Author Topic: Making a 'wildlife' pond (Read 19210 times)

Catherine F · « **on:** August 08, 2011, 15:02:11 »

Hi, I have a large plot (well it's large to me!) and to use a bit of space up I'd like to create a 'water feature' ;)

It would be at the back and next to the fruit cage I think. Is there a benefit to having a wildlife pond, will it actually attract frogs and the like or shoudl I source a few frogs to get it going?

Bit new to all this and grateful for any advice ;D

RenishawPhil · « **Reply #1 on:** August 08, 2011, 15:32:24 »

Ponds are.brilliant.ideas. we have ours in an old very very.heavy fast iron bath put a hole dug out. Frogs will eventually find water. Both ours did. The one at home got loads. I would find some frog spawn in the spring to get some frogs into the allotment(the may be lots anyway)and some cheap oxyginating plants

BarriedaleNick · « **Reply #2 on:** August 08, 2011, 15:35:24 »

Every garden should have a pond!
We started one in our back garden and didnt have to do anything much more lay it out and fill with water.

A couple of tips..

Make different levels in the pond and dont forget to provide some sort of pathway for frogs to get in and (importantly) out.
Don't move forgs in the pond but try to find some spawn - wrong time of year though...
Add oxygenating plants - a must have! Also something like reeds are good to plant as they provide cover for frogs etc...
Try to make sure you have a supply of stored rainwater somewhere to top up in hot weather..

Within weeks we had water boatmen, newts and all sorts of other life in and around the pond. Annoyingly that can inclide duck weed!!

Flighty · « **Reply #3 on:** August 08, 2011, 16:17:02 »

I have a small half plot with two ponds - an old washing up bowl and a large plastic
upturned dustbin lid.
The first one is on the wildlife patch which also has a log pile and lots of wild flowers. Apart from insects such as bees, butterflies and ladybirds I've seen frogs and even had a fox drinking from the pond.
The other one is filled with pebbles and is used by bees to drink from.
Every allotment and garden should have a pond/wildlife patch as it's benficial all round.

claybasket · « **Reply #4 on:** August 08, 2011, 16:55:42 »

That sounds great,Flighty,I feel very guilty not thinking about the wee critters on the lotty that need water,am going to make that my mission this week,thanks.

Catherine F · « **Reply #5 on:** August 08, 2011, 20:53:48 »

That does sound really lovely Flighty, I hadn't thought of using such basic simple items to form the pond.

Flighty · « **Reply #6 on:** August 08, 2011, 22:21:55 »

Catherine F thanks this is what they looked like earlier this year, and as you can see the frogs seem to like the washing up bowl one!
http://flightplot.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/the-plot-ponds/

Toadspawn · « **Reply #7 on:** August 08, 2011, 23:17:11 »

You will get frogs, toads, newts, water beetles and many other animals turning up naturally over a period of a couple of years especially if you are able to make a relatively large pond.
It is important to have a range of plants, those with floating leaves to give shade and plants with tall stems for insects to climb up and of course oxygenators.
Also you must have an easy access point for animals to get in and out and an area where birds can bathe.
My pond has attracted dragonflies and to see the adults flying after they have emerged from the larval stage is something worth waiting for. However, the larvae are VERY aggressive predators with the result that although I have masses of frogspawn not one tadpole manages to reach the stage of turning into a frog and leaving the pond hopefully to come back when mature to spawn. It is a case of win some lose some, but that is wildlife, the survival of the fittest, with top predators at the head of the food chain.
Eventually you will end up with a balanced environment and the water will remain perfectly clear all year.

queenbee · « **Reply #8 on:** August 08, 2011, 23:28:50 »

We have just made a wildlife pond by reducing our very large koi pond which had some very expensive electrical components ie:- uv filters and large pump. Our koi were over twenty years old and had died off. The last one we gave to a guy who had a lake in his garden, we drained and cleaned the pond and I thought it would take a long time for the pond life to come back. Within weeks of completion I can not believe how many creatures have repopulated it. I managed to get some oxygenators from a friend who was clearing some of the weed and it has re seeded itself with all manner of creatures. My only problem is that I think my frogs (which I see daily) are vegetarians and do not like slugs and snails. I am overrun with the slimy pests.

