Topic: Advice please for using an old bath as a pond

[Scope254]

I've been given an old bath for my plot and yesterday dug the hole and got in it level with the soil .  I've just laid the butyl liner in it and added some water out of my water butt (only a third full).
I won't be putting fish in as I don't think it's deep enough for them (or is it?), but hopefully it will attract frogs and toads.
I've got a small pond at home so will cart some water up to the plot to get it all going.
My main question is - what can I put in the bath to make a shallow end for the frogs to get out? I thought about bricks but don't know if they poison the water in any way.  Otherwise a large boulder from the garden centre, but same question - will it ruin the water?

As my liner is quite a bit larger than I need there is a good overhang so if I bury the edges under a few inches of soil, would that work for boggy plants? The soil I dug out of the hole is quite clayey.
Any advice please?

[Margaret]

What is the bath made of?Plastic type material is fine but i would never use cast iron or any sort of metal.It can alter the chemistry of the water and could even harm the living creatures in it.

The only really safe rocks to use are granite,they are very hard and again,will not affect the Ph.However, trying to strategically place them in order for the amphibians to get out is difficult.Remember too,that other creatures,mainly hedgehogs will doubtless fall in and need to be able to get out easily.Nature ponds that are dug out are always best having a gentle slope out,and this is impossible to create in a bath.If you have more than one rock and try to put one on top of the other there is a danger they will topple,crushing anything beneath it.So it will need to be something wide and high,with no rough edges.I never use bricks in my ponds,i trust nothing except plastic as a material(apart from granite)

You need a good layer of soil in the bottom to plant various plants and weed in ,to encourage the insect life that tadpoles and young newts will feed on.I would definitely not add fish.They will eat the tadpoles and other life in the pond,plus when they grow they need a pump and possibly a filter for maximum health.

The idea of a boggy bit for marshy plants is a good one and i can see that being effective to plant up and cover the edges.

[Motherwoman]

I have a couple of long,thick branches in my pond for the wildlife to use to clamber in and out, placed at about 45 degrees,don't see why it shouldn't work in the bath as well.

[giantseye]

Engineering bricks are the best to put into ponds, as they are alot stronger, and don't fall apart in the water.

Warning thou, if you are using a liner, then be very careful, as the bricks could puncture the liner.

If you can't afford to get engineering bricks, then what you need to get is rounded cobbles and stones.  Garden centres normally sell these as decorative cobbles.  They won't change the water chemistry, and this will enable you to provide the rescue slope required.

I would also do as the previous post suggested, and place a couple of branches into the water to aid rescue.  It also gives a natural look to the pond.

Hope this helps

Ruth

[Margaret]

Beware of using cobbles.I found frogs getting into my fish pond,so i built up a slope on the shelf for them to climb out.One day they collapsed as a frog tried to climb out,and they shattered the poor frogs leg,leaving it dangling horribly.I had to take it to the vets to be put to sleep.i immediately removed all the cobbles and now check daily and just use a fishing net to get them out.

I can see branches working ok,but don't they eventually rot in water?

Actually my friend Teresa has just given a good piece of advice in another post.She has put a plant,in a pot, into a bucket and the frogs use this to climb out.If you use a large enough plant pot,and you can safely use the old terracotta type,then plant up something that grows out of the water . If the soil is level with the top,they should be able to hop out.

[Scope254]

Thanks for all your advice.  I like the idea about using some branches and I'll get some granite boulders from the garden centre.
A friend on my site has suggested that I make a bridge over the  pond as shelter from the sun and make an overhang with some slates as extra shelter.   If I transfer frogspawn from my pond at home, will that survive as I've read that it should come from a pond within a few hundred metres away?

[glow777]

All I did was dig a hole and throw a bath in - no need for a liner because baths hold water OK!. We put some black pond liner offcuts around the edge to hide the handles and shoveled in some soil so all the baths colour was hiddden (it was pink!) I then found some logs put these around for shade and put a longer log 1/2 in 1/2 out of the water for the frogs to climb. Finally (due to the time of the year) we found some tadpoles and put them in. Plants were added in winter from a friends pond these were put in pots. Everything seems ok and this year we have lots of tadpoles swimming around and 6 or so proud parent frogs - hopefully living off slugs