Using a plastic plant pot as a pond?

twopenny

At the risk of seeming needy - another question

There are some really good, large, sturdy plant pots for sale at the moment and I wondered at the pros and cons of using one sunk in the ground as a pond.

My searches bought up only a couple of articles from the press about it and I'm sure when I looked before there were things against doing this which is why I'm still pondless.

The many options are huge especially I have a good imagination and at this rate + lockdown/supply + summer hard soil I'm never going to get a fancy pond with the sand, felt, liner and waterfall.

Wondering if I can just sink a pot, put in gravel and stones etc for the time being for the frogs and birds or if this is a bad idea. Anyone know the down side to this?

theoretica

Most plant pots are very deep for their size and poinds work better wider and shallower so I suggest looking for something that shape.  You also need a slope out so animals can get out and don't drown.

Apodemus

Any water in the garden is a bonus for wildlife.  As a teenager I filled one end of an old tin bath with stones, let the other end fill with water, then introduced tadpoles - 45 years later it is still sitting in that garden and there have been frogs spawning in the bath every spring since.  Last winter I left a plastic crate out that I had been collecting holly seedlings into and it's been a real hit with the birds as a water source.  I also have a plant trough with no drainage that I grow flag iris in - I top it up with water regularly through the summer and it fills with moss, which the birds raid for nesting materials.  Only downside is the risk of mosquitoes in summer.  

twopenny

Thanks Theoretica. Yes, these are about 15" deep and maybe 18-20" wide. I'd intended to put stones in for the frogs to get a hiding place, birds to perch and any hedgehog to get out.

Plant cover and edging.

I had frogs living in a bucket that filled with rainwater in my last place and used the stones idea when they had stayed for a year. They must have liked it because they were there for 10yrs. I couldn't use the bucket. Tried to make them a des res with an old washing up bowl but they liked the bucket.

The intention is for this to be temporary as I've so much to do elsewhere and it would give me time to work out what I wanted for the real deal - but I've said that before.

cymruchris

You can get smallish plastic pond liners for a reasonably competitive price these days - I used one - added a fountain and a waterfall and it really gives the sound of nature to the garden. I would have thought that a large plant pot just wouldn't really be the right size - too narrow, too deep. 

twopenny

Cymruchris if I buy a plastic pondliner I'd like to see it first and those places selling them are a 60mile round trip so by the time I can do that and assuming they have the stock with everyone doing houses and gardens in lockdown it will be too hot and dry to dig out.

But thanks for the recommendation because I wasn't sure so you've confirmed the idea. Eventually I'd like it to have water running onto stones like the rivers around here. I love that noise. But that's going to take some doing.

Thought I could make a start for this year. Then I could find out if I should resite it - barrier to noise which is impossible to tell at the mo.

Also half the hole needed for a bigger one will be dug.

Still have borders to dig out of lawn, gates to make and pavers to relay. I doubt my back will be up to a pond as well just yet and I want it sunk to keep it cool for frogs. They are sitting on a dreadful old shrub that I want to cut back at the mo.

Apodemus said:

Only downside is the risk of mosquitoes in summer.  

Ah, yes. Have to work on that. I'm mossie bait. Your ideas sound lovely. I'd looked at stone troughs charming but expensive. I did see a small shallow pond and stream that someone made from some sort of concrete or artificial stone in an open garden. It was charming. So many ideas found like that but they are mostly a main project for a year.

All things to think about when I've done the hard graft of makeing a garden out of nothing and lockdown.

scottiescott

I used a plastic storage crate sunk into the ground in a shaded part of the garden.Filled it with tap water and left it. It did start to smell after a while but I just left it. Eventually it settled down and i hear the occasional "plop" of a frog jumping in.

Apodemus

twopenny said:

I'd looked at stone troughs charming but expensive. 

2p, I'd love a stone trough, but I'm a cheapskate, so my "trough" was just a 50cmx30cmx25cm garden planter bought for under a fiver!  

I actually also have a proper cast iron Victorian horse trough about 1m x 0.8 m x 0.8m which would once have been on the side of the village street and fills naturally from groundwater (which probably mainly comes from the down-pipes from the house).  It is half out in the open and half under a retaining wall (and I assume with a large lintel stone to stop it filling with soil).  It is a neglected corner of the plot, so potentially good for wildlife, but being mostly underground and the rest being in the shade, the water is very cold even in summer.  Although I frequently have toads, frogs and newts in the garden, I've never seen any in the vicinity of this "water feature", despite creating a "toad pile" of sticks and logs adjacent to it.

Farway

How about something like an baby bath? They are normally quite shallow

twopenny

It's a good thought when the charity shops open.

Davesnave

I'm going to use an old cast iron 'copper' from the days before washing machines and indoor 'facilities.' It's about 0.5m deep and the same in width, so it will probably fill up with plants rapidly if I half fill it with rocks, like the tin baths we already have. The birds use those.

Not a proper pond, but priorities mean that has to wait.