• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Journal How not to build a wildlife pond...

All we did was lay out the rough shape with a hose, then I got out a spade, very little planning. It's about 7 years of evolution, with a mixture of controlling it at times and letting it do its own thing most of the time.

Looking forward to seeing yours evolve too, Iain :)

Yeah absolutely...already looks great, and nice Acer...but give it time and effort I'm sure it'll look awesome;)
 
What a difference already! So is the bog area lower than the pond? I read that it should be lower so it gets run off from the pond but doesn't run back into the pond. I guess in Scotland I would need an over flow for the bog area too!
 
Yeah absolutely...already looks great, and nice Acer...but give it time and effort I'm sure it'll look awesome;)
I moved the acer before it had any leaves, not knowing what it was only that it had a nice shape, almost bonsai. Only after i moved it did it come into leaf and find out they hate being moved, especially in spring and id probably killed it. So relieved, it really does look awesome. I think i might become an Acer collector...:bookworm:
It all happens a lot slower when co2 and high light isnt being applied.

What a difference already! So is the bog area lower than the pond? I read that it should be lower so it gets run off from the pond but doesn't run back into the pond. I guess in Scotland I would need an over flow for the bog area too!
In tradition with not giving this pond any fore thought i did not know this but guess it makes sense... the bog area doesnt have liner up to the edge so that the surrounding marginals should get over spill, hopefully this would mean it doesn't back flow into the pond...?

Any update, Iain? :snaphappy:?
how s it going with the pond mate. hope you achieved your goals fred

no pictures but can grab some tomorrow to keep the thread going..

I have been very interested to watch the pond develop over the post week or two, a few of the plants are showing real growth while others im hoping are using their energy on roots until a time they decide to go berserk :lol:
Having added daphnia about two weeks ago i was very happy to see thousands of the little suckers a couple of days ago confirming they hadnt died off in the immature pond, have also spotted some sort of water beetles and other random bugs moving about the detritus.
The water is currently nice and green, ive since read this is good at this stage as it feeds new life. As the pond settles and the plants establish it should clear leaving a beautiful oasis of nature :p or so im told.
The birds are certainly loving it, they come to bath daily while also moving all the moss around and throwing it in the pond while looking for bugs so its a daily job of replacing it for now.

current plant list, tried to stay native but had to mix in a few foreigners for cultural diversity.

1 x Iris Chrysographes
2 x Lysimachia Nummularia
2 x Arachnoides Aristata Variegata
1 x Phyllitis scolopendrium Angustifolia
3 x Polystichum Setiferum Plumosum
1 x Dryopteris Affinis Cristata Angustata
1 x Lychnis Flos Cuculii
3 x Carex Pendula
1 x Villarsia Nymphoides
2 x Iris Pseudacorus
3 x Hippuris Vulgaris
4 x Geum Rivale
4 x Eriophorum Latifolium
2 x Calla Palustris
1 x Mazus Reptans Blue
1 x Hydrocotyl Vulgaris
1 x Onoclea Sensibilis
3 x Arenaria Balearica
1 x Stratiotes Aloides-loose plants

Next few jobs are to find more oxygenators and water hyacinth.
Get a matching big flat stone for the 'viewing' area
spread the Californian poppy seeds and uk wild flower seed around the far edges.
Plant ivy to cover back fence
Buy another clematis for the left side
add loads of logs to the unseen rear corner for bug heaven
wait 2 years and enjoy.

:thumbup:
 
You could get some big flat boulders and smear some blended moss over and cover with clingfilm or put in a plastic storage box with some water. Dsm but BIG.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 
looking natural indeed! This would be a dream pond for me.
 
e89a39ecf3e2bd563012e7ebf21de65a.jpg
 
Coming along well Iain, the fence against the pond looks a bit severe bit of planting or nice screening against it at this stage perhaps?Suppose any planting would have to be easy to maintain and not invasive,like any bamboo grasses as example in pots.Going to look very good
 
Have a few creepers along the sides and and easy ever green ivy planted at the back. There is also ferns all along the back and sides which should get to about a metre tall.
Took a walk today and found a natural pond locally smothered with iris. Probably flag iris as it's invasive, I was a bit naughty and took a few plants to help establish this one.
 
I want one of those! lol. My garden is too small, or is it! I'm going to get googling small ponds now. Thank you!
 
Well today I got up early with a plan to water change both tanks. I first went out to the pond to see if anything interesting was happening. 4 hours later I was still there. Life has really taken hold, with the plants showing real growth, bugs of the aquatic and terrestrial kind everywhere, bumble bees seem to have made the hibernarium home, honey bees gathering mud around the bog garden, lily pads making the surface, hippuris vulgaris putting up little forest trees above the water and the Acer is looking awesome!! It was really hard to pull myself away. I can see many an evening being lost with a glass of wine this summer.
fc3fbd8aed5c7251f6ccd01e0b923c5b.jpg
 
wow, i hadnt realised how much this had grown until i went back through the pictures. I shall post some pictures in the coming days but for now a quick update.

So this nature pond thing is proving to have as many challenges as when i started planted tanks! Current head scratching...

1 - Bloody blanket weed. I have been expecting some and had been skimming off some green scum daily but having gone away for a couple of days it has really taken hold of the other plants. Currently daily netting and twiddling it out. I will add barley straw tomorrow (not an old wives tale apparently?) Hopefully this will make its life hard enough to not become a permanent feature. Need more plants, especially surface covering ones such as larger lilies for the time being.

2 - Bog plants seem to be very slow to get going and some of the reed/grasses havent taken at all which ill replace sometime.

3 - Think the rocks are making the water very hard and even nutrient rich?? Not much i can do about it anyway so just put up with it.

4 - water hyacinth is really struggling, current thinking is the blanket weed is choking the root system?

Few high lights...

Life around the pond is thick, be it small flying insects or birds having a bath it is non stop. Bubble bees have taken up residence in the hibernarium which is nice, water boatmen have appeared along with other water beatles, pond skaters, a few leeches, ramshorn snails are breeding like crazy and the stickle backs have been seen in the last 24hrs. Finally the ferns are starting to get going so the back of the pond should soften quite quickly now and a few more marginal plants have been added.

Pics tomorrow :)
 
Inspired by the "Little Shop of Horrors" thread, for the last 2 or 3 months I've been dosing my wildlife pond with EI-like dosages of KNO₃, KH₂PO₄ and micro nutrients 5 days a week.

The result: virtually no blanket weed, and very vigorously growing plants! Last year I was twiddling the stuff out with a cane almost every day, but now there's virtually nothing to do except swish the net over the surface occasionally to get rid of some of the rapidly spreading Azolla caroliniana. I am not bothering with barley straw extract, which I used last year and it may have had a slight effect though I'm not sure, and I'm certainly not using any other chemicals to control algae.

So I believe I can confirm that nutrients do not cause algae. It's just as true for ponds as it is for fish tanks. Get your pond plants growing vigorously, and they will hold the algae at bay.
 
Back
Top