Early in Summer, water lilies can be quite vulnerable to grazing as fish and critters appetites are on the rise...
As the water lilies break dormancy and start putting up their first lilypads, it is quite possible they can be destroyed if the grazing exceeds the plant growth rate. Young tender lilypads are a favourite munchy in short supply if there are enough critters about.
Even aquatic snails can wipe out all the foliage early in Spring, let alone fish and turtles
If you can keep an eye on the lily positions as they start to wake, you may need to consider placing cages around them to keep the bigger grazers away.
When water lilies have beefed up their foliage to full size and are growing at full speed, they can cope with considerable foliage destruction, with the exception of big turtles which can have the quirky habit of being lazy enough to loaf all day on the one position dinging every single lily stem and bud, before hunger moves them on to the next hapless lily position.
For critters as remorseless as that, a turtle trap is quite useful...
Where you are starting lilies on a pond with very little aquatic foliage, the new plant will be something of a magnet to every critter with a sweet tooth for a tasty salad munchy, if you have a 'nursery' position or a sheltered area where plants can be grown on to a decent size, to plant out in their final positions later in Summer, that can reduce the likely grief of starting choice varieties in a natural setting where grazing is likely
There is a balance on a pond where the ratio of the desirable aquatic plants and the critters that graze on them get along quite well and achieve the mutual advantage of creating a healthy diverse habitat. Along the way a pond will need a nudge when plants grow too strong (thin out the plants) or grazing becomes a threat (thin out the grazers)
Regards, andy
Last edited by andrew davis; 02/03/12 04:23 AM.
