I set up one of those little, wooden, above-ground ponds last year. It's got some trellis at the sides and a sweet little roof. I thought it would look nice with the jasmine trailing over it, and the roof would stop all the leaves getting in the pond.

I spend hours getting the pond pump set up right so that the water trickled evenly down the leaves of a splendid steel waterlily (the reason I bought the pond in the first place, as it was too big for the pebble pool it was originally purchased for).

It was great for a few weeks, then I noticed the flow had reduced to a trickle. When I fished out the pump, it was all gunked up with dead leaves and mush. I cleared it all off and put it back in, and it was fine for another few weeks. Then it slowed down again - the pump was all fouled up. At that point, I switched the damn pump off because I had no wish to spend my time scraping slime off it every few weeks.

I've started looking at filters on t'interweb, but they all seem damn complicated - and expensive! I haven't got any plants or fish in the pond - neither do I want them.

Is there a simpler, cheaper solution than one of these filters? Apart from anything else, most of them seem to need to be buried, which is a tad difficult when the pond is sited on a paved area!

Even with the best, most expensive filter in the world, youll still have to clean the pump out every week or two in summer, plus a filter isnt really any use to you unless you have fishy-poos.

Looks as if youll just have to keep cleaning it out.

Its worth it if it looks good .

There is one thing you could try I suppose...

How big is the water resevoir that the pump sits in? If its a good size then you can buy little bags of straw from most pet shops ... its Barley straw and that stops algae from forming so that might work.
You could use ordinary hay - just a handful stuffed into a cut off leg of a pair of tights and placed into the water, it takes about 6 weeks to start working though.


Oh yeah... do you take the pump apart to really clean it properly? Open the plastic case and wash the motor part...?

There is one thing you could try I suppose...

How big is the water resevoir that the pump sits in? If its a good size then you can buy little bags of straw from most pet shops ... its Barley straw and that stops algae from forming so that might work.
You could use ordinary hay - just a handful stuffed into a cut off leg of a pair of tights and placed into the water, it takes about 6 weeks to start working though.


Oh yeah... do you take the pump apart to really clean it properly? Open the plastic case and wash the motor part...?

Bugger cleaning it out every couple of weeks! I'm used to pebble pools, or those water features where the water trickles gently from bowl to bowl and they're bloody lucky if they get cleaned out in spring!

Barley straw or ordinary straw stuffed into tight legs would just look dreadful, because it's an empty pond and you'd be able to see it.

Yes, I did clean the damn pump properly - and a lovely job it was, too :gag:

Looks like I might have to abandon the water feature and work out a Plan B.

Any idea what plants I can put in it? I think it's 50 gallons and probably about a foot or so deep. Apart from the roof on it, it's in a very shady spot (going to be my fernery, eventually) so I need water plants that will grow in shade. And which take very little looking after :hihi:

There are some nice lillies you can get-- if you lived close to me I could supply you with tons of them-they might not flower in the shade but the leaves are attractive and cover the surface of the water and hide any bags of straw you might want to put in... the shade they make also stops growth of algae...

Apart from that I can only think of reeds... bullrushes and things like that.... again I have so many here that I have to compost them because Ive supplied half the area with all the shoots that come up.

Im trying to think of any garden centers or pond supply shops in Sheffield that have plants but its been so long I forget where they all are.

Im trying to think of any garden centers or pond supply shops in Sheffield that have plants but its been so long I forget where they all are.

Senile old get, aren't you? :hihi:

Seriously, thanks for the advice - saved me the expense of buying a useless filter.

I'll see what water plants I can find on E-bay.

Though I'm now thinking of buying a tiny pebble pool to put in the middle, then filling the rest of it with soil and putting in some nice ferns.

My idiot brother laid the paving, so there's great gaps between the slabs, and a few holes bodged in the bottom of the pond liner should provide enough drainage for the ferns.

You could try getting some honey dew plants to put in spagnum moss that you can shove between the paving slabs.... They look like little upside down toothbrushes and at the tip of each little fibre is a drop of nectar that glistens in the sunlight.
When a fly lands on it, the dew sticks to it, the plant curls over and scoffs the fly.

Im trying to get some, Im sure itll turn me on.

You could try getting some honey dew plants to put in spagnum moss that you can shove between the paving slabs.... They look like little upside down toothbrushes and at the tip of each little fibre is a drop of nectar that glistens in the sunlight.
When a fly lands on it, the dew sticks to it, the plant curls over and scoffs the fly.

Im trying to get some, Im sure itll turn me on.

Oh, nice! And I suppose I could throw in a few pitcher plants and Venus fly traps as well!

Still, might be a good way of getting rid of unwelcome guests :hihi: