Before you bother to read this long-winded thingy please understand that I toss in barley straw in the head end of my pond not because I particularly believe it will help but - for me - its very cheap and canÂt really do any harm. But I donÂt use any of the so-called barley straw extracts...as to why, well, youÂve got to read the rest of this mess. I guess I have a different take on all of this starting with the difference between a "hypothesis" and a "theory". There are several hypothesis out there as to what barley straw does for removing or suppressing algae growth. The link IÂve provide below sums up a lot of what is believed to be known about how barley straw works...but this is all in the "hypothesis" stage. As best I am able to determine there are no peer-reviewed journal publications where someone has actually measured the hydrogen peroxide supposedly generated by the barley straw and in a situation which constitutes a decent experimental design; such an experiment should contain multiple ponds half of which receive barley straw treatment and the other half not along with in situ measurements for turbidity/chlorophyl or other quantitative measures of algae and measurements for those "things" that are believed to be contributed by the straw for suppression of the algae. Furthermore, if it was in fact hydrogen peroxide being produced from the straw then the continuous addition of small amounts of hydrogen peroxide from a dosing or metering pump should be capable of performing the same process but does not appear to do so. Also, there are some very sensitive assays for measuring hydrogen peroxide at the cellular level and yet I have not seen where anyone has actually measured hydrogen peroxide production. Many companies used to advertise barley straw as an algicide or algistat but no longer do so. Why? To quote Dr. LembiÂs write-up (see link below): "...The EPA defines a pesticide as "any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest." If a claim is made that barley "controls" algae (a pest), it is legally considered to be a pesticide. However, no company has ever registered barley for use as a pesticide. It has not gone through the testing required for registration. Therefore, barley cannot be sold as a pesticide to control algae. This ruling has serious implications for certified commercial applicators (individuals who have been state certified to apply aquatic pesticides for hire) and lake management specialists. These individuals cannot recommend or apply barley for algae control; this application would be the same as distributing an unregistered pesticide. Likewise, garden shops and nurseries cannot legally sell barley straw for the stated or implied purpose of algae control. Registration is required for all pesticides before they are sold or distributed, regardless of whether most applications go into larger bodies of water or into water gardens, even though the latter usually are privately owned, very small, and not likely to have an impact on the natural environment. A homeowner with a "private" pond or lake is in a different situation. For the homeowner who does work on their own pond, barley qualifies as a "home remedy" and does not come under EPA authority. ..." The key being that insufficient testing exists to register barley straw according to EPA. So now back to the main point of this thread: using a product that is derived from barley straw. If it is not known what the active agent(s) is/are in barley straw then how can one be sure that the "extract" really contains the active agents? What tests have they performed? IÂm obviously discounting the typical product endorsements that come without adequate data. IÂd go ahead and add it if I thought it would help. But maybe you might be just as well off taking some dollar bills, carefully shredding them and putting them in the pond instead. At least you could cut back on shipping and handling costs! LOL! As I have mentioned to some folks in other conversations there is a strong "placebo effect" here: having paid money for something, been told by the seller that it will work we really, really want to believe that itÂs doing itÂs job. But maybe not. So I say go for it if you will feel better having bought the product and if you want to believe. However, the hard data doesnÂt seem to currently exist to support the various hypotheses surrounding barley straw and barley straw extracts. Excuse me, IÂve got to go add a bit more barley straw to my waterfalls! ÂDavid

Hi Joanne: Here's a suggestion. Are you able to use those big gray construction blocks to line the hole? You can use long rebar in the blocks for reinforcement till you get the size you want, then backfill the block holes with soil. You can even step the construction blocks to give you shelves if that's what you want. You don't need to go to the top of the hole with the blocks. Once the blocks lining the hole are the size you want lay the liner over them (be sure liner is larger than the hole and you use an underlayer so the blocks don't tear it). Once you lay the liner over the top layer of blocks, lay a layer of flat stones/rocks on top of that, then fold the liner back over the 1st layer of rocks. Add another layer of rocks then backfill around the construction blocks. This may even give you a raised pond edge to avoid overflow into the pond while hiding the liner. You can backfill up to the edge to give it a sloping effect. Now you can plant flowers in the backfill. Just an idea you may want to consider. This way you won't have to wait till next year. Hope this helps. Good luck no matter what you decide! Jenny

Lots of good stuff here, but a few bugaboos too... Flower Kitty, you weren't trying to do bad things; I think you had the right idea at heart, but just went after the wrong plants. Lots of people here want to rip down poison ivy and that's just WRONG! Number 4 usage plant for wildlife in the Northeast and I suspect high values elsewhere too. Leslie's list is pretty good (I don't rip out Rubus), but I'd like to add Japanese barberry and Burning Bush. Both are popping up in the woods with increasing frequency; barberry is the worst of the lot for deep woods. You can recognize it easily in spring as it's the first thing to leaf; a bright chartreuse to make it even simpler. Ripping out barberry and mulltiflora rose is hard, nasty work until you get the right tool. Now that I have that tool, it has become sort of a savage joy, a ritual sap-letting frenzy that brings me great joy and cleans the forest of NNI's with amazing rapidity (God bless my friend Rose Hiscus at the Connecticut Invasive Plant Council for telling me about the Weed Wrench). There is a size to fit everyone (I have a heavy AND a medium) I have removed a 2" caliper locust tree in 15 seconds (and got most of the root) with the large and the medium is the perfect size for barberry and roses. Gets almost all the roots so you don't have to worry about sucker growth and it does it in a third the time of cutting and a fraction of the time of digging (No, I'm not a paid spokesman; this is my favorite tool, bar none, and if you try it, you'll understand) I have let clients borrow mine and then had a hard time getting it back ("One more day? I'm doing a friends house tomorrow..."); that's how much people like this thing. I watched an 80 year young lady lean into a light Weed Wrench to pop out a 4' barberry and land smack on her keister 'cuz it popped out much easier than she'd anticipated. Bfore I could even offer to help her up, she'd hopped back to her feet with a wicked grin and she was the scourge of the woods for hours, gleefully tearing out bad guys just because she could. So Flower Kitty, don't just add, subtract the real baddies too; just know who they are... Here is a link that might be useful: Weed Wrench

Your place sounds so wonderful, even with the grass snakes! I take it they aren't the venomous kind, particularly as you've been in the pond yourself recently. It reminded me of the time I found a three foot snake slithering out of ground cover plants I was thinning out in my front garden. I was crouched low at the time and it was such a shock to see it coming towards me - not what you'd expect in Ealing Broadway! I rang the RSPB and they said they only come out if a snake's venemous. How the hell am I supposed to know? Great. I get bitten and if I recover I ring back and say it's OK because I've survived! Did you see the news today about the problems they're having with green algae for the up-coming Olympics? You're not alone! Ponding is such a lovely hobby but it makes me really wary about what might spread if you take stuff from other people's ponds. It's such a shame really because ponding, like gardening, should be about sharing and helping others get going. I wish you a glob-free summer! Big Kid