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 - star jelly, rot of the stars, star slime and witches butter for...
We were asked to build this stream for a client in East Lothian. It was a very challenging project as about 200T of stone was needed, so big machinery and strong guys the order of the day! As well as that, though, it needs a good...
This is the Oxgangs SUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage System) pool that we look after, which takes the water from the roofs and roads around it. Now, a few years on from when we planted it, it has turned into a proper wetland area. We look after...
Some photos from last week's RHS Chelsea show gardens: the Zoe Ball Listening Garden featured water patterns produced by feeding music into underwater speakers; the Welcome to Yorkshire Garden had waves in the pool created by a bobbing buoy and the Morgan Stanley Garden had...
The frog, the toad, and the goldfish. There are probably more small ponds in Britain now than at any time in history. Modern liners mean that small garden ponds are easy to make. This is a godsend for goldfish and frogs. They love small ponds, and...
The female swan at the Lido pool in Stenhousemuir has decided to nest on the bank this year. This means she has no protection at all from passing dogs or people. While I was there today I noticed passers by putting their dogs on the...
Nick is presenting a talk on the The Practical Aspects of Urban Waterbody Regeneration next week, at the UK & Ireland Lakes Network Annual Conference. He will talk about a practical approach to the problems, and focus on techniques we use and results we have achieved....
Nick Easterbrook, Rosie, Ronnie and Bruce started this week building a raft to apply Phoslock to the Heritage Loch in East Kilbride. Phoslock is a bentonite based material that absorbs phosphorous thereby preventing it from being available to algae for growth. The work is for...
This is a shot of Nick standing in the boating pond in Rosyth during the launch of the new wetland and boardwalk project that we designed and planted up. The photo he is holding is of how the pond was used many years ago as...
Rosyth boating lake was a bleak, shallow concrete pool which was drained most of the time. See the photo which looks more like a car park than a boating lake! We designed the wetland and boardwalk and planted it up. Although, on an early February...