Making a wildlife pond

jennyjelly

I'm so excited about this. I've read so much about it, but I think in the end you just have to use common sense and get on with it. I'm so grateful for all the good advice on this forum which I'm sure will save some costly (and smelly) mistakes. This weekend we are starting with a trip to local water garden centre for liners and plants (lots of them) and on Sunday we will be digging, yippee! :j

When we started thinking about it we just wanted a little pond because we love frogs and toads and wanted to encourage them. However the more I have read the more concerned I am about the loss of habitat for wildlife so we have decided to go the whole hog and have a completely wildlife friendly garden. I've ordered these books which look as if they will give us a good basic knowledge:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0241118700/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845171411/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

I'll keep you posted on how it goes (including the mistakes!) - in fact I might just turn this thread into a wildlife garden and pond diary.:rolleyes:

zzzLazyDaisy

jennyjelly wrote: »

When we started thinking about it we just wanted a little pond because we love frogs and toads and wanted to encourage them. However the more I have read the more concerned I am about the loss of habitat for wildlife so we have decided to go the whole hog and have a completely wildlife friendly garden.

LOL! It is addictive, I promise you!

The first year I installed the pond, collected some fallen branches to go by the pond for shelter and to provide a home for insects, and just let the grass grow.

The second year I put a small summerhouse in a sunny corner of the garden, with some decking, and a little jetty the just juts out over edge of the pond - this provides shade in the summer and I can sit there and watch the pondlife. The birds have got used to me being on the decked area, and just ignore me.

I have an old apple tree at the far end of the pond that, which I use as a feeding station for the birds. It complements the pond well as they come in for the food, and also have a bath in the shallows at that end of the pond.

But I found that letting the grass grow just made the garden look neglected (you really need to strim it spring and autumn to keep on top of it, but I just let it go). So last winter I covered the grass with black plastic sheeting, and just left it until June. Then with the help of a neighbour, we've dug it over a couple of times, hoed the weeds out and raked it over, and this month I have sown wildflower seeds to make a wildflower meadow. I used both perennial and annual seeds as the annuals come up the following year, but the perennials can take a couple of years to establish. There will still be some maintenance needed in the form of strimming a couple of times a year, but it should bring birds and wildlife into the garden.

As for next year..... I've got a soggy area by the pond that never dries out (I think there is an underground stream, or a leaking pipe, or something) so I'm thinking a bog garden with yellow flags, maybe

jennyjelly

Lazydaisy your garden sounds absolutely idyllic - I think we have a long way to go before we are at that stage!

Don't you worry about strimming the frogs though?:eek:

jennyjelly

We're off. The weekend has been fine and sunny so yesterday we took a drive out the Blagdon Water Garden Centre and bought our liner and underlay. Having decided we would buy the best in the hope it will never need re-doing, the £150 bill still shocked us a bit, but then it's only got to be done once. A bit disappointing to find the plants are all going into hibernation for the winter though - the sales people strongly advised us against getting them now and say we should wait till March when they will be growing strongly and have a better chance of establishing. Makes sense I suppose, but I do feel a bit deflated.

This morning we marked out the position and then DH and DS2 got to work. It took them all day and they are both smelly and tired, but it's all done apart from a few minor adjustments. A meter depth doesn't sound like much when you say it, but OMG what a long way down it is! From there we have a medium layer and a shallow layer, and hopefully there will be enough overlapping liner to have a bog garden round the edge.

The books I bought are really useful and one even shows a layout of a garden almost the same as ours. This one shows a little patio area near to the pool and this is goimg to be our next project so that we can sit out and watch the goings-on in the pond. One thing at a time though. Must learn patience!

A couple of weeks ago DS2 buried an old washing up bowl in the border and we have been amazed that it already has loads of frogs in it. There are mosquito larvae in the water too. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come and they will just move home once the pond is ready.

We have also bought three different kinds of bird feeders and their contents (nuts, seed and fat balls) and hung them in the tree in the hope that the birds will become regular visitors.

I've decided to keep a record of the development of the garden from disused childrens playground to (with luck) a lovely haven for wildlife so I've bgeen taking photos of the progress today and will try to remember to do so at each stage. When I can work out how to do it I'll post a couple here.

So there we are, off and running. Well more stunbling along really, but I'm sure we will get there in the end.

tanith

Its very exciting wondering how things will turn out... have fun with it.. and you may be surprised how much and how quickly things find your pond.. looking forward to the pics....

jennyjelly

Well I think I've worked out how to post a picture, though I'm not sure it's at all the right way! Here is DH and helper (who thought it was great fun trying to catch the clods of clay as they flew across the garden!).

zzzLazyDaisy

LOL! Looks like you're having fun!

Strange you were given that advice - my pond was installed in September and the plants went in at the same time - within a couple of days the damsel flies were laying their eggs on the leaves, so it can be done.

Fresh water mint is worth considering (smells divine!). Don't suppose you are anywhere near Stoke-on-Trent? I have to start thinning out my pond plants soon and I HATE putting them on the compost heap (and yes, I have tried freecycle, but no-one is ever interested).

Oh and re your earlier question.... I haven'tstrimmed for over a year so the froglets are quite safe here! But seriously, when I do strim, I leave at least 4 - 6 inches, so the wildlife isn;t at risk.

jennyjelly

zzzLD - sadly I'm down in Somerset, too far to come and get your mint, but thanks for the thought! It seems such a shame to throw it away, but if no-one local wants it what else can you so?

Anyway, I'm resigned to waiting till spring to really get things started - TBH it will probably take till then for DH and the dog to finish digging!!!!

Glad the frogs are safe!

jennyjelly

look what we had in our washing up bowl today!

http://s653.photobucket.com/albums/uu259/jennyb59/The%20washing%20up%20bowl%20pond/?action=view&current=IMG_0259.jpg