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6:06 am
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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Hubby dug a pond this year to provide us with water for the greenhouse which is spring fed (at least we hope so that it carries on providing us with water during the summer) anyway the banks now need sorting out and planting up so they do not wash away but I was wondering what kind of things to plant on the banks that would benefit from the moisture but also be edible. I know there is some water mint by a river nearby so I shall transplant some of that when the river has subsided enough to get to it but what else does anyone suggest?
11:02 am
Graduate
New members
Sun 23-Aug-09
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Hi Joanna
Ive just reading a veg book and in it they have a section on moisture loving plants they suggest water chestnuts and marsh samphire also something called a memory plant thought i might have a go at that
watermint and taro are also mentioned. Sea kale is very nice as well aslong as u blanch the leaves ,watercress also you dont need running water to go them anyway dont know how helpfull this has been
Fiona
12:51 pm
Councillor
New members
Thu 7-Jan-10
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Does water mint taste nice? (Some of the mints don't.) I have some in my pond and haven't tried it, but it looks nice. The RHS magazine had something about wildlife ponds recently, and said that changing levels between summer and winter weren't something to worry about. Also, autumn leaves that fall in add tanin and help keep fertility levels (and therefore alga levels) down, I think. If I find that issue of The Garden I will see if it says anything helpful about plants. It may also have information to help avoid plants that can escape and do environmental damage, as opposed to natives or non-invasive species.
Apparently skunk-cabbage, a N.American native, is a potential problem in the UK in the wild.
blog: Devon Garden
12:25 am
Sat 12-Aug-06
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I am with you regarding watercress, Fiona.
i would definitely prefer to eat it from a pool with a fresh flowing current. Blanching is a decent defence but . . .
Never knowingly underfed
3:42 pm
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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Watermint is nice, quite sweet really if I remember correctly. As soon as the water level goes down on the nearest river I am off to collect some. I did get some last year but it hated being inside in the dreary autumn we had, plants that overwintered last year gave up the ghost this year.
I am looking for plants that are grown in Latvia but first I need to know what they are in English, if they are edible and then look for them here. So thanks for the names, I can then check them out 
Not sure that our pond is flowing so much as trickling, we have no idea how long it will carry on for. It is spring fed but we don't know yet if it is only a spring/autumn phenomenon or whether it will continue throughout the summer. We shall wait and see. We are hoping it is a permanent feature so we can use it to water our polytunnel. 
I think we will have plenty of leaves in the pond, it is about 20m away from our forest.
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