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Pond Problem - In need of some inspiration

Cottage CompostCottage Compost Posts: 496
in Problem solving
Hoping someone can offer some inspiration.

What i'm hoping to achieve could very well be impossible, but here goes anyway.

New and unfinished, good-sized pond in full sun.

I would like to add a plant and i'm struggling to find something!

I'm hoping to find something that ticks as many of these boxes as possible!

Small'ish, Evergreen with a near horizontal habit and if it flowers and later provides fruit / berries for the birds etc that's a bonus.

The obvious initial plant that comes to mind is Cotoneaster horizontalis, but i don't like this plant that much and i'm hoping for something different.   I'm happy to try and train a plant to form a shape and prune it to a size i'm happy with if it responds well to this.

I'm trying to create an area at the edge of the pond that smaller birds can get into undercover to bathe and drink.

Thought about Berberis darwinii 'Compacta' as an option. Constructing a bamboo fan shaped frame at a 30deg angle over the pond perhaps?

Do you have any other suggestions, please.








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  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    If full sun what about a prostrate rosemary?
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • Cottage CompostCottage Compost Posts: 496
    Butterfly66 said:
    If full sun what about a prostrate rosemary?

    Thank you for your suggestion, Butterfly66, i have this already and this plant really is prostrate to the extreme and doesn't allow anything to get under it.  This would probably need a permanent frame to grow over to allow birds to get under it, i think.  An interesting suggestion, though.  I could make a metal rebar fan shaped frame to sit over the edge of the pond at an angle of 30deg'ish to grow it over.  This might be a good idea actually, easy to keep under control, small'ish in size too.
  • JellyfireJellyfire Posts: 1,139
    No berries, but what about one of the dwarf conifers that grow in horizontal 'rafts'. As an aside I may be wrong but my gut feeling would be that I dont think birds would drink or bathe under cover, I think they prefer more open water for bathing
  • Cottage CompostCottage Compost Posts: 496
    "I dont think birds would drink or bathe under cover, I think they prefer more open water for bathing "

    A friend of mine has cotoneaster horizontalis over the side of a pond, and the blue tits and the hedge sparrows (Dunnocks) love it.  They seem to prefer to bathe and drink under the cotoneaster than out in the open.  I've had many birds at the pond drinking and bathing, but not blue tits or hedge sparrows so far.

    Have considered a dwarf conifer, but they have no flowers or berries, very expensive, very slow to grow.
  • JellyfireJellyfire Posts: 1,139
    Ah well that is interesting, they seem to be ok on bird baths out in the open, but maybe that is through necessity my rather than choice
  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    You need some pond plants, plants actually in the pond.  I find that the birds just come and perch on the pond plants for drinking and bathe in the shallow parts of the pond making use of the plants foliage. The rocks in your picture they will also like as perches for their bathing and drinking.

    If you look on the RSPB and wildlife trust websites you will find lists of good wildlife plants recommended for ponds.
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • Cottage CompostCottage Compost Posts: 496
    Got plenty of pond plants in opposite end of pond. Hoping to put in a plant for small birds to get under it. A clearance of about a foot. Disturbed birds need somewhere close to dash to for safety. Others prefer cover from the overhead sparrowhawk. 
  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    Cottage Compost said:
    Got plenty of pond plants in opposite end of pond. Hoping to put in a plant for small birds to get under it. A clearance of about a foot. Disturbed birds need somewhere close to dash to for safety. Others prefer cover from the overhead sparrowhawk. 
    I wrote what I did because your photos look like there are no pond plants!

    I completely understand birds need cover.
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • Cottage CompostCottage Compost Posts: 496
    No worries Redwing, you weren't to know 
  • WatsoniaWatsonia Posts: 134
    Not prostate, but we have a dwarf weeping willow overhanging our pond. I can find a picture if you like? It is about a meter high, and has some nice clearance over the edge of the pond. I do see both birds and frogs below it in summer and it has added a lovely bit of height to the pond edge.
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