by Ted Farnworth  

South bank of the pond spread with topsoil ready for planting, spring 2017

The rejuvenation of the Amphibian Pond, started in earnest in the fall of 2016, when a contractor brought in heavy duty equipment to dredge out the bottom sediment and spread it out along the south bank of the pond. Early in the spring of 2017, the contractor came back to finish off the pathway around the pond, and spread topsoil around the south bank in anticipation of planting over 2400 plants.

Volunteers planting on the south bank of the pond

A one day work session planted the plants just before the several weeks of spring rains. The rain was ideal for the new plants, but it also caused severe erosion of the new pathway and carried much topsoil into the pond.

As the summer progressed the hand planted flowers were joined by others that found their way to the banks of the pond. One unexpected plant took over the pond itself. We had been keeping Flowering Rush in check over the years, but it seems the dredging had disturbed dormant seeds, and so by mid-summer about 80% of the area of the Pond was covered with flowering rush.

South bank of the pond mid-summer showing good coverage by new plants. The invasive aquatic plant – Flowering Rush – has filled the pond

Two methods were used to control the Flowering Rush: pulling the root which worked early on when the roots were not well established, and cutting the plant below the water level in the hopes that the plant would drown. By fall the surface of the pond was Flowering Rush free. 2018 will tell us how successful our control efforts were.