Elizabeth Daryush Memorial Garden, 17th June 2017

By Andrew -

On Saturday 17th June we returned to the delightful Elizabeth Daryush Memorial Garden on Boars Hill.  This time it was the pond that need some attention.

Rod d’Ayala, an expert in this field, explained that the pond needed to be cleared of crassula, an invasive foreign species that takes over and smothers native plants.  We were all a bit surprised to find that this plant looked very much like moss and was about the same size, but harder to grub out.

We worked in defined patches, first cutting down everything to ground level which made it possible to remove and safely dispose of the invader.  The pond will have to be covered with fresh patches of plastic liner and gravel to further discourage the spread of crassula.

Although the work was hard, as can be seen from the pictures, we had wonderful weather.  The Damsel and Dragonflies were all around, bees and butterflies buzzed happily, only gnats were a bit of a nuisance.

Our earlier sessions there involved marking the positions of marsh orchids, and they are doing well. The pond margins are also now clear of bramble but water lillies and yellow irises are abundant.

On Sunday we were back in the Garden with the Oxford Preservation Trust who look after the area, to enjoy afternoon tea and jazz.
-Ursula     



Marsh Orchid

Pond Clearing.

Crassula.

Hard work.

Considering it...

More hard work!

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