Christopher Smith

Does Barley Straw Really Work?

The biggest challenge for anyone with a small water garden is how do you to keep the water pure. Part of the wonderment that is a water pond is in how the plants and fish interact with each other. If the pond is clear and clean, its easy to view the gold fish.  However, the biggest advantage is certainly for your wallet. Cleaner water means a healthier pond.

You've invested a lot of cold hard cash in your small water garden, and it looks amazing. Over time of course, the pond water will not be as clear or clean as it formerly was.  This of course has your water looking green, grungy and downright unattractive.  Your koi and plant life are beginning to wilt and bugs have started to make a new home on your pond. Is there a natural answer to this problem? Would you believe that barley straw is the secret you've been missing out on?

Used by farmers for hundreds of years to keep their water supply clean, barley straw is a natural solution to your natural problem.

You probably haven't even heard of barley straw. Well, I hadn't either, until a buddy of mine was around the other week, when we were having a barbecue, and he looked at the pond. "That is lovely, but I bet you prefer it was a little clearer?" He said. I felt a little embarrassed, but I admitted that I didn't have much time to spend on it, but I loved the peace it gave to my garden. "I have something that you should try." He said. "It worked wonders for me!"

It turns out that he has been using barley straw for a number of years now. He has no idea how it actually works, but there is something in it that helps clear the water of his pond. All he does is place a bale of the straw near his fountain, or other water feature, and it does the rest!

Well, I was intrigued. I looked into the price of barley straw and realized that it wasn't all that expensive, so I thought I would give it a go. After all, I wanted to have a clean and clear pond, but didn't want to have to spend hours working on it myself. I had to give this a try. After all, it only cost me a few bucks. So, off I went and bought some. Then I place it, just under the small waterfall that I have feeding my pond, secured by a couple of rocks. Then all I could do was wait for a few days to see what happened. I must admit that I was skeptical, but I was also intrigued.

A couple of days later, and I could not believe what I was seeing! While it wasn't 100% clear, it was certainly noticeable.  That improvement was worth the cost of the barley straw alone.  It had indeed worked.  Is there some type of scientific reason why barley straw works at cleaning up a water pond? Probably, but I can't say for sure why it works, only that it does.  The solution is so simple too. Add a new bale to the base of the moving water and let it go and do its thing.  It couldn't be simpler.

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