Wildlife pond- how much daily/weekly maintenance?

myclayjungle · April 2023

We are thinking of putting in a pond- possibly 2m X 3m. I thought that as long as enough oxygenating plants are in there, its fairly self sufficient? A relative has one and really regrets the work required- digging out weed, removing leaves and says its daily work. Is this the case- or do they just a poorly located and planned pond?
How much work could I expect?
Any tips on mitigating additional work appreciated.

Fairygirl · April 2023

I certainly don't do any daily work. The most I do is removing blanket weed as temps warm up, and removing some odd leaves that get blown in, although a temporary net in autumn is the best way of dealing with the bulk of those.
Other than that, it's only the time spent attending to the plants that might need division, or feeding, or removing dead foliage to prevent adding to excess stuff on the bottom.

As well as oxygenators, you need other planting - not just to make it look nicer, but for covering the surface [necessary in summer] and for providing habitat for all the creatures that use it. A mix of heights, and some evergreens is ideal, and plenty of nearby cover so that birds etc feel safe while coming and going

Butterfly66 · April 2023

I guess our workload from our pond is similar to that described by @fairygirl . Our pond is close to trees and partly below a Medlar but gets lots of sun. I don’t bother clearing out leaves or the fallen fruit and the pond is lovely and clear. But I also don’t mind seeing the leaves in the pond.
We do throw in a friendly sachet once a week, spring and summer, to help control algae and blanket weed. Every now and then I enjoy a quiet 10 minutes twirling a bamboo stick to reduce the blanket weed (usu in the cooler months when it’s too cold for the sachets).

Occasionally we reduce the amount of oxygenators as I think most varieties are quite vigorous. Do think about what you will plant as some things e.g flag iris are intent on world domination and really not suitable for garden ponds.
The pleasure from watching the newts, tadpoles, dragonflies, damsel flies etc is priceless. Unfortunately our frogs are the shyest in history. We get lots of frog spawn but rarely see the frogs in the pond 🧐 Our newts, usually described as shy creatures, sunbathe regularly in full view just below the water surface.

robairdmacraignil · April 2023

Got a pond here for a few years now and only occasionally have I done anything to interfere with it and that was mainly just to adjust parts of the original material it was built with to look better and hide the waterline movement (due to variations in rainfall) showing up the liner which I felt did not look very natural until the edge planting got more established. I put in a bucket of water from an existing little pond nearby at the edge of a stream as I read that this helps seed a new pond with the ecosystem required to keep the water healthy and it has done so well and within a week or two had lots of water beetles and water skaters active in the new pond and have not had to do anything to adjust the water since. I don't worry about the leaves that fall in as I think that is a natural process and I have only limited plants introduced as I don't want to have to tend to them regularly. Just added golden creeping jenny and some ajuga to the edge to hide the liner. Great to see the tadpoles and dragonflies make use of it.

Happy gardening!

Ceres · April 2023

I tend to leave my pond to get on with it but do have a real probelm with duckweed. However, last summer when the temperature in the back garden was in the high 30s, the wretched weed acted like a sunshade and as far as I know, no tadpoles cooked. There's a lot to be said for letting nature get on with things without interference.

philippasmith2 · April 2023

I agree - duckweed can be a real nuisance at times but is a good source of shade when temps rise to silly heights.

Fairygirl · April 2023

I'm glad to say I've never had duckweed in any pond I've had - perhaps the climate doesn't suit it here, or maybe I've just been lucky?

Ceres · April 2023

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/qu/939hh9r78yd2.jpg

Keeping cool away from the pond. This frog spent the very hot days hiding in the spout and I had to keep the watering can filled to the top so the frog could get out easily. One that tried this trick in the greenhouse wasn't so lucky as the water level was much lower and the water heated up a lot.

bcpathome · April 2023

I rarely do anything to my wildlife pond ……..that’s the point isn’t it . It’s for wildlife ,just a bit of clearing if it gets bunged up with leaves or whatever, an ornamental pond however would be an entirely different thing .

tigerburnie · April 2023

With reference to planting, try and use as many native plants as possible, our wildlife has evolved with it, all my plants are native and almost all offer flowers and or scent as well to add to the pleasure of the pond and it's inhabitants. If you want wildlife also avoid fish, the two are not compatible in a confined space.

myclayjungle · April 2023

Thank you everyone. Some great tips and inspires me to pursue getting a pond.

Wildlife pond- how much daily/weekly maintenance?

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