Uncle_Filthster · « **Reply #9 on:** August 09, 2011, 23:16:35 »

The pond will be naturally colonised quite rapidly. Make sure there are plenty of features such as bays, deeps and shallows, gravelly bits, etc. The south facing part of the pond should be shallowest for amphibians to spawn/lay eggs as it warms up quicker in spring. Some refugia for amphibians would be good, logpiles, rocks or rubble (no lime containing things such as mortar and concrete).

Avoid non-native species, the big no-no ones are water fern (Azolla filiculoides), Australian swamp stonecrop (Crassula helmsii), parrot's feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum), floating pennywort (hydrocotyle ranunculoides), canadian waterweed (Elodea), water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), fanwort (Cabomba caroliniana), curly waterweed (Lagarosiphon major), water lettuce (Pistia stratoites), water primrose (Ludwigia), duck potato (Sagittaria latifolia). They will outcompete everything and are illegal to transfer into the wild, which is so easily done, even by accident, such as birds visiting a pond.

Also avoid large native species like bulrush (Typha latifolia), common reed (Phragmites australis), bur-reed (Sparganium), etc, as they are also very competitive and will take over quickly

brown thumb · « **Reply #10 on:** August 12, 2011, 10:52:29 »

just realised i haven't seen any dragon flys etc this year do you think thats down to having had to cover the pond last summer do to a visiting heron or the type of season we are having .the net used to cover is quite wide holed

Catherine F · « **Reply #11 on:** August 12, 2011, 13:33:43 »

Thanks to a very kind freecycler I now have a pond! Or a shell of one anyway, just got to decide where to site it now, although when we moved some wood from the back of the allotment today there was a frog! So I'm hoping to get it put in the ground soon to give him a little home!

Uncle_Filthster · « **Reply #12 on:** August 12, 2011, 17:41:54 »

Brown thumb,
Quite possibly, depends on the species. Species such as damselflies and those that clasp the female in mate guarding and lay eggs directly into the water or onto submerged vegetation may not have been able to get in. Some species, such as many hawkers tend to lay eggs into wet marginal vegetation or soil, such as mosses that the larvae then crawl into the pond after hatching. They may have had more of a chance to breed. It also takes some species more than one year as a larvae before emergence so you may still have a population. The darters and hawkers are emerging about now so you may start to see them.

Catherine,
Just position it so the shallowest bit faces south and make sure any hedgehogs or other small mammals and birds that may come for a drink can get back out if they fall in.

claybasket · « **Reply #13 on:** August 13, 2011, 18:38:34 »

i've got my dustbin lid and basin!and i have biggish stones ,tomorrow we'll have a wee pond!

Flighty · « **Reply #14 on:** August 13, 2011, 19:32:47 »

Claybasket well done! If the dustbin lid handle goes through the lid then check that it doesn't leak before you start. Mine wasn't so I just smeared some glue round and left it a day to dry properly then rechecked.

claybasket · « **Reply #15 on:** August 13, 2011, 21:21:36 »

thanks flighty,my lid is thick rubber all moulded in one i think it's quite old,my basin is one I've evicted from the kitchen(very convenient i think)do i bury the lid to ground level or leave sitting on the top,i will bury the basin.

Growing4twins · « **Reply #16 on:** August 13, 2011, 23:12:52 »

I've just recently aquired a pond from freecycle, the twins cnt wait to go to the animal shop to get some fish. We have found frogs & newts in our garden so i wanted to make a safe haven for them & hopefully a lot of other wildlife. Is it possible to have a wildlife pond & have fish in it?? I was told that to i would need a filter & pump for the fish but this can effect the true wildlife that im hoping to attarct to the pond. Is it possible to have a happy medium?

Uncle_Filthster · « **Reply #17 on:** August 14, 2011, 02:34:45 »

Fish and amphibians don't mix. The fish tend to eat everything except the 'poisonous' toad tadpoles

Flighty · « **Reply #18 on:** August 14, 2011, 08:22:45 »

Claybasket I buried mine so that the lip of the lid was about half an inch above ground level then sloped the earth up around it to the top.
I hope that makes sense!

claybasket · « **Reply #19 on:** August 14, 2011, 17:27:07 »

well made the wee pond, flighty but never buried it only the handle,FIDDLE STICKS,will go back tomorrow and do as you said ,I've never been very mechanical am better at burying seeds ha! ha! thanks for your advice.

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Author Topic: Making a 'wildlife' pond (Read 19210 times)