WATER GARDEN CALENDAR

Please click on a relevant Month to Find the latest Tips.

If the weather gets really hot and the water in the pool is warming up, look to see if the fish are getting lethargic. If the fish look as though they are in distress, there is an emergency. A partial water change of a third will do them the world of good, or at least blast fresh tap water in there from a height and let the pool just overflow. Ensure you have some water running into the pool, either a fountain or a stream.

If it is a really well-established pool, and a little (dare I say) sludgy on the bottom, the fish in these pools will be suffering the most, especially in the evenings. What makes the situation worse is that water will not retain oxygen very easily the warmer it gets. The bacteria in the sludge will be using up the oxygen, and any oxygenators, although they plug along at their sweet level during the day, come night-time they begin take in oxygen as well. If there are Koi in there, they'll be using up the resources like nuclear subs and will be the first to be panicking on the surface.

July is good for the late season marginal plants and the march of the bog brigade. And of course there are the lilies. Most of the real wet footed marginals have done their thing by now. There is still the big Pickerel weed and Lythrum is blazing away, and the demur Flowering Rush both competing with the big grasses. In the bog there are the Ligularia, Astilbes, Hemerocallis or Day Lilies. Hostas are flowering and the Bistorts are looking good. There are spectacular displays of Primula florindiae and P viallii and yellow loosestrife and soon there will be the Schizostylis to wind things up. Meanwhile variegated and yellow grasses keep up the brightness and Gunnera and Rheum palmatum provide the big green backdrop. The Hampton Court Palace Flower show is the place to catch some new ideas. And what a venue!
What should be happening at this time of year?

Leeches are getting pretty big and pretty sassy at this time of year. So try to get a good look to see there aren't any hanging off your fish. A very dilute salt bath will see to them of if you cannot bear to screw them of.

If you've got a bog garden make sure there none of those big weeds getting a foothold into it. And make sure it is well watered. You ought to have a tube going right down into it that's perforated with holes. This helps watering in the hot and dry, getting the water down to the roots where it is needed.
NOW is the time to thin those oxygenators if they are getting out of hand. Not in Autumn and not in Spring.

Plants that need a good long growing season to get going can be sown from now on. Some experts recommend that it is time to sow the seed of Tetragona waterlilies. It would also be good time to sow the likes of Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris) or Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi).
If it looks as though there are small fish that may get eaten, rescue them. Keep them in a tank and feed up until they're bigger.
And if you are going on holiday and you were going to get the neighbours to feed the fish while you were away. Don't. Let the fish starve for a week or two. It will do them good. Unless your neighbours are experienced and successful fish keepers they will always overfeed for fear of underfeeding. The result will be disease and algae and God knows what. Leave it to God. He organises nice fat flies and things for this time of year.