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What do I do next with this pond?!

Liz WarnerLiz Warner Posts: 199
in Wildlife gardening
My husband has fitted this rigid pond in to the ground. I want a wildlife pond as opposed to a fish pond. I suspect it’s too deep and needs sloping sides. What do I do now please?! 

Posts

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Frogs will be fine with a pond like that provided they can get out easily and they will use any plants that you place on the shelves as stepping stones. I have creeping thyme growing around the edge of my pond and the baby frogs climb out using that as a ladder. Once the pond has a good collection of mature plants you will find a host of creatures using it. Birds will bathe in the pond providing they have plants to perch on.
  • SheleenSheleen Posts: 51
    Ceres beat me to it :) Yes, time to think about how to plant in and around your new pond. Using the deeper centre could allow you to have a small water feature using a pump... even a lily :) Please keep us posted - its going to look wonderful :)
  • Liz WarnerLiz Warner Posts: 199
    Thank you both. I suspected we had the wrong liner that’s good to hear we haven’t. Ill
    plan the planting with underwater and marginals etc. Silly question- the creeping thyme is planted in the soil outside the pond and creeps down in to the pond? I wanted a solar water fountain-they’re only about £10 on eBay but they don’t sit very deep so would need to put something in the pond for it to sit on 
  • WonkyWombleWonkyWomble Posts: 4,541
    Hi Liz, if you can get a donation of pond water from an established pond to get some microbes..also some oxygenation plants. I made a wildlife pond two months ago, I used a liner sheet buy has a similar effect... I used logs, rocks, stones...anything that was free! 
     I got a higher powered solar pump for £28 which I'm very happy with, keeps the water clear and a gentle relaxing sound. 
    Try on your local gumtree our freecycle for pond life donations! Best of luck! 

  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    My wildlife pond is five years old.  Never had amphibians but it's full of invertebrates.  Last year a flock of dragonflies took flight, I had no idea they were in there. @Liz Warner, if you like to send me your postal address, I can send a bunch of Elodea, aka Canadian Pond Weed.  It's maintenance free, you just chuck it in and it grows.  Good oxygenator, and if it gets too big you can compost it.  When I set up my pond, I bought one of those free-floating solar fountains in the shape of a lily pad, for about £30.  It looks very cruddy now but it's still working.  I also put in a slab of concrete I happened to have, resting on two upturned pots, it is about two inches below the surface and makes a perfect bathing platform for the birds.
  • Liz WarnerLiz Warner Posts: 199
    Husbands going to the local pond later to get some water for us! Love the idea about some concrete on upturned pots for the birds. I’ll do that thanks! Maybe a floating solar water feature is what I need as the shoot bit on the other solar features are far too short. Thanks so much for the offer of the oxygenators-I’ll DM you my address. Love this site 
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698

    Liz Warner said:
    Thank you both. I suspected we had the wrong liner that’s good to hear we haven’t. Ill
    plan the planting with underwater and marginals etc. Silly question- the creeping thyme is planted in the soil outside the pond and creeps down in to the pond? I wanted a solar water fountain-they’re only about £10 on eBay but they don’t sit very deep so would need to put something in the pond for it to sit on 
    The creeping thyme will travel quite a distance over slabs so you can plant it a foot from the edge of the pond if you need to. Eventually it will form an evergreen mat and I find it is very useful for hiding the pond liner when the water level drops too far in summer.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    If you have hedgehogs visiting your garden, it may be worth putting in a small brick or similar, just so that they have something to help them get out should they fall in.
  • Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
    I agree with AnniD on the hedgehog safety issue.  They need to be able to climb out easily, I found a drowned hog in our pond a few years ago - which was very distressing and could easily be avoided with a platform for them to climb onto - it could be a brick or overhanging log or piece of wood.
  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    I put a rock against the side of ours for this. I get a lot of paper wasps using the pond and they use the rock to sip at the water. I like the hottonia palustris plant as Oxygenators and water mares tail. I read that elodea is one of the best for oxygen but that it grows very quickly and needs thinning out a lot.

    I stupidly planted some chamomile around the edges thinking it would be low growing and creep, but it was the wrong variety and grew to about ft, blocking out the view. You live and learn. 


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