News

Tyne for a Good Spring Clean?

22 February 2011

Attention, open in a new window.

Protect your local water course and wildlife this spring. Despite the recent snow flurries spring is on its way and this is the time of year when many of us start thinking about our garden and the garden pond. Good plants can make a great pond - but that's where they belong! Please think carefully about what you do with last year's plants or when thinning out. When left unchecked or disposed of without care, common pond plants can become established in the wild, where they can smother our native plants, clog our waterways - exacerbating flooding and remove oxygen from the water which can harm fish and the invertebrates they feed on.

One of Tyne Rivers Trust's River Watch groups, Stephenson House, has taken its campaign to protect our waterways to local pond suppliers. Memebers of the group have provided Dobbies of Birtley and Tyne Valley Aquatics at Mickley Square with eye-catchingposters, 'lily-pads' and information leaflets to help customers make great choices for their ponds and the wider environment. Timing it carefully, the group visited just as the businesses were preparing their pond displays for the new season so that the posters can be incorporated prominently. Both Dobbies and Tyne Valley Aquatics fully support the Be Plant Wise campaign (which produced the material) to increase people's awareness of how to enjoy their ponds and create a haven for wildlife without threatening the wider catchment by disposing of pond plant material where it could prove detrimental to watercourses.

For further advice and information please visit Dobbies or Tyne Valley Aquatics or click here to visit the Be Plant Wise pages on the Non-native Species Secretariat website.