Plant Doctor Archive

Water Gardens — Sludge build-up

MY pond seems to have a build-up of sludge in the bottom of my pond. What can I do about this?

IT depends how bad it is. If it is mostly organic material, like leaves and fish faeces, then a course of biological sludge control, such as Bio Active Sludge Control or Pond Care Pond Zyme will dissolve most of it away.

It won't remove it altogether, but will reduce the problem by about 90 per cent.

Regular use of these products will result in an overall cleaner-looking and more healthy pond, so I strongly recommend it.

However, if the sludge is mostly soil and silt, or if there is an awful lot of it, then there is no substitute for a good old-fashioned drain and clean.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.