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Tips on how to improve the appearance of a pond over autumn-spring?

gilla.walmsleygilla.walmsley Posts: 339
in Problem solving
Last summer I built a gigantic wildlife pond, which looks lovely in summer full of plants, but from autumn - spring looks a total mess! Does anyone have any tips for how to keep it attractive? Are there evergreen pond plants? (especially anything that covers the surface!)

Posts

  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    If you are in the UK, you have to accept the weather conditions and that often means a rather bare looking pond during the colder months.
    Depending where you are and how sheltered your pond is, you could always try planting Cyperus or Bullrush round the edges.  They won't necessarily remain green but they will give the impression of something remaining.
    Also think on.........once your wildlife pond is well established, there will be a lot of things happening below the surface........you just can't always see it ;)
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    How large is gigantic? Where do you view it from? How much clear water surface is there?
    There are other ways to enjoy a pool or pond and reflections come to the fore in the winter months. I have very large pond, built as part of a water retention scheme rather than for wildlife, that is a delight in winter, even more than in summer.
    It lies below the house and from the windows I can see the sky and clouds reflected, get double value from winter sunrises and sunsets, see the outlines of tree branches and other plants upon the water. It even brightens the rooms indoors, with light reflected up to the walls and ceilings because of the low angle of the sun.
    I leave the dead stems on plants such as lythrum and turtlehead for their skeletal beauty, Phomis is another good one and you can position them to see through, or to cast shadows/reflections on the water surface. You could use a sculpture too, perhaps, in the right setting, to add to the mood.
    The reduced foliage means you get a much better view of the wildlife that is about, especially birds. The local mallard population seem to desert their reservoirs and move in with us for the winter, because we feed our resident ducks, and there is always some activity to watch. In early spring we listen out for the first frogs and then we see them, followed by the spawn and know the season is on the turn
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Surely the surface of the pond is its main feature?

    Cornus stems reflected in the water add interest

    See the source image

    Caltha palustris in April

    See the source image

    There are a few evergreen/semi evergreen marginal plants but I don't think they look very 'natural'.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • gilla.walmsleygilla.walmsley Posts: 339
    edited April 2021
    Thanks all for your helpful feedback. I'm sharing some photos of it, although it's a bit difficult to demonstrate as the sky reflects off it in pics. It's very much a work in progress as I only completed it in April 2020  :) The first pic is from last summer (it will improve further as I now have more lilys and other plants) and then three pics of it today. Some plants are just starting to come through now - the water plantain and I've just planted some new small plants at the edge which I think the garden centre had forced a bit early. 

    I was being a bit flippant with the gigantic comment - it just turned out *slightly* larger than planned as I got a bit carried away! I do love it though, already in its first year I had so much wildlife in/around it. As you can see I am in the process of adjusting the edge - the intention is to plant some cascading plants around the edge to tumble over and hide the liner edge once I've adjusted it.

    The surface of the water is of course lovely, but being a wildlife pond it is filled with soil on top of the liner, so when all the plants die back and leave just soil, dead wet foliage and baskets inside (I planted all the other plants directly into the soil but wasn't sure if I could do that with the lilys so kept them in big baskets) it does look pretty sorry for itself from autumn until May! I had thought that there might be such a thing as evergreen lilys but excuse the stupidity! It sounds like I just have to accept that as the way it is with ponds :) Perhaps you're right and I need to instead focus on creating some interest around it so it doesn't give off such a barren appearance during autumn-spring.

    I had been looking at Creeping Jenny as a spring option - I'm not hugely keen on the yellow ball effect so looking for similar kinds of things!

    Last Summer - this year the lilys will cover even more of the surface:


    Now - hard to demonstrate as the sky reflects off the surface but looks pretty barren inside:


    Now:


    Now:

  • AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 336
    The way we added interest to our pond through all seasons was with hard landscaping and moving water. Decorative rocks, rotting wood, even sculptures and gnomes will enliven it during the barren months and any movement in the water will improve its aesthetic against a flat pond.
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Water hawthorn (Aponogeton distyachos) keeps some floating leaves on during winter, and certainly even if they die off it's only for a short time - here in SE London at least.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Two or three really large rocks sort of half in, half out of the water - breaking the edge of the pond - would improve it dramatically. Plant shrubs around the rocks so they give a bit of height and yes you could use evergreen shrubs. 
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • gilla.walmsleygilla.walmsley Posts: 339
    Thanks all! Loxley I was actually planning to add rocks all around that side (with evergreen plants in between). So great to get that feedback. I also really love the running water idea (in general) but I'm not sure if that is ok though because it's a wildlife pond the only option would be a solar powered pump for a fountain or something similar. Fab on the Water Hawthorn - I'm in Essex so hopefully would be the case for me too! Thanks all for your advice, really appreciate it  :)
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Here in the south water hawthorne blooms all winter and is scented, too. I think you could put in some colourful shrubs round the edge for winter colour and, as suggested, many marginals remain structurally attractive for most of the winter. You just need time to get it all going.
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