Topic: New water feature

[daisymay]

Hi everyone,

never been in this thread before!! BUT we have just bought a half barrel and want to make a wildlife pond out of it. Setting it up this weekend. We cannot get power to it, so will not have a filter/ pump etc... but I have read this should be OK?

Have also read we need to make one side a bit shallower, so have an old tree stump and an old roof tile (to make a slope?) which I thought may do the job?

Any advice gratefully recieved x

[Margaret]

Hi Daisy.

A wildlife pond certainly does not need a filter or pump.The latter is a  death trap to amphibians.Certainly a half barrel can be planted up to look attractive with perhaps a miniature water lily and other small plants.It will then attract some insect life.However if you want to keep frogs,tadpoles and newts you are going to have to be very careful to get the slope into it just right.Strange as it may seem ,if newts cannot get out they will drown,and if frogs cannot they will starve.You will however be able to raise a few tadpoles in it if you can get hold of some spawn.Once the pond is mature and you have enough plants,weed and insects they will be fine,supplemented with a little flake fish food.

However once they start to lose their tails they will need to be able to climb out on to rocks to breathe air and then be able to get in and out as they require.They are very vulnerable at this stage.The surrounding areas of the pond also need to be well planted up,with logs,stones and damp areas for them to take shade and be encouraging to insects.

As long as you make sure that whatever you use to make a slope is secure and won't move,you should be ok.There is just one other thing to take account of.If you have any hedgehogs roaming about,they also need to be able to climb out if they fall in.A drowned hedgehog,bird or little mouse is a very upsetting sight.

[daisymay]

How sloped does the slope need to be? I have put some stones into one side to make it shallower and sat a log on top which comes out of the water by about 2 inches and is flush with the top of the barrel, the side of the log are very lightly sloped down to the stones which are about 4 inches under the water.


does this sound OK?

thanks

[Margaret]

Hi again daisy.

I presume your barrel is sunken into the ground.How deep is it? As long as the stones are very solid and do not move,otherwise a frog or any other creature could slip and damage itself.I tried this once in my fish pond as they were getting in but couldn't get out.I piled up a load of pebbles so they could climb out.Unfortunately one day they had slipped and the poor frog had damaged its leg to the point where i had to take it to the vets to be put down .i felt very guilty and immediately removed all the pebbles.If you have one large granite,smooth sided rock,that would be a better proposition.I would still make sure you check as often as poss for anything getting trapped in the barrel though.

[daisymay]

it is sunk into the ground about 1/2 way. You can see it on this picture. Is a new area of the garden we have just started this weekend. I have placed some logs to the side of it for animals to climb up.

Will look at something a bit more substanial/ long term as the pile of stones are a bit wobbly in that case, going to be a while before we tempt anything I would imagine as the pond is so exposed at the moment.

Thanks for the advice.