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Clippings: Barley straw lowers boom on pond algae
Saturday, February 20, 1999 By Susan Banks, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
If you've never had the pleasure of pulling handfuls of filamentaeous or string algae out of your garden pond, then God bless you.
I've been battling this disgusting life form for years and have never come upon an ecologically safe way of keeping it at bay in the water garden other than impersonating Ophelia. I spend too much time, lying pond-side, head down, arms submerged, yanking up big tangled messes of green glop. To add further insult, I always pick through the goo because beneficial dragonfly nymphs sometimes reside there and I don't want to eradicate them. Obviously, this isn't lots of fun.
So it was with much interest that I read an article in the March/April 1999 issue of Water Gardening magazine about the use of barley straw to control this type of algae growth.
According to the article, which was written by magazine editor Sue Speichert, introducing clumps of barley straw into the pond before active algae growth begins in the spring will help eliminate this problem. How this works is not fully understood, though scientists believe that the chemicals the straw emits while decomposing in the water inhibit the algae life cycle.
The article suggests using .03 ounces of barley straw per square yard of water surface. Tie the straw up loosely in a bag or nylon stocking. Place it in the pond with a flotation device, like a cork or plastic soda bottle, to keep it afloat (it must stay near the surface of the water for maximum effectiveness). For a backyard pond, the author says one or two bundles should suffice.
The straw should be put in the pond in early spring, before water temperatures start moving up. This month or next is optimal. This isn't a quick fix, since it can take 8 to 10 weeks for the straw to take effect, which means if there is existing algae, you'll have to pull it out by hand until the straw starts to decompose and give off the chemicals that impede new growth. Add straw about every six months, and don't wait until the old bundle has disintegrated before adding a new bag. Also, don't add new straw during periods of prolonged hot weather. Though this isn't an especially pretty way to control algae, the article suggests that the bag can be kept in a header pool or biological filter, as long as it's kept submerged and, obviously, wet.
The bag should be placed as close to the source of water movement as possible. If you have no moving water in your pond, put it close to the center of the pond. And yes, it has to be barley straw. Studies have shown that barley straw works much better than other types in ridding a pond of string and blue-green algae. This remedy is safe for all pond life, which makes it even more appealing to those of us concerned with the environment.
To find out if it would work here, I called Wayne Davis, president and CEO of Plantabbs Products, a Maryland-based firm. His business has been experimenting with barley straw for several years. Davis, a water lily grower, says he approached this cure with much skepticism. But he says it works.
In fact, his firm imports and sells Scotch barley straw, a high-quality straw left from the production of Scotch whiskey. He sells half-pound bales of straw, in mesh netting with one weight, for $24.95 plus shipping. That is enough straw to treat a 1,000-gallon pond for a year. Instructions for use are included with the product.
So why go to the expense of buying special barley straw? According to Davis, his firm has experimented with all kinds and nothing seems to work as well as the straw from barley used in the whiskey industry.
Davis says this product has taken on a life of its own. As word gets out, more and more people are interested in giving this a try. A bale will be floating in my pond soon.
Locally, North Hills Water Gardens at 1615 Babcock Blvd. (412-821-6525) will handle the Straw Barley kits from Plantabbs. They also sell Water Gardening magazine. To order barley straw direct from Plantabbs, call 800-227-4340. To get a subscription to Water Gardening magazine, which comes out bimonthly, call 800-308-6157. Subscriptions cost $20 per year, $35 for two years.
You probably can tell that I'm high on nursery catalogs. That's because they give gardeners the ability to experiment with plants that may not be available locally. Which is no slam against local nurseries; plant selection around here gets better every year. But if you decide you are interested in a specific type of plant, say, Arisaemas (jack-in-the-pulpits) or Asarums, then you need to find a specialty nursery.
As anyone who reads this column can tell, both of these plants are of great interest to me. And there's a 3-year-old mail-order nursery that caters to people like me. The name of the nursery is Asiatica and it's located in Lewisberry, Pa. Besides having interesting selections of Arisaemas and Asarums, this little catalog offers a variety of hardy orchids and a selection of shade perennials. Most of these plants are, as the name suggests, from Japan.
They also sell two Japanese specialist gardening books not easily found in the States. "Variegated Plants in Color" is one that I've wanted for quite a while. For a free catalog, write Asiatica at Box 270, Lewisberry, PA 17339.You can e-mail them at asiatica@ezonline.com. In any event, this one is worth a look.
Brent and Becky Heath, formerly of the well-known bulb-by-mail business, The Daffodil Mart, have struck out on their own. After a well-publicized break with their old firm, which had been sold to White Flower Farm, the couple made the decision to stay in the bulb business. That's happy news for the rest of us. With the publication of their first catalog, an interesting mix of summer-blooming bulbs, the couple are again selling bulbs to gardeners nationwide.
"We want to be able to offer a lot of the old reliable things that people are familiar with, but we always want to be looking for new ideas," says Becky.
Besides offering more common summer bulbs like Caladiums and Cannas, including some interesting new dwarf Cannas, the couple hopes that gardeners use their catalog to experiment.
"We feel that the American public has mastered green shrubbery and lawns and they seem to be very hungry for color. There are very new things out there that will be hardier and easier than we ever thought imaginable," says Becky.
"If something looks a bit intimidating and they don't want to put a lot of money into it, maybe friends can get together and share things and put them in different spots and see what happens."
Becky says that many plants are hardy to much colder temperatures than originally thought. The couple is interested in hearing from customers what worked and what didn't, and they welcome tips on plant combinations that work well.
If you aren't interested in experimenting, the company also has plenty of old standbys to choose from. And another catalog, featuring spring bulbs like daffs, tulips, crocuses and hyacinths, is due out soon.
Becky concedes it's a whole lot easier to plant bulbs before perennials and shrubs, but she says planting bulbs can still be done at any stage of the game. It just may be trickier to position them around existing plants. To encourage inter-planting and experimentation with bulbs, each catalog entry has a listing for bulb companions and other uses to help those of us who need a little inspiration.
Need even more inspiration? If you are planning a trip to Virginia, the Heaths offer guided walking tours of their 10-acre Gloucester farm. These tours are available by reservation only from March through April and cost $7 per person. If you take the tour, $5 of the entry fee will be credited to an order placed on the day of the tour.
To obtain a free copy of the Summer Blooming Bulbs Catalog, call 804-693-3966.
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