forkandles

Spent the latter part of the afternoon cleaning out the pond in the back garden and hacking away at the ivy. Every year since the year after the pond was put in there has been frogspawn in it and since last autumn it has filled with dead leaves & other debris. I didn't think it would have been habitable for the next generation of frogs but as I emptied the filth out my bucket also collected two frogs that had been minding their own business in the murk. They hopped off but would have returned once I'd finished. Perhaps i was too pessimistic about the pond's life-supporting quality; still - now the tadpoles will have much more room to swim about.
I hate ivy - the expression "more trouble than it's worth" is pretty close to the mark. It is efficient at covering things you want covering but most types don't stop there; it is constant work to keep it from engulfing everything else as well. Our infestation comes from next door who is seemingly fond of the bloody stuff.