Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

nospam [at] nospam.org writes
>Hello,
>
>My last pond question! Our pond is full of snails. I think that snails
>can reproduce on their own, which is why there are so many. Should I
>live and let live or do I need to have a snail cull?

Live and let live. They'll mainly eat rotting plant matter so perform a
useful function. There are several species. I have big ones which are
coiled like a Catherine Wheel, ones which look like small whelks, and
one which are much smaller but have pretty patterns on the shell.

I don't think they reproduce on their own - they do mate. But they
produce masses of eggs (in elongated blobs of jelly on the sides of the
pond and underneath water lily leaves) so populations can grow fast.

>Presumably they
>will not leave the water and are not a threat to the rest of the
>garden?

Precisely.
>

--
Kay

Aquatic snails will not disperse into the garden, and they do an excellent
job of disposing of rotting plant debris, remember nature has its own
controls, the snails can only grow with food, plenty of food, plenty of
snails, less food less snails.
regards
Cineman
I have a weed in my path, its a lovely lilac coloured poppy, its only a weed
because its in the wrong place, must be sown by a bird, maybe out of the
bird feeder ?



<nospam [at] nospam.org> wrote in message
news:qkej92dv96b8v6smqgulltkvratcc00c7k [at] 4ax.com...
> Hello,
>
> My last pond question! Our pond is full of snails. I think that snails
> can reproduce on their own, which is why there are so many. Should I
> live and let live or do I need to have a snail cull? Presumably they
> will not leave the water and are not a threat to the rest of the
> garden?
>
> Thanks.

<nospam [at] nospam.org> wrote in message
news:qkej92dv96b8v6smqgulltkvratcc00c7k [at] 4ax.com...
> Hello,
>
> My last pond question! Our pond is full of snails. I think that snails
> can reproduce on their own, which is why there are so many. Should I
> live and let live or do I need to have a snail cull? Presumably they
> will not leave the water and are not a threat to the rest of the
> garden?
>
> Thanks.

I know - you're the one with the frogs and the duckweed - sounds just like
our pond.

We got fed up with not being able to see the newts recently and have started
removing duckweed.
My method:
Hose on low power fine spray jets the duckweed to one end of the pond, then
small hand net to fish it out and dump on the side of the pond (to allow any
wrigglies to crawl back).
Lots of snails come too and don't seem able to crawl back (OK they're water
snails), but, you know, there's plenty enough to spare.

What may happen as a result of this cleaning operation, when it is finished,
is that the blanket weed will come back. Having been supressed all this time
by the duckweed cutting off the light.

At least these heaps of duckweed are lots of nutrient being removed from the
pond, which is a Good Thing.
Oh - not a Good Thing - now we can see into the pond and see how much it
needs that big cleanup we've been promising - for the last 10 years. I built
it 3 foot deep - perhaps 18" of silt now.

Just can't win (but the newts and frogs are thriving and breeding).

Lol

<nospam [at] nospam.org> wrote in message
news:qkej92dv96b8v6smqgulltkvratcc00c7k [at] 4ax.com...
: Hello,
:
: My last pond question! Our pond is full of snails. I think that snails
: can reproduce on their own, which is why there are so many. Should I
: live and let live or do I need to have a snail cull? Presumably they
: will not leave the water and are not a threat to the rest of the
: garden?
:
: Thanks.

Where can you buy snails. I have looked around but haven't found any
locally. Must admit I haven't been that determined

On Thu, 22 Jun 2006 08:00:52 +0100, Robert wrote
(in article <M7qdnbyIS-2z3QfZRVnysA [at] bt.com>):

>
> <nospam [at] nospam.org> wrote in message
> news:qkej92dv96b8v6smqgulltkvratcc00c7k [at] 4ax.com...
>> Hello,
>>
>> My last pond question! Our pond is full of snails. I think that snails
>> can reproduce on their own, which is why there are so many. Should I
>> live and let live or do I need to have a snail cull? Presumably they
>> will not leave the water and are not a threat to the rest of the
>> garden?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> Where can you buy snails. I have looked around but haven't found any
> locally. Must admit I haven't been that determined
>
>

We started our pond off with some from Paul Bromfield Aquatics:
<http://www.bromfieldaquatics.co.uk/store/erol.html>

Their site doesn't seem as user-friendly as it used to be, but just put
snails in their search box. We have lots now!




--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Whitton Open Gardens weekend 1st & 2nd July; enjoy the conservation
churchyard recently filmed for the BBC Heaven and Earth Show and see the
Burne-Jones/William Morris window: http://www.whitton-stmarys.org.uk

Keep the snails, they wont harm plants or fish. They will keep algae
growth down and eat away at any weed attached to the liner etc


nospam [at] nospam.org wrote:
> Hello,
>
> My last pond question! Our pond is full of snails. I think that snails
> can reproduce on their own, which is why there are so many. Should I
> live and let live or do I need to have a snail cull? Presumably they
> will not leave the water and are not a threat to the rest of the
> garden?
>
> Thanks.

