On Wednesday and Thursday,  29th and 30th June 2016, a mobile floating platform was constructed upon the dock water-feature  to enable the planting of 18 white water lilies and dozens of bunches of weighted Ceratophyllum.

This was stage 2 of the process to cleanse the water and improve  its  quality. We needed to encourage the Canada Geese from hanging around at City Quay otherwise we couldn’t have invested so heavily in the aquatic plants – this was stage 1 and was successfully completed during June. Those changes are visible for all to see at the top end of the lake and also in the temporary netting around much of the exterior railings and posts.

Project Leader Richard Steel said: “The City Quay trial aquatic plant introductions were successfully completed yesterday with all 18(no.) submerged lily planters installed and the bunches of weighted submerged plants deployed. We now have to let nature take its course but I am confident we have given the plants the best opportunity for establishing within this nutrient enriched urban lake. The key point in terms of plant establishment is ensuring that the lake is maintained as free of geese as possible during the establishment phase. So far the measures for waterfowl deterrent appear to have been effective at dissuading the geese from using the water feature.”

Stage 3 will be the commencement of the aerators that will we start installing during the summer. We hope to see the water lilies beginning to show on the surface of the water as they grow and become established over the next few weeks. If you see any geese arriving please do your best to encourage them to leave or they will eat the plants before they become strong enough to be self-sustaining!

More details can be found HERE