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Learn the easiest ways to keep your pond clear and clean with this simple set of instructions. How to maintain Pond plants. Essentially pond plants are herbaceous perennials and require only one cut in a season. This is usually done in Autumn, once they have all finished flowering. October to November are the best months for this. Some prolific seeders like Marsh Marigold Caltha palustris, can be cut as soon as they have finished flowering. Usually April to May. This reduces the amount of seed they produce. They often send up a second show of flowers after being cut. They are very decorative plants but can be a bit of a thug around a smaller pond, overpowering smaller more delicate plants like Ragged Robin Silene flos cucculi. By the end of the year many of the plants in a pond will have spread an incredible amount. They are prolific growers. Marginals are best cut to ground level around the pond edge. I use a scythe for this. working around the pond edge anti clockwise so that the cut vegetation is drawn away from the water by the scythe. Emergent and deep water plants can also be trimmed (carefully) using a scythe or shears to as close to their base as possible. In large ponds, where amphibians breed, it is best to only clear one third of the vegetation each year. As many amphibians (Adult male frogs and un metamorphosed juveniles) will hibernate in the mud at the bottom of ponds it is best practice to avoid too much disturbance. Make sure as much of the cut vegetation as possible is removed and composted. As mentioned, many pond plants are fast growers and need to be kept in check, otherwise they can smother the other plants and take over the pond. Steer clear of exotic species if you can, as many have proved to be very invasive. Some, once available for sale, are now notifiable invasive plants, recognised as ecologically disastrous in UK waterways. Native pond plants to watch out for are Yellow Flag Iris, Marsh Marigold, Pendulous Sedge, Hornwort, Purple Loosestrife, Water Mint and Rush. In this video I demonstrate how to clear dense mats of overgrown pond plants. In this video you can see how thick some pond plants can become. Their stems and roots forming dense mats on the surface as well as deep into the water. With regular maintenance, as described above, this can be avoided. Regular work is easier and lighter to carry out. Rather than waiting several years and it becoming a hard heavy job. In this video I demonstrate how to clear vegetation using a scythe. Both in and around the pond. Careful use of the scythe allows for quick work around the pond edge. Once in the water I can use the scythe to snip water lilies and oxygenating plants at their base. Once everything is cut, I can rake it out and compost it. Pond plants compost incredibly well. Sludge from the pond bottom is very nutrient rich and makes excellent fertiliser.

Wilderness Tamed offer a range of wildlife friendly gardening services in the North East of England. Full Range Of Wildlife friendly Gardening Services Ponds, Wildlife Meadows & Lawns, Design, Consultation & Jungle Busting Renovations. Pond Creation and Management Creating and maintaining wildlife ponds using only UK native pond plants. For the best in biodiversity. Contact Us Wildlife Meadows Creating and maintaining wildlife meadows and lawns using only UK native flowers and grasses. For the best in biodiversity. Contact Us Partial transformations Wilderness Tamed can add a wildlife friendly feature to an existing garden helping to enhance your space for the benefit of birds, insects small mammals and amphibians. Bug hotel in a nature reserve. email Full Garden Transformations Let Wilderness Tamed transform your garden into a wildlife friendly haven. From initial site visit to final design and construction. Complete transformation Blackhall Mill email Garden Design Consultation Wilderness Tamed offer a range of consultation services to help you self design your own garden, if that is what you would like to attempt. Or I can offer a full design service email Jungle Busting Jungle Busting for those who require a jolly good clearance session to rediscover a lost garden. Hedge restoration in Stocksfield email

Please contact us for more information. Contact 07827 958361 Business Hours Mon - Fri 9:00 am – 16:00 pm contact@wildernesstamed.com

Aside from the obvious benefit of having a colourful mix of native plants, grasses and flowers that will spend all summer attracting a host of pollinating insects to your garden... Benefits of wildflower lawns & meadows. Aside from the obvious benefit of having a colourful mix of native plants, grasses and flowers that will spend all summer attracting a host of pollinating insects to your garden... . ..the fact that you don't need to be wasting precious time and effort mowing them every weekend which saves you money on fuel costs. When you take into consideration the increase in biodiversity in and around your garden... ...then add to that the improvement in the soil structure and health of the microbial life in it... Top it off with a reduction in artificial inputs from herbicides, like moss and weed killers.... Bird life, attracted by the increase in insects and seed variety. Amphibians who enjoy the extended foraging possibilities in this food rich habitat. Small mammals like hedgehogs, voles and shrews, excited by the expanded living quarters and food supply. With specific plants and grasses that provide food for the caterpillar stages of a wide variety of moths and butterflies. You don't get that in a lawn! From April to November the average formal lawn requires mowing at least once a week in order to keep it looking neat. Add all those hours up over the year and ask yourself if you couldn't be doing something more relaxing with your time than pushing a mower back and forth. Soil is allowed to behave naturally when it isn't beneath a lawn. A more natural cycle of plant growth with less artificial irrigation and feeding lets the invertebrates and microbes within the soil develop to sustainable and balanced levels. Their behaviour, uninhibited by man made additions to the chemical or structural nature of the soil, contributes to healthy plant growth. As gardeners we should be embracing nature, not throwing punches at it. Chemical lawn treatments, in the form of 'weed and feed' or pesticides for getting rid of turf pests all alter the soils balance as well as killing plants and moss. Additional nitrogen based fertilisers contribute to imbalance. It's difficult to think of any real benefits to having wildflowers instead of a neat and tidy stripy lawn .........Oh no! Hang on..

