teeny wildlife pond needs help!

[daveandtara]

my teeny wildlife pond (on my half plot) is aprox 2.5 x 3.5 feet and 2ft deep. made with a liner, one gently sloping side and a couple of shelves. it's surrounded by aperfoated liner to make a bog garden.
it's awfully cute!
i need to plant it up quite quickly before some rotten devil grasses us up. the plan is that when covered in greenery no-one will notice it  :-\
trouble is, when i ask in local garden centre and even aquatic shops for native they just look confused.
there was a link to a site here somewhere that listed suitable plants according to your postcode but now i can't find it.
any ideas anyone?
Tara xx

[daveandtara]

[daveandtara]

ooh, by the way, we really, really want toads and frogs that's why we made the pond!

[wardy]

I posted a reply yesterday but it just disappeared  ???   The natural history museum (nhm) does a postcode plant based thing which tells you which plant is native to your area.

I'm going to be a pond on my lotty but I just think I'll let the grass grow long at the front or back so they have some shelter.  I'd put some plants in it, probably grasses.  I think grasses look natural so will hide the pond.   For safety you'll have to either fence the area off or plant it higher so people would have to climb up to fall in (if you know what I mean)  Someone at the end of my plot dug a great big pond.  Left and have never been seen again and The weeds have taken over.  The lotty guys went to check it out in time for open day and one of them fell headlong into it  :o

[Marianne]

Just a kind word about depth Tara.  :D

Water needs to be at least 70cm deep in order that it does not freeze totally in winter.  If it is not that depth, the hibernating frogs could freeze to death, literally.  Maybe you could dig it a little deeper ?

You could plant some water irises around your pond, some varieties really do look pretty.  Good luck with it.  ;D

[Icyberjunkie]

Marsh marigold, dwarf bullrush are both good in small shallow ponds being easy to control.  Both will also grow on 'dry' land helping to mask the border.

[daveandtara]

thanks all, ;D
marianne, sorry, i'm useless with metric. is 2ft deep too shallow? i looked in several places and they all said 2ft depth would stop the silt at the bottom freezing ???
am i luring froggies to their doom if i don't dig deeper? only i've trimmed the liner now :(
Tara xx

[Marianne]

Hi Tara

I am quoting some famous words here from a reputable source.  It seems that 60 cm (2 ft) is deep enough  ??? ::)  Good luck !  ;D :D ;D

The larger the pond the easier it will be to look after, provided it has been sited in the right place. If you want a traditional feature, filled with aquatic plants and fish, a pond with a surface area of around 5m² (that's about 7x8ft in old money) will be large enough to be self-sustaining.
The deepest area should be about 60cm (2ft), with 15-cm (6-in) deep shelves running along the edges where shallow-water marginal plants can be grown. It is important to have deep-water areas in a pond to prevent rapid fluctuations in water temperature that can put fish under stress.
If you want something smaller, then be prepared to maintain your pond regularly or forget about stocking it with fish. Plant-only pools can look very attractive and still be home to a wealth of wildlife. If you want a wildlife pond, it is important not to add fish to the water because they will eat many of the creatures you are trying to encourage.

[undercarriage plan]

My teeny weeny pond thingy!! Not deep enough for fish, tadpoles etc, but frogs love it , birds btah in it and there are little shrimp things and snails and.....!! Made out of old pig trough!!! I love it  Lottie

[daveandtara]

thanks guys,
icyberjunkie, got a marsh marigold (bit sad but half price and should perk up before spring) but can't find dwarf bulrush. is buyable or do i have to pinch a bit of someone else's?
been looking at grasses but something in my soul refuses to let me pay six quid for what looks just like couch grass! (i have enough of that already ;D)
Tara xx

[wardy]

I've just ordered some black sheet mulch and while I was online I noticed that they sell off-cuts of butyl.  So I ordered meself a piece 2m x 1.5 m sommat like that for £4.  I thought that was just do me for my teeny pond on the allotment

The site is www.allplas.co.uk and they phoned me up this morning to take my card details etc  :)

Re your pond plants you can use many ordinary garden plants round the edges eg primulas, hostas, pulmonaria, iris siberica, flag iris, that chameleon plant, which I can't think of the name (sommat beginning with H - houtt .... ;D)  If you don't want to pay for aquatics try some of your garden plants round the eges.  The actual pond plants though that sit in the water are a different matter  :)

[Icyberjunkie]

So where's Bob.................

My teeny weeny pond thingy!! Not deep enough for fish, tadpoles etc, but frogs love it , birds btah in it and there are little shrimp things and snails and.....!! Made out of old pig trough!!! I love it  Lottie

[undercarriage plan]

Bob...sniff. :'(..poor, poor Bob.... I don't know, Icy. I've called, shouted, put notes through peeps letter box.....think he's been polenapped...  :'(Didn't live in that pond though, have 3 little ones, other 2 deeper for frogs, tadpoles etc Had tadpole in that once and they went a bit perculiar..swam round in circles all the time......Lottie  ;D

[jennym]

thanks guys,
icyberjunkie, got a marsh marigold (bit sad but half price and should perk up before spring) but can't find dwarf bulrush. is buyable or do i have to pinch a bit of someone else's?
been looking at grasses but something in my soul refuses to let me pay six quid for what looks just like couch grass! (i have enough of that already ;D)
Tara xx

I have a wildlife pond with some plants around - will post some cuttings if you pm me