Barley straw

[horselady]

I know that barley straw in a net controls the growth of algae in a pond, where do you get it from? Only thing in our local garden centre is bottles of very expensive barley straw solution.

[Whoever]

I get ours from an acquatics centre which is located at our garden centre but as we only have a very small pond the straw I buy comes in a tube the same size as string net of peanuts for bird feeding. You could try Googling 'suppliers of barley straw' to see if you can order online. The other place worth investigating is possibly a pet supplies store as they often sell pond supplies.

[horselady]

Thank you, our garden centre definitely don't have it. I'll have look online.

[nonomaybe]

Whilst you are searching for Barley straw you could use lavender cuttings. Why do you have a problem with algae?

[horselady]

Not sure really, only moved here last autumn and pond plus fish were already here. Water is green and has slimy algae around the edges and caught up in the plants. Previous owner left some barley straw with a note explaining what it was for but there was only a very small amount.

[nonomaybe]

for treatment with Barley Straw you need 1-2ozs. per sq. yard.
However at the risk being boring, you must sort out the symptoms of algal growth, to derive the greatest benefit from your pond, or are you modestly referring to a lake!! When you see what there is to do you may feel like filling it in but the project can be so satisfying.There are several companies selling both Barley Straw and lavender treatments,personally I would track down a grower of Barley,and get some that way( if the amount required is substantial-probably about 3 treatments a year.)

[horselady]

Thank you for your advice, we certainly wont fill it in, we like having a pond and it's been great with frogs, frogspawn and tadpoles, all the things we loved as kids and had forgotten about! It's probably about 6ft x 8ft so not a lake! We feel sort of responsible for the fish as the old chap who lived here for years told us it had always been his pride and joy.

[fredjames]

I put some in two onion bags tie the top and let them sink to the bottom of the pool.Leave the string(I use Nylon) long enough to anchor them to the side so you can retrieve them for future use.Ihave a filter system so I put a bag in the box with the filter medium.Idon;t know where you live but I get my barley straw from my local farmer for free as you only need about a large compost bag full for this job.I might add it is better to put it in about Feb as it gives it chance to sink and start working before the water starts warming up.