Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: richyrich7 on February 16, 2009, 20:02
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I'm hoping this year to turn the back garden more wildlife friendly and a smallish pond 4' x'4 ish seems a good idea, but we have a brook at the side and back of the garden so do you think it will be worth it? The brook has been concrete lined by the previous owners of our house and is about 4' ranging down to 8' below our garden level and only about 2" deep in the summer.
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I think you'd get different wildlife in a brook to a pond.
What's the bottom of the brook like? The mucky layer on the bottom of the pond is good for all sorts of pond bugs and for frogs etc. If the brooks been lined and fast moving/stays clean then it might not be as effective?
You could also go for a shallow planted area around the edge of the pond and grow bog type plants to attract different sorts of insects. Frogs/toads also need more of a pool to spawn or it gets washed away.
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Yep. Agree with Tam. The birds and flying insects might be happier with still water too.
The more the better I say. :)
Since we put the pond in, we've twice as many birds. They get very territorial about it at this time of year.
Rob 8)
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8) getting the liner tomorrow then just need to get the kids to dig it out :lol:
The brooks got a concrete bottom Tam but a bit further up it goes back to it's natural pebble and muck bottom, I'm planning on getting the water from the brook to fill the pond thought it may give it a kick start on the biodivesity front, we have water extraction rights so no worries there.
Any suggestions for water plants or should I just borrow a few from the local lakes ;)
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Just be careful. Some water or bog plants can be very invasive.
If you can plant in baskets or a bit of soil on the bottom, there's some nice reeds and rushes available. Good for mayflies and their ilk. You'll get plenty of mozzy nymphs in the summer. :)
Rob 8)
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You'll get plenty of mozzy nymphs in the summer. :)
Rob 8)
Great ::) just what I need more insect bites :lol:
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You'll also need a potted oxygenating plant for the frogs who will keep down those mozzies. And a bit of rock that just sticks out of the pond so the butterflies can land and drink. The water flowers prefer still water but after a few years you're constantly dividing them and finding new homes for the extras.
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ANother thing you'll get is loads of bees and wasps coming in for a drink. Fascinating to watch.
I've got a couple of pond books I can look at. I've noticed most nurseries tend to have about half a dozen plant varieties plus a few marsh plants. Trying to think of latin names but will def need to dig out the book.
Rob
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dont get water mint, its a pain in the rear end, and very straggly and tatty looking after a while, grasses always look nice and of course water lillies (which also like still water)
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If (like me) you love irises (iris laevigata), there's some beautiful colours available. Blue is my fave.
Scirpus Zebrinus is a 3ft bulrush wih variegated stem.
Typha Minima is the dwarf reedmace and is good for small ponds.
Astilbe is a bog plant but I think it'll stand a bit of water round the roots.
Water buttercup (ranunculus aquatilus) is an oxygenator. White flowers, submerged leaves.
ROb 8)
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(http://yqst3a.blu.livefilestore.com/y1peblPJPmQ5T9ZUTzJvAJFsKbEn1kkjVUs4bpYdIdkNtoC7Eah9K5EIiUcdlZplubXRJHpYiRXBa4/DSC_0409.jpg)
These look nice. i took this last year at work
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Them's 'em Kris.
Lovely combo of blue and yellow. Mmmmm. :)
Rob 8)
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Don't forget sides with a gradient/step so the hedgehogs daft enough to fall in can climb out again - they do that a lot!
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Well I've finished it :) I'll pop a piccie in tomorrow if I remember ::)
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Looking forward to seeing the pictures..
Ponds are great for adding another dimension to a garden no matter how small the pond is. Ours is a tiny oasis of insect life and the plants are gorgeous. They grow so speedily that every couple of years I have to set to with an old bread-knife cutting out the growth to keep some open water.
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8) Wow lovely :)
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Here you go, taken by my assistant aka son number 6
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u111/richyrich66/100_0601.jpg)
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u111/richyrich66/100_0600.jpg)
Still needs some work around the edges and on the left the liners buried to make a small bog garden. Once I've got some plants in hopefully it will be a draw to wildlife, the birds and the cats already use it as a watering hole. :)
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Looks a spot on starting point Richy, looking forward to seeing the bog garden bit..I can have one as my pond is built up
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(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll175/cloughyclaret/ALIM0203.jpg)
Heres mine beginning of Feb this year..not very wildlife friendly I know, but I do get birds and frogs in an otherwised paved and pots garden so Im happy up to a point. Id love a bog garden
Edit..there are a lot more plants in there, theyve just doed back for the winter,and we have stepped up the sides for shallow loving plants and a step on the corner out of shot for froggy highway
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It looks great! What ever you do don't put the plants that fish shops try n sell you as airraters. They'll soon totally fill it and they're like the aquatic equivalent of bind weed. Carefully if you get plants from anyone else to as a tiny piece will multiply up.