Creating & maintaining wildlife friendly garden ponds across the North East is our main aim. Increasing valuable habitats for wildlife. Creating relaxing gardens for you and interesting educational gardens for kids in homes and schools. Wildlife Ponds Wilderness Tamed is leading the way in wildlife pond installation in the North East. Instaling ponds for schools and private gardens across Northumberland, County Durham, Gateshead and North Tyneside. These are just a few of the many wildlife friendly garden ponds I have created, improved or managed over the years. I believe ponds are one of the best wildlife friendly features you can have in a garden. You'll find everything from a small wildlife pond for frogs and newts in Newcastle to larger natural looking ponds in the Northumberland countryside. Click on any of the images or text to find out more about each topic. Learn how to build a natural looking wildlife friendly pond in your garden. Learn how to use native plants in your wildlife friendly pond. Learn how to disguise pond liner using stone, cobbles or plants. Learn how to maintain the plants around your pond. Check out the pond videos on my YouTube channel. For Pond safety information check the FAQ's page below

View our terms and conditions. Please contact us for mor information Terms and Conditions for Wilderness Tamed Effective Date: May 28, 2024 Welcome to www.wildernesstamed.com (the "Website"). These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your use of our Website and services provided by Wilderness Tamed ("we," "our," or "us"). By accessing or using our Website, you agree to comply with and be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not use our Website. 1. Use of the Website 1.1. Eligibility: You must be at least 18 years old to use our Website. By using our Website, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. 1.2. Permitted Use: You may use our Website for lawful purposes only. You agree not to use our Website in any way that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair our Website or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of our Website. 1.3. 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Discover the difference between a wildflower/formal style lawn and which would be right for you. Wildflower lawns verses formal lawns How easy are they? As a landscape gardener it often puzzles me when people ask for low maintenance gardens, in which they want huge expanses of grass with few beds and borders. It can take some convincing to make them think that actually the reverse would be much less work for them. Or me come to that. Lets think seriously about how much time is spent on keeping a formal lawn looking good. Then think about how much time is spent on a wild flower lawn. On a formal lawn the grass will require mowing at least once a week during the summer months. What about extra lawn care tasks during the Spring and Autumn? Aerating Scarifying Top dressing and seasonal Weed and feed routines. This all adds up to many hours of your life spent looking after a formal lawn. And what do you get in return? Stripes, an endless battle with moss, broadleaved weeds and pests, an ever increasing burden on your wallet and unnatural levels of fertiliser in the soil. Take a deep breath So lets look at the amount of work required to maintain a wild flower lawn or meadow. How often will it require mowing for example? Usually only once or twice a year. This involves a cut, followed by removal of the cut material. This can be done a day or two after mowing to allow seeds to drop back into the soil. What seasonal management does it need? See above. No pest or weed control. No additional chemical or granular fertilisers. No aerating. No scarifying. No top dressing. This adds up to a lot less of your time and money being spent on managing the same area of your garden. And what do you get in return? A long season of colour. Interest from the variety of flowers. An increase in insect life and other wildlife coming to visit the garden. Less stress. More time to relax. A fatter wallet. Fewer machines cluttering the shed. A more natural healthy soil. Less pollution in the atmosphere. An overwhelming sense of wellbeing and superiority when you sit in your garden listening to the neighbours wrestling with their mowers and strimmers.

Newt Identification Training. Among the many things I do, training people to identify our native amphibians and reptiles, is one. Those involved in conservation and ecology need to know how to identify the species they encounter, in order to help them manage habitats. Several of our native reptiles and amphibians are on the endangered species list. Learning how to identify different amphibian species, survey for them effectively and manage their habitats, is crucial in helping protect these vulnerable animals. This male great crested newt Triturus cristatus is from one of my own ponds in the garden. He was caught in a bottle trap which was placed in the pond overnight. Early the next morning, the traps were emptied and the newts counted and photographed. The two trainees were able to see the newts close up, in order to spot the differences between species and sexes. The belly markings of newts are unique to each animal, and a great way to help tell individuals apart. There are distinct characteristics between males and females of each species of newt. Knowing all of these key differences takes time to learn. These trainees are employed by a local wildlife trust and are training towards gaining a specific Natural England licence for great crested newts (GCN). In order to legally survey for any endangered animal, you must be licensed for the specific species. Any form of disturbance , even down to photography, needs to be covered by the licence. This leucitic female palmate newt Lissotriton helvetica , was from another of my garden ponds. These colour morphs occur naturally and can be quite common in some populations. They can cause confusion when trying to identify them, as the lack of pigment means none of the usual colours or markings are present. If you would like to learn how to identify our native amphibians and reptiles, look for them and help protect them, please contact me.

