A cautionary tale

New to this pond lark I did a little bit of internet research with regard to pond planting and ended up with a list of suitable plants to make Pondy interesting to future residents.

When I got to the oxygenator section in the pond plant centre I just picked ones that looked pretty. One of them was a Myriophyllum aquaticum or 'parrots feather'. There was no label on it to say that this was a non-native plant or that it was invasive in the extreme and under no circumstances should be allowed into our waterways.


Needless to say, as soon as I found out how harmful this plant was it went straight into the compost bin. Aquatic plant centres don't always say where the plants are from so now I ask about everything before I buy it.

Just because it's pretty doesn't mean it's native... or harmless.