On Frozen Pond

Monday, February 17th 2025.

For the first time it what seemed like an eternity, the Sun, (you remember the Sun, don't you?) came out in north Norfolk.

Sadly for our community volunteers most of Morston pond remained frozen from the still chilly temperatures. It was therefore decided, wisely, not to venture into the water to try to remove any Crassula.

Instead we held discussions as to how to proceed in the coming weeks, including a better design of our dead hedge, using a woven willow technique we'd seen at Sculthorpe Nature Reserve and how to address the problem of the remaining pollarded willow, which was too wet to burn and would take about 12 months to dry sufficiently.

We'd also recently taken delivery of some green garden waste bags, with which we'd made holes in - the idea being that damp Crassula could drain pond water while still in the bags, which could then be taken by trailer to our disposal pit. This method should cut down at least one stage of our labour intensive process - that of having to bag the Crassula once it had dried from previous weeks.

As Spring arrives - hopefully sooner than later - we eagerly anticipate sightings of creatures returning to the environment - potentially frogspawn, the moorhens as well as the growth of plants and flowers.

Meanwhile ... the dreaded Crassula lurks beneath the water .........