scotland about ten years ago. It's Latin name is 'nostoc commune', but it has some wonderful old common names. For example: star jelly, rot of the stars, star slime and witches butter. It...

Moroccan Tiles

Pond Edging

Some interesting edging details from a garden we are working on in the east end of Edinburgh. The Moroccan tiles need sealing to cope with Scottish frosts, but make a lovely border for this pool that will have a statue as a centrepiece. The clay “rope...

Spring Pond Clean

Pond Tips – Cleaning

Signs your pond needs cleaning are green water, lots of duckweed and a big build-up of leaves on the bottom. March is not a bad time to do a pond clean. This is especially true if you can get it done before the frogs spawn.  If...

Formal Pool

Pond Tips – Formal Pools

These photos illustrate some of the things not to do with formal pools. If you are going to use a hard, consistent material like brick then see if you can soften it with some planting or at least some other material that breaks up the lines...

This light coloured slab provides a striking pond edge, designed by Carolyn Grohmann

Pond Tips – Edges

Pond edges are interesting places. When you are standing at a pond edge, there should be lots to see and lots to be interested in. So, when starting to plan your new pond, you could do a lot worse than begin with the edges. If you are...

Lovely interference patterns on this cascade.

Pond Tips – Water Features

If you are thinking about installing a water feature in your garden or outdoor space, we would be happy to help. One of the many nice things we get to do at Water Gems is experiment with designing water features based on some of the strange...

There is so much duckweed on this pond it looks like a lawn!

Pond Tips – Duckweed

Pond tips for September. Lots of ponds have duckweed at this time of year - little floating green plants that sometimes cover ponds. Duckweed is shade tolerant and typical of pools that have lots of leaf matter in them from overhanging trees. The decomposing leaves take...

Jupiter Artland formal water feature, consultation work, pond construction, Water Gems, Feature image Pond Tips for august

Pond Tips for August

Welcome to our Pond Tips post for August. First of all, don’t use a cheap pond liner, because they often leak. A good quality liner such as Firestone EPDM from Gordon Low, combined with a geotextile underlay, is a far better choice. Second, don’t use grids across...