Be Plant Wise

Ponds can turn a garden from good to great. They create a wonderful feature to be enjoyed all year round and are often a haven for wildlife. However, if they are not cared for properly some pond plants can take over your pond. These are known as invasive plants. 'Be Plant Wise' to help prevent their spread.

Stop the spread

'Be Plant Wise' is one of a series of activities to highlight the issue of biodiversity. You can 'Be Plant Wise' by:

not moving pond plants around - even tiny plant fragments can lead to massive problems
being careful when maintaining your pond and disposing of waste water
emptying waste water away from streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and ditches, or drains that flow into them
using the excess water on the lawn or to water plants in your garden
being careful to avoid damp areas of your garden as some of these plants grow if the soil is too wet

Invasive plants

Invasive plants can also become established in the wild, where they can:

smother our native plants
clog our waterways
disrupt the navigation of boats,
interfere with recreational activities (such as fishing)
cause worse flooding
remove oxygen from the water, which can harm fish

As well as being an important environmental concern, they also cost money. The annual cost of controlling just three invasive aquatic plants species in the UK is more than £3m.

Pond owners, gardeners and anglers can unknowingly assist the spread of aquatic plants into our countryside. These plants can rapidly become major environmental problems with expensive associated costs. For example, floating pennywort can grow at an alarming rate of 20cm a day.

You can find out more about invasive aquatic plants and how to control them at the pages below:

Managing your pond responsibly

Whatever plants you use, you’ll need to manage your pond. That’s because ponds, like gardens, must be maintained and cared for to ensure they don’t become overgrown.

But remember: when it’s time to thin out your pond, always dispose of old plants and pond material responsibly by composting it or putting it in your green waste bin. Don’t give unwanted plants to friends or neighbours; you'll just be spreading the problem and harming their ponds.

By doing something very simple, such as composting excess pond plants carefully, we can all help the environment and reduce costs.

Why is the issue important?

Whether you're interested in the environment or not, the problems caused by invasive non-native species affect us all. But invasive non-native species are not only an economic problem, they are also a well-known threat to our environment.

From challenging the survival of our rarest species to damaging some of our most sensitive ecosystems, the biodiversity impacts of invasive non-native species are severe and growing. Their impact is now so significant that they are considered to be one of the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide.

It's also important to remember that the effect of an invasive non-native species is not a one-off event. Once a species has been introduced, it can persist and escalate as the species spreads further.

If we don't act, the problem of invasive non-native species will continue to escalate at an ever increasing rate.