Keep the snails, they wont harm plants or fish. They will keep algae
growth down and eat away at any weed attached to the liner etc


nospam [at] nospam.org wrote:
> Hello,
>
> My last pond question! Our pond is full of snails. I think that snails
> can reproduce on their own, which is why there are so many. Should I
> live and let live or do I need to have a snail cull? Presumably they
> will not leave the water and are not a threat to the rest of the
> garden?
>
> Thanks.

Tony wrote:
> Keep the snails, they wont harm plants or fish. They will keep algae
> growth down and eat away at any weed attached to the liner etc
>
>
> nospam [at] nospam.org wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> My last pond question! Our pond is full of snails. I think that snails
>> can reproduce on their own, which is why there are so many. Should I
>> live and let live or do I need to have a snail cull? Presumably they
>> will not leave the water and are not a threat to the rest of the
>> garden?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
Perhaps not strictly legal, I don't know. But if you have a natural pond
near you collect a bucket of water then tip it into yours. chances are
you will soon have some water snails, and maybe other things. ;-)

Broadback <wen [at] towill.plus.com> wrote in message
news:4fvjciF1k8fu7U2 [at] individual.net...

> >
> Perhaps not strictly legal, I don't know. But if you have a natural pond
> near you collect a bucket of water then tip it into yours. chances are
> you will soon have some water snails, and maybe other things. ;-)
Other things like harmful diseases which will kill off your fish?
For attractive snails try ebay. They are cheap and get sent through the
post successfully.

"Robert" wrote >
> Where can you buy snails. I have looked around but haven't found any
> locally. Must admit I haven't been that determined
>

Buy snails!?
Just like garden snails they eat green matter ie, your best juiciest plants.
Wildlife pond, yes possibly, anything else, no.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

:
: We started our pond off with some from Paul Bromfield Aquatics:
: <http://www.bromfieldaquatics.co.uk/store/erol.html>
:
: Their site doesn't seem as user-friendly as it used to be, but just put
: snails in their search box. We have lots now!
: Sally in Shropshire, UK

Thanks, ordered a batch of both types

"Robert" <beachcomber [at] ultimate-anonymity.com> wrote in message
news:M7qdnbyIS-2z3QfZRVnysA [at] bt.com...
>

>
> Where can you buy snails. I have looked around but haven't found any
> locally. Must admit I haven't been that determined

I've introduced proper snails into our pond over the years but they've not
survived, we don't seem to have any snails at all.

Mary
>
>

"Mary Fisher" wrote ...
> I've introduced proper snails into our pond over the years but they've not
> survived, we don't seem to have any snails at all.
>
Some fish eat pond snails provided they are not too big for them.
Crunch, crunch, spit out the bits of shell. :-)

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

In message <4fvjciF1k8fu7U2 [at] individual.net>, Broadback
<wen [at] towill.plus.com> writes
>>
>Perhaps not strictly legal, I don't know. But if you have a natural
>pond near you collect a bucket of water then tip it into yours. chances
>are you will soon have some water snails, and maybe other things. ;-)

That's the conventional advice for getting a pond ecology going, and
it's perfectly legal, though if the donor pond is on private land it'd
be polite to ask permission.

--
Sue ]:(:)

In message <ipkmg.466049$xt.156035 [at] fe3.news.blueyonder.co.uk>, cineman
<oldwifey [at] midlands.dontwanadoo48.com> writes

>I have a weed in my path, its a lovely lilac coloured poppy, its only a weed
>because its in the wrong place, must be sown by a bird, maybe out of the
>bird feeder ?
>
If the leaves are blue-green it's an opium poppy. They seed very freely
and tits attack the seed pods. Why not tolerate it long enough to ripen
the seeds, then sow them in a flower bed and weed the path in future?
>
>>
>> My last pond question! Our pond is full of snails. I think that snails
>> can reproduce on their own, which is why there are so many. Should I
>> live and let live or do I need to have a snail cull? Presumably they
>> will not leave the water and are not a threat to the rest of the
>> garden?
>>

My pond-enthusiast friend says there's one species of pond snail that
will leave the water and have a chew at your irises, but he says they
don't do enough damage to matter. To him anyway - I have reservations
about this.
The other species stay in the water and eat algae. And have sex [0],
and millions of babies which grow amazingly fast - and get eaten by
something, or by now there wouldn't be room in my pond for the water.

[0] Any two snails can play (they're hermaphroditic) they have sex both
ways at once and both of them will then go and extrude their spawn onto
any surface that hasn't already got snails on it.

--
Sue ]:(:)