A range of training & talks covering wildlife friendly gardening, reptile & amphibian ecology & scything. Scything Courses 2026 Dates Ditch the strimmer, come along and enjoy learning this traditional skill in some wonderful settings across the North East region. Experienced scythe instructor John Grundy has been teaching across the region and nationally since 2012.. John has attended a masterclass at the Green Scythe Fair. This course sets a high standard in proficiency and has long been regarded as the goal for those wishing to become future instructors. The scythe is fast becoming a popular tool of choice for many gardeners, conservation charities and community garden groups. Wondering if a scythe is a better option than a strimmer for managing your land? Check here for a comparison of the two. I have been hosting courses in the use of Austrian Scythes since 2012 nationally. A days training includes Anatomy of the scythe Setting up the scythe Mowing techniques Blade honing with a whet stone Meadow management Peening the blade using a jig Maintenance of the scythe and blade through the year Learn to mow with an Austrian scythe Scythe courses A full day course learning this traditional skill. Starting at 9am until 4pm. Venue Oaklands Garden Centre A694 Swalwell Newcastle Upon Tyne NE21 6RB Beginners course 15th August Improvers course 29th August Beginners Course 25th September Cost: £65 Full day learn-to-scythe training £20 Scythe hire (or you can bring your own scythe for free) Book Now

This risk assessment covers all aspects of learning to scythe so you can prepare a safe course. Scythe Risk Assessment Below is the link to the actual risk assessment document. This includes all possible hazards you may encounter while out in the field learning to mow with an Austrian scythe. Also covered are environmental hazards such as reactions to vegetation and insects. Scratches, stings, bites etc. Not many people will have seen a risk assessment for scything before. Pretty sure back in the day, I was the first person to write one for the National Trust. It has been refined since then to encompass different venue types and groups. Risk Assessment Insurance Everybody needs it these days and scythe instructors are no different to any other tutor, instructor, guide, guru, or teacher. Thanks to the Pole-lathe turners & Green woodworkers for their dedicated public liability insurance cover up to £5.000.000. insurance document

Offering a concise mowing regime for wild flower meadows and lawns in school, business and domestic situations. Contract Mowing & Meadow Management Consultations For land owners wanting to manage their meadows in a more eco friendly traditional way. Contract Mowing John Grundy of Wilderness Tamed is available to carry out contract mowing of wildlife lawns and meadows across the North East of England. To arrange to have your meadow mown click the button below. Contact Meadow Management You may be a voluntary community group, conservation charity or landowner wanting a large area of land mowing. Wilderness Tamed can help with meadow management and improvement. Consultation If you are looking for a concise management plan or some guidance Wilderness Tamed can help you out. Perhaps you want to know how to manage a newly acquired or existing area of grassland. You may be starting from scratch on bare soil or have a neglected meadow that you would like to see restored. Contact Wildflower meadow creation near Wylam.

Gardening service in Durham & Northumberland GB | wildlife friendly ponds | wildflower lawns | Learn to mow with a scythe | wildernesstamed.com Putting nature before neat. With my background in horticulture and conservation I can provide a niche selection of wildlife friendly gardening offers. Wilderness Tamed provide a unique range of services aimed at you the customer and the wildlife you share your outdoor space with. Working with nature, not against it, to create relaxing spaces for our customers to enjoy. Phone Call to arrange consultation Mail Email to arrange consultation John Robson Grundy What can wilderness Tamed do for you? Full Or Part Garden Transformations Wilderness Tamed will design a wildlife-friendly, relaxing haven using native plants, scented flowers, and sensitive design techniques for easy maintenance. Services Wildlife Lawns & Meadows Wildlife lawns can be created using either bespoke seed or turf mixes to suit your garden soil, location and your personal preference. Lawns & Meadows Wildlife Ponds We create natural looking ponds with gently sloping, planted edges. Balanced populations of aquatic plants, invertebrates and amphibians. Ponds Learn To Scythe Learn to mow with an Austrian scythe. The perfect tool for managing lawns meadows and weeds. Buy one of our eGift cards for yourself or someone who you think would love to learn how to mow with an Austrian scythe. Scythe eGift Card Contract Mowing & Meadow Management Consultations I am available to mow wildlife lawns and meadows and offer consultation on meadow management. For businesses, schools and landowners looking to manage grasslands in a more sympathetic traditional manner. Email to arrange consultation Talks & Training Offering a wide range of training and talks to local interest groups, colleges, ecologists and wildlife trusts. Audience at a recent talk given at Kirkly Hall college in Northumberland. Email to arrange talk