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Well got the last lot of water to go into the pond today and just waiting to see if my recycled pond liner has any holes. If it does i got a new one to go in if it has too. i will let you all know later today. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
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Yours will look really good once the plants are in about and around richyrich7 - an ideal mini-beast haven. My pond is no bigger and attracts all sorts. ;)
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When we looked at our house to buy it and I saw this pond in the garden, I nearly died and said to hubby ...thats going.. :blush:
I tell you what Rich, I couldn;t ha e been more wrong!!!!...I've had so much pleasure from that pond you wouldn't believe. It's got a great big filtration system attached to it and a little waterfall type thing...The wildlife it attracts is just incredible.. :ohmy:.......
Frogs, Toads, newts, a slow worm, dragon flys etc, all the little chaps that skim about on the top to name a few, not forgetting all the fishes!!!
I've seen a Kingfisher once, we get herons regularly.. ::)We have fiddled with the set up of the waterfall thing and put iris's and other lovely plants that flower beautifully..
My advice is..if you want it to be a true wildlife haven...don't fiddle with it too much.They'll come.. ;)
My hubby is a nightmare for it... >:( ::) :lol:
Oh PS... enjoy, enjoy, enjoy
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Your wildlife pond looks like it will be absolutely perfect. I love the log pile you have created to one side; ideal for inverts and amphibians.
We built a wildlife pond two years ago this spring and it has brought me nothing but pleasure.
You are right in thinking that you will get some different species of wildlife in your static water pond to the brook that runs past. Lots of critters prefer still water and some species of dragonfly and damselfly will only breed in still water. Taking water from the brook to get your pond water off to a flying start is an excellent idea but even without doing that creatures will turn up by themselves. Water beetles, water boatmen, etc., can all fly and use this method of finding new territories. Apologies if you know all this already but this subject is a bit of a passion of mine.
If you want to cover the liner at the edges of your pond then up-turned turfs are a good idea. Just lay them with one end trailing into the water.
Do you have any ideas of what you might like to plant? How much sun does the pond get?
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(http://yqst3a.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pPAEqr7dSYeZwwdKlSbgiIuv9EBqzScakDFmKYUOo3lZ9yVuXE2xbEaHLxr1XABUFMGJxRIc79vk/001.jpg)
Heres the start of our little pond we still got some work to do on it, but you get the idea
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:D Looking good Kris
Thanks for all the replies and help, sorry I've not replied sooner myself. The idea is to eventually turn my dump of a back garden into a more wildlife friendly place.
So far the bird population that comes into the garden has expanded at a huge rate :) we have the blackbirds regularly having a bath, a pair of greenfinches appeared today never seen them around before. And 3 different types of tits
Just trying to work out now how to mask the liner around the front I'm hoping for the lawn to grow up to it. Around the back I've put some tumbled blocks but not too sure if I like them at the minute. What I'm really after is some native plant life, one of my sons bought some feathery stuff for the pond, but I think it could be one of those things that turn into a monster :( but don't like disappointing them ::)
This seller on ebay had some interesting stuff wildlife plant wise any recommendations ?
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/maltby-springs-koi-and-pond-centre (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/maltby-springs-koi-and-pond-centre)
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Hiya,
Oxygenators can be useful for your pond even if you do need to pull some out every so often. They also compete with the algae which will grow, so given the choice between thinning out a few plants or a bowl of pea green soup I recommend the oxygenators ;)
Its worth getting a nitrate test if you plan on using the brook as a regular water source. If there is any farmland around you, then the nitrate levels in the water could rocket when they are spraying crops, and this would then give you algae soup again. Barley straw extract is supposed to help combat algae and blanket weed, but keeping an eye on the pond nitrate levels, and making sure that the pond gets some shade will probably help more.
If you can get hold of some Water Lettuce, its a nice plant to have both for using up some nitrates, and for providing some cover for any aquatic life which takes up residence in your pond. It probably wont survive the winter though, unless you move some in a bucket into the greenhouse.
I would suggest steering clear of bull rushes, as although they are stunning I have served many a customer with new pond liners when the old one was pierced by bull rush roots.
I also love the dwarf water lilies, again not native, but they do provide lots of benefits to the inhabitants of the pond, including somewhere for the frogs to hide should you get a visiting heron. A couple of pieces of piping laid in the deepest part of the pond would also help the amphibians hide from any potential predators.
Bog Arums and Marsh Betonys are worth looking at or Marsh Cinquefoil (Native) has striking flowers too. I always used Green Line for mail order but sadly they went into receivership at the end of last year. Stapely water gardens are usually ok (if a little expensive) as are Maidenhead Aquatics (which have loads of stores throughout the uk now) but we always had a limited stock at Maidenhead compared to Stapely.
My last recommendation would be to buy a bottle of dechlorinator, so if ever you do need to top up the pond with tap water, you can treat it first so as not to cause problems to the inhabitants.